Wayne P.

Good job Wayne, I see you have invested in that 360 since I was last here and it looks like your enjoying it too !! I have used the 360 for two years. First ran it with one of my 1198's in 2014. Got the ONIX since it has a higher resolution display and used that combo in 2015. These are a couple of Briery Creek victims early last year.

Makes no difference how many and what cost, if there is no coverage where it is needed, it is worthless.

This was a warm winter day with some ice in coves and the downwind parts of the lake had warmer surface temps. The fish were still on the bottom. I caught this bass (yellow circle) with a blade bait after seeing it split up the school of shad (red circles). "It's so easy a cave man can do it." This is what was in the yellow circle:

Really easy fishing this time of year when there is some ice present but you can get on the water. The fish are on the bottom since the densest that water gets is about 39 degrees. Any colder and water is lighter, that is why ice floats. Just look for this with your sonar and use blade baits: Saw lots of this at Sandy River last Winter. When you see predators with shad schools, it's about a sure catch:

That mount has been in use for 15+ years. It does its job if you do yours.

With Garmin, if their maps don't cover the waters you want you are SOL. You have to judge your map needs for your requirements, not anyone else's. Most other brands will support third party map software to make up for the lack of coverage their products have.

I was involved with that topic also and sent Paul several photos of red lips a lot brighter red than above.

RC for a starting battery. The best one would be a dual purpose battery designed for starting and deep cycle use. The best one of those was the Diehard PM-1 size 31 but that has been discontinued. Something with about that capability. Think about what you requiring from your battery when the outboard is not running. Livewell pumps, Power Pole pump/s or electric deploy for Talons, electronics, THEN you need the engine starter to work as well as the tilt/'trim pump. If you fish at night, there is the required lighting to support. For the trolling motor, a minimum of a group 27 DEEP CYCLE battery, two of them for a 24V motor.

Get the biggest batteries you have room for, especially for cranking/ accessories. You are going to be way over the power needs that a group 24 battery can handle. Each ONIX power cord requires a 5A fuse.

LOL, Humminbird units are made and supported in Eufaula, Alabama. Having seen Panoptix in action, I am not amused with that blurry mess. To each is own. All the marine electronics companies make good products (most of the time). It nice to have so many choices.

Those are digital contour map products. Auto Chart is contour mapping you create yourself with your unit. It creates Lakemaster contour mapping. Handy for bodies of water that are not covered by any commercial mapping products. Lakemaster and Navionics are commercial map products. I don't use Lakemaster since there is little or no coverage where I fish and I use Navionics' FREE mapping service to get contour maps where I need it if there is none. Read this thread:

Having GPS/Mapping allows you save a location you see displayed such as a brush pile, hump, rock piles, etc and then return to them anytime you want. Very handy for stuff that is not along the shoreline. You won't have to beat the banks like all the uninformed anglers do. If you learn how to read a contour map, you can choose areas to try ahead of time and go directly to them. Typically you would get all the parts to be fully functional out of the box. You may want to use a custom mount for the display or transducer, but don't have to. That is why you have pay attention to the whole model name when considering which unit.

With the side looking imaging technology with ANY brand, the screen width is the most important feature. That is because the images are recorded from the top of the display to the bottom instead of right to left like the down looking imaging and regular 2D sonar. Additionally, you choose the RANGE that the side looking technology covers. With the other two technologies, the size of displayed subjects is based on the depth. Bottom line is get the largest display model you can afford. Another reason for a larger display is if you have more than one technology displayed at one time. The more stuff you display, the smaller each one is on the screen. As far as the down looking imaging compared to the side looking imaging, it is all about the coverage. ANY side looking imaging is better than no side looking imaging. I would (and did) chose that over down looking imaging even if the display is smaller. Linkable means you connect two or more units together to share data. That feature cost extra over units that cannot do that. Stuff you may want to share is GPS data, and sonar data. All Humminbird Side Imaging units have GPS/Mapping. There are Humminbird Down Imaging models and 2D models with and without GPS/Mapping depending on the series. Helix 5, Helix 7, Helix 9, Helix 10, and Helix 12. All of those versions have a 2D model, a DI model, and a SI model.

If you are comparing 7" displays, why not include the Helix 7 SI GPS instead of the smaller Helix 5 models??????

Yes, the HDS Gen2 Touch models will support the LSS transducers without the LSS data box. The LSS-1 transducers were discontinued several years ago. Good luck finding one of those. If you can find a package deal with the LSS transducer, that would be the best choice. It would be the LSS-2 version.

The Helix 5 and Helix 7 series do NOT have the Auto Chart Live feature. Lakemaster and Navionics is compatible with all 6 versions of the Helix 7. Auto Chart and Auto Chart Pro computer software creates Lakemaster mapping.

If you are on a pond that just has the outline, the GPS will show you are there with the position curser. In this case the boat icon: If you are on a pond that has no outline on the background map, the GPS will still show your position with the position curser: In either place, you can save a GPS Waypoint that will allow you to return to that exact location from anywhere in the world. Insite Genesis is a Lowrance product. For that lake, I recorded sonar logs with my Humminbird units, and uploaded them to the Navionics website's Sonar Charts server. Navionics processed my sonar logs and created the contours. Then I updated my Navionics map card to get that processed map. Sonar Charts is a shared map data process and is added to their data base for anyone to use. It is a free service and the maps are free to anyone that has a map card with the Sonar Charts capability. It can be viewed on the Navionics Web App and is included with the Navionics Modile App for smartphones and tablets.

That "pond" would have to be on the background map the units has. The background auto map has no depth contours, different map product. Some digital map products for marine electronics do have more "stuff" than just the bodies of water with depth contours. Some units have included a lower quality background mapping than what you could have via memory card. If you look at the Navionics WEB APP, you will see lots of locations with just an outline like an auto GPS unit has. I recorded data to have HD contours created at a lake like that. Before: After:

GPS is not mapping and mapping is not GPS. There are two types of plotter GPS devices. One that has mapping as a background is called a CHART PLOTTER. One that has no background mapping capability is called a TRACK PLOTTER. Both do Waypoints, Routes, and Tracks since those are not map data, they are GPS data. The Striker looks to be a TRACK PLOTTER and cannot have any maps included or added.

Auto Chart is a computer software that creates Lakemaster contour mapping from Humminbird recorded sonar logs. Only Humminbird products are Lakemaster compatible. There are two versions--- Auto Chart and Auto Chart Pro. Some Humminbird units have built-in Auto Chart Live and create the contour mapping in real time on the unit. The ONIX, ION, Helix 9, Helix 10, and Helix 12 series have that feature. All of those are not within your budget.

SideVu is a sv model. dv is a DownVu model.

Stay'N-Charge and Trollbridge are a couple more systems to charge the trolling motor battery/s from the outboard alternator.

I'll send you a PM with more detail.

Navionics has digital mapping that works in Lowrance units. You can view the current maps on the Navionics website's Web App. Both Nautical Charts ( Navionics data) and Sonar Charts ( user provided data) are on the App. Toggle between those maps with the circle at the lower left of the panel. Blue is Sonar Charts, and Grey is Nautical Charts. The Lowrance map product is Insight, not familiar with the quality of coverage for Va or if you can get a list of waters covered. The Elite models have somewhat slow processors and a large capacity mapping product bogs it down at speed. Depends on how fast your boat is. What some do is get the Navionics+ cards and only have the waters they want on the map card so it doesn't bog down the unit. If you only need Lake Anna, only put that on the card. Additionally with the Navionics+ card, you can download the Sonar Charts map layer in HD and get the contour mapping I did for Hunting Run, and with the assistance of others, Sandy River Res. and Briery Creek Lake. Most map products don't have coverage on the hot side of Lake Anna since it is private. Some have been uploading sonar logs to the Sonar Charts program and are gradually producing HD contour mapping on that side.

No. Garmin is not Navionics compatible any more. Used to be but they decided to force owners to use their mapping if they wanted any. Navionics is compatible with 18 brands including Lowrance, Humminbird, and Raymarine. The compatibility list is on the Navionics website. Like Garmin, some brands have their own mapping products, check their websites for those products. The Humminbird ONIX unit I have is compatible with Lakemaster, Navionics, and C-Map. My other Humminbird units are Lakemaster and Navionics compatible. Before you purchase any digital mapping, check the coverage it has to see if the waters you want are included. A mapping product is of no use to you if doesn't have what you want, how you want it, where you want it. You can view the actual current maps that Navionics has on their website's Web App. You may can get the list of waters covered for other mapping brands--Lakemaster has a list on their site.