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Ive got a Humminbird 797si on the dash and a 787 on the bow of my new BayCat. Both units, while “nice looking” cannot hold a constant reading as far as depth goes. The 797 at any speed at all, will not show a depth that I can rely on. It flips from 2 to over 700 and everything in between. The front one (transducer on the tm) does the same thing although the changes in depth arent as far ranging. The side imaging transducer is mounted on the transom…theres a second transducer mounted in the bilge. As near as I can tell, both are hooked up to the 797. There is no switch to go from one to the other. Do I need to buy a switch of some kind to get a good reading or is this just the nature of the new Humminbirds? If it is…I made a mistake in ordering those instead of Lowrance units of some type. Im sure theres a simple solution here…Im just missing it.
Billus, mine has a switch and no problems.BAYOU BANDIT
Could this be interference from having both units turned on at the same time. My lowrance units will do that if they are both turned on at the same time. Im not familiar with the SI Humminbirds, but surely this is a simple fix that can be resolved. Good luck and congrats on the new boat. KentKent Charles 2002 Pantera Classic & 200 Yamaha VMax
I have the same but with a 997SI at the console. I have no interferance at all. My Transducer for the 997 is attached to the Jack plate. Go back and swing the transducer unit up mine is designed to release up. if you are moving at a good speed and it swings up It will be reading behind the boat instead of under the boat. I believe the transducer in the bilge area is for the in dash flasher. I have the 997 on two boats and both have the same single transducer. Next time it happens try to power off the back on. Looked under the console too if there linked together there is a black box under there make sure there plugged all the way in.
We dont know what is causing yoru issue, though there is not a switch any more. It is regulated by a Y cable we now use from HumminBird. The set up should be working, and we think that there is an issue with the hull thickness and the transducer. Does the Side Imaging work fine? The Bay Cat hulls are pretty beefy and have to be cut out for the transducer to read through them. We suspect it may need more and unfortunately we may need to test an outside model somehow on these units. That would confirm or waive the thought. BCB
BCB…the side imaging works great. I just cant get any kind of consistant bottom reading whether at idle or on plane.
Sounds like you may have them on the wrong frequency. Click on menu twice, arrow over to sonar arrow down to frequency. The one on the TM should be on dual beam, one in the dash will be on side imaging or dual beam depending on the one you want to use. You do not want 50/200 or Quad unless you requested that transducer. On the side Imaging pick the frequency that gives you the best detail. I cant remember off the top of my head what they are. Charlie
My 917 sonar does some erratic things when on a hard bottom. Other bottoms it works great! Ive adjusted the sensitivity and have taken it off the automatic depth readings and it has improved greatly. I have an update downloaded on to a card, but some reason I keep forgetting to download it on the unit. You might try the Humminbird site to see if there are any software updates as this might help too! I too have a 997, but it runs perfect with no adjustments. Good luck. By the way, for what its worth, I think the Humminbird units are much more reliable than the Lowrance units.
PhilAddison wrote: By the way, for what its worth, I think the Humminbird units are much more reliable than the Lowrance units. Its worth a Ward to me. You could have at least waited another week or two before posting this. When you say reliable, explain! Ive owned a Lowrance unit for the past eighteen years. Not once have I ever had to send a unit in for repair. (“Knock on wood “) Yes there were and still are functions that Ive needed guidance with or tutoring on. But to me, Lowrance units are very reliable. For what its worth, my Brother owns the larger HB side imaging unit and loves it. Hes sent it back once already and the unit has self deleted all way points twice! I cant say that the HB units arent reliable. Because I dont own one. I know all Brands have their problems. But to come right out of the gate and say that HBs are more reliable. I dont think so! Glynn
Lowrance has made great recovery to the recent production of LCRs. The HumminBirds came out hard a couple years back after Teleflex sold it to Johnson Fishing and they have proven to be very reliable. We have been open about the dependability, though both units work well. Both also have greatly improved and continue to do so.
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