Humminbird RAM mount

[dyeguy1212]

Anyone have one, or know where to find one cheap? Lowest price I've found is around 30 bucks shipped, which in a good deal, but still too much money for what it is :roll:

 

[wasilvers]

Anyone have one, or know where to find one cheap? Lowest price I've found is around 30 bucks shipped, which in a good deal, but still too much money for what it is :roll:

LOL, I'm thinking the same thing. More like half that and I'd still feel a little bad, but I'd pay it.

 

[BaitCaster]

Good luck finding a better price than that. I paid $60 for mine.

 

[dyeguy1212]

Good luck finding a better price than that. I paid $60 for mine.

Drop in a bucket when you're paying for an SI unit though :wink: Its amazing how expensive this stuff still is.

 

[BaitCaster]

Good luck finding a better price than that. I paid $60 for mine.

Drop in a bucket when you're paying for an SI unit though :wink: Its amazing how expensive this stuff still is.

You got that right!

 

[wasilvers]

I just sold some old bow equipment and bought one. Net cost, $3!

 

[dyeguy1212]

I just sold some old bow equipment and bought one. Net cost, $3!

I can't decide if I want to pull the trigger on a SI or just get a DI. Not only the cost difference, but the PITA it will be to install it and get it to work right on my boat. It'd be nice if I had a jack plate so I could avoid the hassle. I'd have to lose my spedo to clear the way for the beam, and chances are, I'd run into interference issues with the outboard (and possibly turbulence from all the **** rivets in this boat...).

 

[wasilvers]

Well, my boat is 1978 with rivets, ribs, messed up bottom, etc. I get good pictures.. If you have power tilt/trim, then you can tilt the motor up. Side scanning is only good at 5mph or lower. I would DEFINITLY recommend sidescan - it is BY FAR more useful for bass fishing than down imaging. I can scan over a football field wide at a time for big structure, drops, etc. DownScan you still have to be on top of the structure to see it. Side imaging allows you can scan docks and fish only the ones with structure. As far as increasing the fishing experience, nothing has been worth the extra money (maybe $200 over down imaging only?)

 

[BaitCaster]

Well, my boat is 1978 with rivets, ribs, messed up bottom, etc. I get good pictures.. If you have power tilt/trim, then you can tilt the motor up. Side scanning is only good at 5mph or lower. I would DEFINITLY recommend sidescan - it is BY FAR more useful for bass fishing than down imaging. I can scan over a football field wide at a time for big structure, drops, etc. DownScan you still have to be on top of the structure to see it. Side imaging allows you can scan docks and fish only the ones with structure. As far as increasing the fishing experience, nothing has been worth the extra money (maybe $200 over down imaging only?)

x2. I've only scratched the surface on what I can do with my sidescan, but so far I am very impressed with it's capabilities. I have no problem with turbulence (rivets or otherwise). I did have a slight problem with the motor, but was able to scan fine with the motor trimmed up. I ordered a mini-jacker, but could have gotten away without one. If you have power trim the motor should not be an issue. My SI unit also has the down-imaging features, so you get the best of both worlds. Also, if you get the Humminbird 798 you can lose the speedo, because you will have GPS.

 

[wasilvers]

Also, if you get the Humminbird 798 you can lose the speedo, because you will have GPS.

Oh Yeah, I was going to mention that too.

Here's how I used side imaging the second time out. I went to my favorite lake that I know pretty dang well. I know of the dropoff where it goes from 3 to 20+ feet and where I catch a ton of fish in the summer. So I went along the outside of the dropoff from 30 feet of water and side scanned it. Little did I know that at one point, it only drops to 10 feet in two places and extends the dropoff a bit there, so like two small points on the major one. I marked them with the gps and pulled up to them. Cast #1 on the first point was a keeper. Cast #2 on the second point was a keeper. Cast #3 nothing. Cast #4 right at the midpoint (hole) of the two smaller points, is a NICE keeper. So 5 mintues of scanning and 4 casts and I'm halfway to a limit (if I was keeping). Usually I started at one end of the drop and worked to the other.

Did the same thing off another point. There was one spot that held a lot of fish, once I sidescanned it, you could see there was a 4-5 foot depression in about 10 feet of water. On normal sonar, I just thought it got lower there as it moved towards the center of the lake, but side imaging made me realize it was depression surrounded by weeds (and bass). I caught more fish from that hole that day - especially because I fished the OTHER side of the depression that most didnt' know was there.
Anyway, I'm done selling sidescan. If everyone has one, the fish will have nowhere left to hide.

 

[dyeguy1212]

Yeah I've been mulling over the 798 SI, but something tells me I'll have to go with an 800 series for the bigger screen.


As for the spedo, I know I get it with GPS, and that's what I look to for an accurate reading, but its so rare to have a boat with all the gauges working, so its gonna kill me to disable it lol.

Putting a graph on an old tracker worth more than the computer used to type this message is sort of pathetic though... :LOL2:


That's the main reason I'm looking at the DI units. I can get the 500 series with GPS for the console and a 300 up front for the cost of one SI unit. Gotta spend money to make money I guess.

