North Australian FISH FINDER TM forums

Looking at buying a new sounder and am trying to decide between a hds 7 gen 3 or an elite 9 ti, besides the price which one is the better unit. I've looked at the specs and it all looks the same to me.

The HDS. The Elite doesn't have NMEA in case you want to hook it up to your engine, sound system etc (or another sounder down the track)

Cheers jabsy was leaning towards the hds

I think units above 5 in the elite ti range include NMEA 2000.

The Elite ti 9 features v cost is hard to beat in my view.

I have the elite 7 TI. Has NMEA connection. Have had trouble with the screen not responding to touch if finger is a bit greasy or damp. I will be going the HDS 9 Gen 3 as soon as I have the cash to through at it. As soon as you get a bit of spray on the screen it doesn't respond to any touch commands and is unusable. May just be my unit but I am not a fan of the touch screen only.

Yep, my bad. I thought they only had NMEA 0183. Reading into it, it looks like it has full engine management.

Good info/point Redshaw83; I wasn't aware they were touch only. Have since read a few similar complaints from the US.

So no spray, rain or KFC and you're good to go.

If you want better target resolution and detail spend the extra coin and go a HDS 9 or larger I run a 7 and a 12 on my tinny and have got 3x12's (GEN 3 units) on my bay boat.
Attached is a pic showing the features available on the individual models. May help you decide.

So you can use the totalscan transducer with the hds gen3 instead of having two separate transducers

mike davis wrote:So you can use the totalscan transducer with the hds gen3 instead of having two separate transducers

That's correct mate.

The tranny will give you chirp sonar as well as structure scan and down scan. You won't get 3D obviously.

Richie

very good at speed as well. I have 2 transducers on both boats. the barra boat will read at full noise while the glass boat stops reading around 40km/h. both trannys are set up the same location and depth.

i saw a youtube vid on how to set the new trannnys and they are almost out of the water.

Wherever you mount the transducers depending on which way you go, be aware of the cone angles and any interference that may get caught within the sonar beam.
I made the mistake of mounting my 3D tranny a bit too high and it catches the rear most stern of the boat leaving a black spot when I'm side scanning out 50m plus to the left...... It sux.

Richie

Hey Richie, another question for you, have you used ya 3D much? I thought it would go off when it was released, but there's very little talk of it. Thought it would be awesome for blue water, and ok for Barra.
But it's been out for more than a year now, there's very little new videos on it on you tube. And even less chatter on it.
Maybe it isn't as good as it looks, I think it's odd that you don't hear anyone singing it's praises

mickkk wrote:Hey Richie, another question for you, have you used ya 3D much? I thought it would go off when it was released, but there's very little talk of it. Thought it would be awesome for blue water, and ok for Barra.
But it's been out for more than a year now, there's very little new videos on it on you tube. And even less chatter on it.
Maybe it isn't as good as it looks, I think it's odd that you don't hear anyone singing it's praises

To be honest mate I haven't used it all that much just yet. Well, not in the way you'd expect. I don't use it all that much to find fish targets but I use it mainly for identifying ledges and finding the drop offs. Especially when I'm on the leccy working a long ledge.
3D shows up bait schools holding up really well so I also use it to identify bait or confirmation of what I'm seeing on my side imaging.
Bottom contours are also easier to confirm instead of trying to rely on side imaging. I think it's a great tool to be had, especially in deeper water.

Richie