which fish finder

**B115TER** · 19-04-2008, 19:52

hi all . has anone seen the hummingbird side scan finders? could they be used on a kayak? what are you guys using to fing features and plot position? cheers, b115ter.

**tugger** · 19-04-2008, 20:04

hi mate
i just brought one havent set it up yet
will post some pics soon.
bloody expensive but if it does whot it says. awsome try looking on the hummingbird web site for some pics and info
yes i should easily fit a kayak

**B115TER** · 20-04-2008, 12:35

cheers tugger. would be well interested to find out how you get on with it. info on hummingbird website looks really convincing. cheers, b115ter.

**Snapper35** · 22-04-2008, 21:06

I've played a lot with them but not on the water yet (next month). They are fantastic bits of kit with a bunch of different screens and features. However, there is only one transducer that can be used with them on a yak (I forget the one), it's a thru-hull but will need to project down past the keel for the side imaging to work and is not cheap. The 797 is the only one that is compact enough to mount on a kayak practically and so far no-one in the UK has done it. The 997 and 1197 would be too large for comfort. The best option for fitting a transducer would be to have it on an arm that you can raise/lower otherwise it's going to get wrecked when you launch/beach and like this you could use the standard transducer that comes in the box.

It's a great concept for using on a kayak, especially in rivers and in water that leads up to, say, rocks and stuff.

Bear in mind that you'll also need a pretty powerful battery if you want to use it for any amount of time - my 757c will only run for around 4-5 hours on a 12v 12ah battery and at a guess the 797 will draw more power.

Mark
Johnson Outdoors UK.

**B115TER** · 23-04-2008, 15:14

cheers mark. will look into battery power and sizes a little more before i instal one. would like to get the biggest battery i could to fit one of those otter boxes. will deffinatly try one on my yak over anything else. just having the local charts all prelogged will be beneficial in itself. does the 797 come pre loaded or do you have to purchase the chart info sepperatly? cheers for the info, b115ter.

**Snapper35** · 23-04-2008, 20:03

797 manual:

http://store.humminbird.com/download.ep?file=797.pdf

The basic Humminbird Unimap mapping is pretty, well, basic! It'll outline the coast and name the towns, show any watercourses going inland but that's it - no depths, banks etc. For that you need to get a Navionics chip. See p.45 for the Unimap and a couple of pages before for the Navionics data.

Current draw is 650 ma, my 757c draws 700 ma.

I think this is the transducer you'd need for thru-hull use but don't forget it will need to be protected for launching/beaching as it will have to be completely proud of the hull: XTH 9 SI 160 P (note that we also do a transducer exchange programme, if you return the standard one unopened, we will swap it for the alternative one on payment of the price difference)

Bear in mind that you will need a CE marked unit so don't try and save money by getting one from the States. If customs open it and it isn't CE marked it will be confiscated with no recourse as it is not legal to use in Europe. It is also not manufactured to the same standard (hence the 2 year warranty in the UK as opposed to 1 year in the US) and not covered under warranty in the UK - you'd have to return it to the states if it went wrong as we will not repair them. I'm not 100% certain but I don't think the US units have the European charts in them either.

regards

Mark
Johnson Outdoors UK.