Humminbird ice helix 7

[ice dawg]

If Santa leaves one under your tree I have a feeling you will enjoy it. A Reindeer with a red nose told me. 

[Curley]

They came out with a new transducer for the chirp units. fish 307 has them.

[Curley]

Xi 9 1521 is the new recommended transducer and will give you down imaging on the g2 units per email from Humminbird. Did the upgrade last night and checked it out in the kayak this afternoon.

[ice dawg]

Did di work with the new transducer? The reason I ask is because I called Humminbird Select and was told that no ice ducer supports using down imaging. What I found out was................... ......
xi 9 20 ice ducer
Single/dual beam
20/60 degrees
200/83KHz

xi 9 1521 ice ducer
130-250 KHz
Covers 15-21 degrees on bottom
Not compatable with non chirp units

There seems to be a bit of confusion within Humminbird tech support???
The person I talked to didn't know Humminbird sells an ice pack that includes the xi 9 1521 ice ducer. I was told the ice ducers are sold separately with the two ice packs which this person was aware of. It would be nice to get the correct information people need to get their Helix 5 or 7 on the ice.

[Figure ate]

Just spoke with humminbird, the new XI-9-1521 CHIRP sonar transducer does NOT support down imaging, only CHIRP 2D

[luv2fish2]

i would think you'd need to be moving to get down imaging like the side imaging ? wouldn't ya ?

[luv2fish2]

which transducer comes with ice pack helix 7 di w/chirp ? 9-20 or 9-1521 ?

[ice dawg]

PTC UNB2 W XI 9 1521 comes with the xi 9 1521 ice ducer.

[prospector]

i would think you'd need to be moving to get down imaging like the side imaging ? wouldn't ya ?

Yes. You can fish with it in di mode, but it is definitely not intended to be used in a stationary position. Zero advantage over 2d.

[matzilla]

Di is not going to get you anything on the ice....the beam is wide left to right but narrow front to back. The only transducer that will give you di is a di transducer - no ice ducers from humminbird include the 455/800khz di comparability. Humminbird doesn't make a di ice pack....all ice packs from humminbird are 2d 200khz/83khz based. The new g2 chirp is based on a 200khz centered chirp frequency

You can use any 200khz ice transducer with a di unit but you're only going to have a single beam. the 83khz beam will not work with the di unit. The best option for a di unit on the ice is a 200/455khz open water transducer with the cord looped



I laid out the di transducer options for ice use above

[luv2fish2]

i like that idea seeing how it comes with it  what is the coverage (cone angle )

[ice dawg]

15 to 21 degrees on bottom.

[prospector]

i like that idea seeing how it comes with it  what is the coverage (cone angle )

Use a magic transducer and prepare to be dissatisfied with down imaging on the ice. Though you can still fish with it, the image is not even close to what you will see in a moving boat. Just an opinion from experience on a Helix 9. Hate for you to spend a bunch of money and not get what you want.

[ice dawg]

I think he is saying he likes the idea that one Humminbird ice pack comes with an ice ducer while the others don't. This is the ice ducer I would buy for my Helix 7 Chirp DI GPS G2. Why not get an ice ducer designed for use with chirp if you have it?

[Curley]

I see now. The advantage is the chirp, not the down imaging. Thanks for the clarification guys.
Fish307 had the kit out later that day. Piece of cake to assemble, and came with everything you need, plus instructions on how to run the new setup on the ice fishing mode.
A heavy duty bag as compared to the old one too.

[ice dawg]

I think the ice pack will be my next purchase. Then I would give my FL18 or Lx5 to my son. He loves the FL18.

[prospector]

I think he is saying he likes the idea that one Humminbird ice pack comes with an ice ducer and the others don't. This is the ice ducer I would buy for my Helix 7 Chirp DI GPS G2. Why not get an ice ducer designed for use with chirp if you have it?

Thanks for pointing that out as I did miss it on first reading. Sounds like we are all on the same page now that I have caught up. Anyone know what the target separation is on a Generation 2 unit? That is the only disadvantage I can see from an FL18.