 

[wasilvers]

If you go with the 898, you really only gain about a 1/2 horizontal and vertical for viewing because it has the info ticker on the left that doesn't go away. Almost have to get a 998 or 1198 to really enjoy the bigger screen. But I beleive the 898 comes with the better transducer, so that might make a difference too. What do I know? I chose the smaller unit because it's what I could afford. Even at that, it cost more than the boat did. :LOL2:

To bring this back around to the reason for the post - wanting a Ram mount... I got a mount so I can swing it closer to my face while looking for structure while on the big motor, then swing it towards the front while fishing (to check my position vs the waypoints.) If you can get close to it, like the distance you like your monitor when choosing the right smiley for your post on tinboats, it is fine for use on the water.

 

[dyeguy1212]

If you go with the 898, you really only gain about a 1/2 horizontal and vertical for viewing because it has the info ticker on the left that doesn't go away. Almost have to get a 998 or 1198 to really enjoy the bigger screen. But I beleive the 898 comes with the better transducer, so that might make a difference too. What do I know? I chose the smaller unit because it's what I could afford. Even at that, it cost more than the boat did. :LOL2:

To bring this back around to the reason for the post - wanting a Ram mount... I got a mount so I can swing it closer to my face while looking for structure while on the big motor, then swing it towards the front while fishing (to check my position vs the waypoints.) If you can get close to it, like the distance you like your monitor when choosing the right smiley for your post on tinboats, it is fine for use on the water.

I was actually wondering about that. Considering the ticker doesnt go away, it really makes no sense to get the bigger screen. Save me the googling, whats better about the transducer?

 

[wasilvers]

The transucer on the 798 is a 'compact' unit. The 798 can only sidescan in 400mhz (or some level of hertz). The 898 has a 'normal' transducer and can sidescan on 400mhz or 800mhz. 800 gives you finer detail on structure, but it doesn't really go all the way to the sides, more of a wide cone shaped scan. Great for good pictures of old bridges and such. But in my opinion, didn't add enough to the unsability for me. I saw some pictures of comparisons of the compact unit vs the normal unit and there was a difference and it was a bit nicer, but not enought that I regretted not getting it. Also, I don't know I'd notice the difference unless it was on a big computer screen. On the units themselves, I'd bet they lool a lot alike.

I read something now about the new units (HD) having a separate downImaging sensor in the transducer (but that was debatable a few month ago). The units like mine use both sides of the sidescan and make the down image from that. Down imaging is nice when you want to see what types are weeds are down there and how thick they seem to be. I do like that from it. But other than that, it isn't something I would feel the need to spend extra $ to get.

 

[wasilvers]

I was actually wondering about that. Considering the ticker doesnt go away, it really makes no sense to get the bigger screen. Save me the googling, whats better about the transducer?

The split screen on the 898 shows a bit more, the full side scan and running into the ticker is downscan and regular sonar. So it does show more that way.

 

[dyeguy1212]

You have any screen shots from yours?

 

[wasilvers]

You have any screen shots from yours?

Only a couple. Here is a great example of the difference in the three types of scaning. On the bottom is regular sonar. On the right is side scan, on the left is down imaging. The item is a sunk boat. With side, you can see about how far it is from the weed line, snd can see the weed line too.
https://www.silversstars.com/forumposts/2010-09-04-sunkboat-downscan.jpg.jpeg

Here is the same boat driven over multiple times.
https://www.silversstars.com/forumposts/2010-09-04-sunkboat-maybe.jpg

There are others, but I dont have them handy. If you search online for humminbird image interpretation, you'll find a ton of pics of both down imaging and side imaging.

 

[BaitCaster]

I do find the 798 screen size to be a tad small. I have my RAM mount for the same reason - allows me to move the unit closer to my eyes for viewing. You can get an extended arm for the RAM mount (to move uit even closer) but it costs something like $80!

The images that Silvers posted are from the Humviewer software that you can download for free on the internet. This is really useful because it allows you to view recorded scans on your computer, on the bigger screen. However, this is not what it looks like on the 798 screen.

This is a screen shot of the Lakemaps Chart from my 798, as it actually looks on the unit. I'm going out tomorrow and will have some sonar snapshots for you to take a look at.

 

[dyeguy1212]

Cool thanks, I'm looking forward to it. Its going to take me forever to learn all the features of these things, considering theres a ton of software for off the water as well.

Thanks for the pics wasilvers, pretty cool. Something tells me half the battle will be interpreting the pictures, although they are pretty clear.

 

[wasilvers]

Cool thanks, I'm looking forward to it. Its going to take me forever to learn all the features of these things, considering theres a ton of software for off the water as well.

Thanks for the pics wasilvers, pretty cool. Something tells me half the battle will be interpreting the pictures, although they are pretty clear.

The great thing is there are tons of images out on the web that you can look at for practice. I look at lots of them each day just so I can interpret it quickly on the water the first time. This year, I'd love to post some on tinboats for others to look at, but I need to get on the water first. :roll: