Originally Posted by
kellyguinn
Thanks for the great response. I've been out on vacation at Table Rock Lake so no computer.
The SI is for sure more than a few steps above the eagle unit I have. Is the SI hard to get used to reading and do you know of any "online" classes to help speed the learning curve.
Its pretty intimidating at first but after you get the hang of it, they becoe 2nd nature. anyone that can operate a desktop, iPad, smartphone etc is MORE than capable. carry the operators manual in the boat & use the auto functions/settings until you get used to them. Lessons wise just look on youtube or even google them. TONS of vids & how tos online now.In the pic with the boat I assume the sunken boat is on the left side of your boat but how do you tell how far out it is
you simply move the cursor/crosshair on the screen anywhere you want it & the distance from your current position to that chosen target of interest is displayed!or say if it was a suspended fish about how deep it would be?
The "water column" is the dark area in the middle of the screen. It's likewise divided "right/left" and the center most or line of the column is the waters surface. The bottom or "other end" of that dark column is the lake bottom. Anything you see along the sides (in the light area if you will) will likewise be shown in that column & it will be displayed at whatever that items depth is. A suspended bait ball will look like a light colored "fog" in the dark/water column section of the screen. If its 30ft deep & the "fog/baitball" is halfway down then you know it's appx 15ft deep. I'll go more into this at bottom. I bass fish when I can but most of my fishing lately has been for crappie with the kids. This SI looks like it would be very useful since they like to stick tight to cover and hold in schools most of the time.
Thanks
Kelly
The cursor on the screen is amazing, wherever it moves to, the GPS co-ords of that spot are displayed & can be stored instantly with the flick of a button, which then stores it as a waypoint. You can then switch over to the map screen & steer the boat over to that waypoint, then you can look precisely at that target with SI or DI & know EXACTLY what it is, what's in it & how deep everything is!
The pic I posted here is OVERLY simplistic but that's intentional & hopefully shows you more of what you are actually looking at on the screen. Like I said, 1 day, 2 TOPS on the water with these things & you'll refuse to go without them anymore! I have 2 fishing boats, one my big 21ft glass boat with a 225 Merc that has the 997, 1197 & a MinnKota Terrova Ipilot troller on it. I can find, trace, track & retrace ANYTHING on the water with this setup. My other is a 16ft aluminum basser with a 50hpErude. I ordered an extra mount, power lines, GPS puck & transducer from Hbird & installed it in this boat so I can use the 997 in it as well when I'm on smaller waters!