Advice on new Hook 7 Vrs. Helix 7 , or Alternative?

[fundseeker]

Looking for advice on Sonar/Chartplotter purchase. My 12 year old Lowrance has finally failed. I have a 16 ft side console aluminum with 50 hp , casting decks at stern and bow. 80 # terrova with i pilot capability. I have been considering the Lowrance Hook 7 with Chirp &down imaging & Chart plotter Navionics+ included or the Humminbird Helix 7 Chirp , down imaging & Chart Plotting Nav+ included . I fish Parry Sound 30,000 island area and inland lakes for all species with some downrigging. I'm wondering whether to consider spending more on the side imaging versions. I've read that the Helix 7 may lag in refresh rate what ever that means , I assume it means if won't work possibly at all with the boat at planing speed. ( My old Lowrance worked fine at planing speed ) I may want to mount the finder on the left side of the console on a ram mount and face it forward to view from the bow occsionally till I decide to install a bow mounted unit. If anyone has any experience with these models or suggesting alternatives it would be appreciated. I can pick up the Lowrance Hook 7 for $649 and the Humminbird for around $725. Any thoughts on this would be appreciated . Thanks!

[Loonietoon]

Looking for advice on Sonar/Chartplotter purchase. My 12 year old Lowrance has finally failed. I have a 16 ft side console aluminum with 50 hp , casting decks at stern and bow. 80 # terrova with i pilot capability. I have been considering the Lowrance Hook 7 with Chirp &down imaging & Chart plotter Navionics+ included or the Humminbird Helix 7 Chirp , down imaging & Chart Plotting Nav+ included . I fish Parry Sound 30,000 island area and inland lakes for all species with some downrigging. I'm wondering whether to consider spending more on the side imaging versions. I've read that the Helix 7 may lag in refresh rate what ever that means , I assume it means if won't work possibly at all with the boat at planing speed. ( My old Lowrance worked fine at planing speed ) I may want to mount the finder on the left side of the console on a ram mount and face it forward to view from the bow occsionally till I decide to install a bow mounted unit. If anyone has any experience with these models or suggesting alternatives it would be appreciated. I can pick up the Lowrance Hook 7 for $649 and the Humminbird for around $725. Any thoughts on this would be appreciated . Thanks!

Give Angling Outfitters a call in Woodstock and talk to Joslyn he will help you out with a decision and advice

[DRIFTER_016]

I bought a Bird Helix 7 on sale and I am not very impressed with the quality of the unit.

I don't like the electrical connectors. They are not very robust and the weather proofing on them is non-existent.

My Lowrance units have always been good, but after hearing the customer service horror stories since Navico took over I decided to go with Garmin this time.

Got the Echomap Chirp units installed on my boat now. Haven't had a lot of time on them yet but they seem to be every bit as good as everyone says.

Might have to add them to your list of choices.

 

Forgot to mention, the quick release brackets are awesome!!

 

[AKRISONER]

just got myself a helix 7 and definitely have noticed a little bit of lag when switching views, but no issues what so ever while driving.

 

I have actually heard worse about the lag issue with the hook 7 and that was a major reason why i was swayed over to the helix...

 

Finally perhaps the biggest selling feature of the Helix 7 for me...and to be honest probably you after reading your self description is Autochart Live.

 

You would know that the charts for Georgian Bay are inaccurate to poor at best. In large part due to the fact that Georgian Bay is not necessarily a major shipping port, and even more so due to the fact that the terrain is just so expansive and complex.

 

For 140 bucks you can get autochart zero line and start making your own charts entirely. The downfall of the 7 vs the 9 is that the 9 and up of the Helix have a dual memory slot that allow you to run navionics, plus autochart...this will allow you to literally turn down the opacity on your autochart grid to see navionics, while still using your autocharts.

 

My personal experience with down imagining and side imaging, is that side imaging is over rated...but down imaging is incredible...i actually regret going without down imaging now in hind sight after seeing how it really works. The target separation by adjusting intensity on down imaging is frigging incredible. Its a shame these things all cost so much bloody money, I wasnt even looking to go close to top of the line and im still missing all sorts of features.

[porkpie]

A few things. I have a helix 5 that I use ice fishing. I've been very satisfied with it, but I've never used it on a boat so I can't speak to that, I've had good service and been happy with the 2 previous birds I've owned (597 and 385). I've been running a Raymarine A78 for the last 3 seasons and it's been an excellent unit. Great sonar, downscan is cool and mapping is good and touch screen is amazing for GPS use. I put a lowrance Elite 7ti totalscan on my boat this spring alongside the Ray. So far, having sidescan is way more useful to me than downscan. I only use downscan to guesstimate what kind of weeds I might be over, out side of that its not much better than 2D imo. Sidescan has been really interesting. Right now I'm mainly trolling open water, but it's going to be exceptional when I'm looking for rockpiles and structure for pics later in the season on Nippissing and other inland lakes (and the returns so far are quite detailed). The GPS on it works well and mapping is typical navionics and adequate for my use. Where I've been really blown away is the 2D sonar. Even in 150+ feet of water sonar returns are excellent. It pains me to say possibly better than my raymarine (to be fair the Ray transducer is 3 years old but I still don't recall it being this clear). So I've never been a lowrance fanboy, and if this unit goes wrong I'll be the first to tell you, but for a bit more money than the unit your looking at (seen it on sale for $800) I'd take a look at an elite 7ti. So far very impressed.