[ice dawg]

Humminbird says the new Helix 7 Chirp ice sonar has 1.5" target separation.  I think target separation on the FL18 is 2.65". I like the idea of having a split screen with a round flasher on one side and a graph on the other side if I choose.

[prospector]

Humminbird says the new Helix 7 Chirp ice sonar has 1.5" target separation.  I think target separation on the FL18 is 2.65". I like the idea of having a split screen with a round flasher on one side and a graph on the other side if I choose.

I can’t imagine Vexilar  not having a better target separation? Crazy! Marcum LX7 and LX9 has 1/2”.

[ice dawg]

Some years ago the Reeds catalog had a chart listing target separation for flashers. Off the top of my head I believe it listed the FLX28 as having a 1" target separation. I have an LX5 and a FL18. I don't have to lift a jig nearly as far off the bottom to see it separate with my LX5 as I do with my FL18.

[Wollypog]

Hello everyone
I hope this isn't off topic to this post but there was a lot of good info here and I was wondering if any of you had opinions about the reliability of these and humminbird customer service. I really enjoyed these posts, I read the GPS on these can take back to within  8 ft.. My current fishfinder is a Lowrance icemachine x67c and it has a flasher and a graph mode seperately. I've had it for about 4 yr.s without any problems but these look really good, thanks for sharing.

                                                                 Wollypog

[gman51]

i would just like to say that anyone who thinks target separation don't make that much of a difference haven't done their research.  1/2" compared to 2" or even 1 1/2 is big difference. and i'm not talking suspended pan fish...people with the lx series from marcum that know how to dial it in i'm sure will agree. especially if they have experience in running other flashers in the past.

[matzilla]

Humminbird has free software updates too...

Try this, put a swivle 1/2” up the line from your jig, drop it below your tranducer and post a picture of both targets on your marcum screen

[gman51]

no need i can see my minnow head separated from my spoon which is about 1/2 " in 30 fow.

[gman51]

and seeing that tells me if i still have bait on or not.

[Figure ate]

i would just like to say that anyone who thinks target separation don't make that much of a difference haven't done their research.  1/2" compared to 2" or even 1 1/2 is big difference.

LOL, people will justify "their equipment is the best" with ridiculous statements.

[gman51]

LOL, people will justify "their equipment is the best" with ridiculous statements.

yes they will. But if your going to do it report the facts.

[matzilla]

no need i can see my minnow head separated from my spoon which is about 1/2 " in 30 fow.

same here with my Helix. The problem with target separation is it is not measured in an industry standard method. You can say that device xyz has 1/2" using a 200khz beam at 5' distance from transducer to target at half gain and max sensitivity while unit abc might state they have 2" at 50' distance from the the 455khz transducer at full gain minimal sensitivity and a 10ft zoom window. Then take into account the fact that some units cant even show you a 1/2" target on the screen due to lack of zoom or lack of resolution. It can't be used as a comparison between models when the method used to generate the spec isn't provided. For anyone using it as a chest pounding "fact" to tout one product over another - go research how each company derives the figure, report back and then state that one is better than another.

[gman51]

its a complete non issue...I would use those down image Helix on the ice in a heartbeat. Mine works great ice fishing. That target separation is a best case on both devices using the narrowest cone angle. If you compare the 20 degree to the 20 degree on either the separation would be nearly identical

The new Helix Ice Chirp is much different than a Marcum - Helix has chirp, much better screen (brighter, higher quality), more resolution, GPS, LakeMaster/ChartSelect maps, Navionics maps, etc.

interesting that’s some good research. Let me know if you find anything on if target separation makes any difference between different brands when ice fishing. Thx

[Herms]

One other big difference I've noticed while playing around with my Helix is the buttons are not backlit or anything.  While its not a huge deal as I have an attached light on my unit and a head lamp I normally use the Marcum's do have backlit buttons.  I think this is a pretty big oversight by hummingbird to not include this in a unit that is used for ice fishing which is often done at night or limited light setups.