IceShanty Main > General Ice Fishing Chit Chat
Ice Electronics Question
theskydiveguy:
I realize this question has been asked to death - but I am going to ask anyway!
I have an LX7 which I like. However it has no mapping. This upcoming season I will be mobile (bought a snowmachine). I think I would like mapping on a unit that I would mount to my snowmachine while travelling. I currently use Navionics on my phone.
I previously used a Helix 5 and it was ok - but small.
The boss also ok'd a tin fishing boat in the next year or so, but COVID pricing is holding me back for the next little bit. But is going to happen eventually (probably fall).
I love the idea of Garmin for the mapping and would love a 9" screen with the option of maybe one day upgrading to Panoptics. However Garmin is much more expensive than Hummingbird.
So I am looking for some wisdom from you all on what an ideal setup might be? I can't afford Panoptics at this moment. But could swing a new finder. There is still enough value in my LX7 that I can offset this new cost as well. Budget is $1500ish.
Thanks
badger132:
I would find a nice mount for your phone to use while driving. If you are clever, there are phone holders on EBAY that are for mounting a phone on a tripod for a few bucks- put the $1500 into Panoptix or the newer similar offering from others for fishing. If your phone battery is old, it will be affected by the cold, keep that in mind. I thought my battery was going down really fast before I realized that it was just old, and needed replaced.
gofishin:
I'm a Lowrance man myself but since you mentioned Garmin I will throw this out there. You could get an Echomap UHD 93SV which would work with Panoptics if you decide to upgrade later. You also said you were planning on a boat down the road so it could be used on that as well. They run a little over $1000 with a transducer (for the boat), it's another $150 for an ice transducer but you could get the no transducer head unit to offset the price of the ice transducer. My opinion though is to get the boat transducer now because it will be cheaper in the long run then buying it later. If you are not stuck on a 9" and could work with a 7" you could get it for about $650. There are a lot of options out there so at least you have a little time to look around. Also to piggyback on the last post if you really like your LX7 you could just get a handheld gps to mount on the snowmobile and go that route. I'm sure you will get a lot of other options from other people as well. Good luck in your search.
theskydiveguy:
Thanks everyone.
I appreciate it! I'm not even sure that I need a 9" - maybe I just want it .. But the 7" is almost 1/2 price here right now.
Bucket Rump:
One thing about the Humminbird units you might give consideration to is the ability to pair it up with some the Minn Kota trolling motors to help steer the boat when fishing. Garmin also has addressed that by coming out with a trolling motor of their own - not sure about Lowrance.
FWIW, I opted to use a RAM mount to fixture the smaller Garmin 43cv on my sled for navigation that I can easily transfer to a Garmin portable carrier or to another mount on my boat. My sled has electric start so I wired the Garmin bracket to the sled's battery via an added relay and toggle switch - allows me to power up and use the Garmin without the snowmobile running. I went with the smaller in this case as at the time I wanted a compact device to allow me to see my other instruments and not be in the way. Going with a 53, 63, or even the 73 probably would have been suitable. Whichever unit you choose to go with give some thought as to how you will transport it on your sled.
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