[Tjames09]

I have the Helix 7 DI model. And I actually disagree with AKRISONER, I never use the DI, I dont find it usefull it all, I mainly use sonar/GPS split. I find the DI just shows a more blurry version of weeds and doesnt show fish arcs. I wish I just bought the sonar/gps model. Maybe the type of fishing I do DI just isnt usefull.

 

The autochart live feature is one main reason I got the Helix 7, as it included autochart live. The only problem is, theres no additional memory card slot, so if you have navionics in the slot the autochart live records to internal memory and in 3 weeks I filled the internal memory so I cant record any more autochart live. So kind of a useless feature for me at this point, as I only mapped a small portion of my lake.

[AKRISONER]

I have the Helix 7 DI model. And I actually disagree with AKRISONER, I never use the DI, I dont find it usefull it all, I mainly use sonar/GPS split. I find the DI just shows a more blurry version of weeds and doesnt show fish arcs. I wish I just bought the sonar/gps model. Maybe the type of fishing I do DI just isnt usefull.

 

The autochart live feature is one main reason I got the Helix 7, as it included autochart live. The only problem is, theres no additional memory card slot, so if you have navionics in the slot the autochart live records to internal memory and in 3 weeks I filled the internal memory so I cant record any more autochart live. So kind of a useless feature for me at this point, as I only mapped a small portion of my lake.

 

funny cause i literally had an experience this past weekend, 30FOW we DI marked a pile of ruble with hooks all over it...drop shotted and boom hooked up repetedly...switch to standard sonar and hardly anything was marking at all...

 

also in the kawarthas drive over a total clump of weeds...look at standard sonar...just looks like a bunch of garbage...switch to DI and turn down sensitivity the weeds begin to disappear and you begin to actually see a picture of the bottom including rocks and other crap laying amognst the weeds.

 

Also in order to chart with the helix you need to purchase the autochart Z line card, unfortunately as mentioned with the 7 you dont get two memory slots so you have to choose between running navionics or running autocharts...on the 9 and above you can run both at the same time.

Edited June 21, 2017 by AKRISONER

[Tjames09]

 

funny cause i literally had an experience this past weekend, 30FOW we DI marked a pile of ruble with hooks all over it...drop shotted and boom hooked up repetedly...switch to standard sonar and hardly anything was marking at all...

 

also in the kawarthas drive over a total clump of weeds...look at standard sonar...just looks like a bunch of garbage...switch to DI and turn down sensitivity the weeds begin to disappear and you begin to actually see a picture of the bottom including rocks and other crap laying amognst the weeds.

 

Also in order to chart with the helix you need to purchase the autochart Z line card, unfortunately as mentioned with the 7 you dont get two memory slots so you have to choose between running navionics or running autocharts...on the 9 and above you can run both at the same time.

 

Maybe my DI isnt setup properlly but I find the picture quality is low and I cant distinguish anything.

 

I thought fish dont show up on DI, they show up as little dots? kind of hard to see no?

 

 

The new Helix 7 has 8 hours of autochart live almost as a demo, once 8 hours is full you can stop or delete it all and redo.

[Musky Plug]

Garmin units have great picture quality IMO but I'm pretty sure they're not compatible with navionics.

 

 

 

 

Also in order to chart with the helix you need to purchase the autochart Z line card, unfortunately as mentioned with the 7 you dont get two memory slots so you have to choose between running navionics or running autocharts...on the 9 and above you can run both at the same time.

Did not know this.

 

 

 

 

Maybe my DI isnt setup properlly but I find the picture quality is low and I cant distinguish anything.

 

I thought fish dont show up on DI, they show up as little dots? kind of hard to see no?

 

 

The new Helix 7 has 8 hours of autochart live almost as a demo, once 8 hours is full you can stop or delete it all and redo.

 

 

If that's the case I don't think you're DI isn't set up properly. Fish do show up on the DI and yes they can show up as dots but they should be distinguishable from a piece of structure.

[AKRISONER]

Garmin units have great picture quality IMO but I'm pretty sure they're not compatible with navionics.

 

 

 

Did not know this.

 

 

 

 

 

If that's the case I don't think you're DI isn't set up properly. Fish do show up on the DI and yes they can show up as dots but they should be distinguishable from a piece of structure.

 

 

we marked blue gills a small hooks no problem at all. Not a dot, an actual line hook.

[Sinker]

I'm a lowrance guy hands down, but I don't know much about these hook units. I'm looking for an HDS 7. I like the older stuff myself.

 

I have one hummingbird portable that my better half uses on the ice, and I can't stand it. It has nothing on my older lowrance portable. Its better than nothing, but that's about it.

 

S.