Humminbird Sonar Updates

[Bill Gunn]

Bushman,

Did you do the free updates that are available for the SI units yet?

I finally got around to doing mine this morning. They now have what they call "Down Imaging" that gives you a 3D look at whats right underneath you...

http://www.humminbird.com/leading_innovation/humminbird-sonar/downimaging.aspx

I think that's going to be useful for the night trolling I do for walleyes, and I would think that it would work for you for the walleyes "Up Nort".

The update also gives you what they call "Switchfire" on the 2D sonar...

http://www.humminbird.com/leading_innovation/humminbird-sonar/switchfire.aspx

Looks like it will be handy for those days when you get a lot of screen clutter..

If you do the updates, be sure to change your unit back to the factory default settings BEFORE you do the update. You do that by hitting menu twice, then under "settings" there's an option to do that. Then you can put them back the way you want them after the update....

[Bushman]

The walleyes are going to call unfair pretty soon. This year I got the transducer bracket that goes over the side of the boat instead of off the transom, because off the transom the right looking beam was looking right into the lower unit of the outboard. I've got the standard side imaging sonar transducer and the new QutraBeam Plus transducer on the one bracket now with the A-B switch that you recommended. Canada walleyes June 11-18 are going to get looked over pretty well this year.

I just looked around on the Humminbird site and see how to get the upgrade is pretty well explained in the frequently asked question section. Just a download to the computer for the SC card, but I'd better get one of the kids that knows what they are doing for some handholding or I could mess it up all by myself. Thanks for the heads up.

[Bushman]

Turns out that my 997c SI Combo has an MMC Slot so I don't need to puzzle over downloading the updated software after all. A quick call to Humminbird's Customer Service has the pre-loaded updated chip in the mail for $15.95 on my Visa card. If what's under the boat looks nearly as good as that down imaging picture, life will be good for the guy in the boat and not so good for those walleyes.

[Bushman]

Two thumbs up for Humminbird Customer Service as the pre-loaded SD card came in the mail yesterday and went into the unit this morning. Mostly I wanted it for the Down Imaging and while that looks good in the simulation mode, that SwitchFire ability to clean up clutter looks like it was sure worth the upgrade alone. I'll be anxious to see if it works with the optional QuadraBeam Plus transducer too.

[Bushman]

Bill, back from Canada now and the Humminbird update worked like a charm. I thought that I was going to use the down imaging feature the most, but the star of the show was the Switchfire circuity that totally cleaned up the clutter from the optional QuadraBeam Plus transducer. After day one I actually removed the standard transducer from my bracket and just ran with the smaller QuadraBeam Plus transducer with the three split screen image and the fish ID feature on all the rest of the week. Just no place for those fish to hide from that unit anymore. Thanks for the tip.