Hey all, so my si is not really working. I reset it to factory setting, still won't show much, I can be 5 feet from flooded trees and it won't even show that. The bottom looks like, let's say some old 70s carpet or something. Adjusting the contrast and brightness does not help. I'm wondering if it could be a voltage problem or I got ripped off, got it used but still had plastic wrap on it.....

How is your transducer mounted?  It needs a clear path on both sides to work.  What does down Imaging look like? Same?  Have you tried adjusting chart speed?  How fast are you moving while trying to use si?

Transducer is on trolling motor, bow mount minn Kota. Usually going about 1.5 mph or less. It's hard to describe what the bottom looks like, but it's alost as if the bottom Is broken up or blury, 

What is your si chart speed set at?  It should be pretty low at those speeds. If your chart speed is set to high everything gets compacted on the screen.  If it's set to low everything gets stretched. Does the image change when the trolling motor is off vs running?  Maybe you are seeing interference from the motor.  Are the Helix and trolling motor wired to the same battery?  

I have the first generation Helix 5si with the HD transducer on my kayak and i get good detail.  Like others have mentioned your chart speed should match your boat speed and you'll have to play with the sensitivity till you get the picture you are looking for.  Setting it to high can result in getting a lot of "junk" in the picture.  You also want to have the distance set to about 3x the depth you are at but i tend to go a little further and it works for me.  

 

Post some pictures and that can help diagnose the issues you are having as well.  

I am sure WayneP will chime in as he is the humminbird guru.

22 hours ago, IndianaOutdoors said:

What is your si chart speed set at?  It should be pretty low at those speeds. If your chart speed is set to high everything gets compacted on the screen.  If it's set to low everything gets stretched. Does the image change when the trolling motor is off vs running?  Maybe you are seeing interference from the motor.  Are the Helix and trolling motor wired to the same battery?  

I believe it is wired to trolling motor battery. Hopefully it is I'll check tomorrow, thanks 

If it's wired to the same battery you're probably getting allot of interference.

On 9/22/2017 at 11:03 PM, IndianaOutdoors said:

What is your si chart speed set at?  It should be pretty low at those speeds. If your chart speed is set to high everything gets compacted on the screen.  If it's set to low everything gets stretched. Does the image change when the trolling motor is off vs running?  Maybe you are seeing interference from the motor.  Are the Helix and trolling motor wired to the same battery?  

I believe it is wired to trolling motor battery. Hopefully it is I'll check tomorrow, 

1 hour ago, IndianaOutdoors said:

If it's wired to the same battery you're probably getting allot of interference.

Yea I'm hoping that is all it is. So I should run it off the start battery with less problems?

Yes.  That's how mine is wired.  I originally had it wired to the trolling motor batteries and the whole screen was a blur when the trolling motor was running.

On 9/24/2017 at 9:18 AM, IndianaOutdoors said:

Yes.  That's how mine is wired.  I originally had it wired to the trolling motor batteries and the whole screen was a blur when the trolling motor was running.

I haven't tried it yet, haven't been able to get out. But it is blurry even if I'm not running trolling motor....when I get it out if it's not better after I hook it to other battery I will post pics 

If it's not interference then I'm betting you have the chart speed set too high. Try setting it on 1 or 2.  I use mine at chart speed 4 while cruising 4-5mph.

22 hours ago, IndianaOutdoors said:

If it's not interference then I'm betting you have the chart speed set too high. Try setting it on 1 or 2.  I use mine at chart speed 4 while cruising 4-5mph.

10-4, thanks 

On 9/26/2017 at 9:43 PM, Bigchunk said:

10-4, thanks 

Ok so the chart speed was at 5, set it to one, made a huge difference, and the other distortion was from the trolling motor. Thanks all for your help 

Happy to help.