the bigest thing that catches my attention is not the quality of the display

because alot of the pictures i see posted on the internet i still dont know what i am looking at bottom line.   although the image is clearer than standard sonar.  but the fact that the display will cover up to 240 feet on both sides of the boat.   comments

Is it relative to how deep you are?

If your in 8 feet of water.....Does it still shoot out 240 feet?

I want one myself.

I remember going from flashers to paper graphs and then to LCD's.  The visualization between the flashers and Paper/LCD's was astounding.  You had a real visual presentation of the bottom.  

The side imaging finders, while providing an interesting picture, seem difficult to interpret.  At least for me anyway.  The problem is,  the looks you see in the ads are usually "ideal" conditions much like the LCD demo modes in the store.  Getting the thing to display and being able to read it seem like a lot of work and time.  Especially considering the price.  

I've got a 797 and its the best $1000, I've ever spent on electronics. Wish I had the money for the 1197. Yes, you can set the range out to 240 ft. (maybe more, can't remember off the top of my head) and what you see is relative to the depth of the water. When looking at the picture, try to imagine you're in a airplane flying directly overtop the lake and looking straight down on it. The center line is your boat and the darker blue/black to each side of the center line is the water column to the bottom. The lighter shades of blue is the actual bottom contour. It takes a while to get the transducer adjusted correctly and all the settings adjusted, but its worth every penny

There is a yahoo group for side imaging users that you can join. Has alot of great pictures, tips and questions/answers on there.

I'm planning to get a 798 for this upcoming season, but I've heard from a fair amount of people complaining how off the GPS feature was for these units.  

Those of you who have used them...is this true?

I had a 797 that I recently got rid of. It was an excellent unit but if you are going to get a side imaging unit I would save up for one of the larger ones. It is very hard to read the smaller screens. You can however with practice learn to interpret what you are seeing quite well and I found fish with it. I just found myself always on normal sonar screen because I had to get my face six inches from the screen to read in side imaging view.

As far as the reaching out that far to the sides, I had to set mine to about fifty foot to each side to be able to interpret detail. I fish mostly 20'-60' of water if that helps.

My two cents!

not knowing what kind of structure i am looking at is a tough call when deciding to spend that money.  so here is my issue.  if worst comes to worst and i never get to the point where i know exactly what it is i am looking at most of the time i havent gained anything from going with a side image the way i see it.   agree or not?    however like i posted earlier the big advantage will come in with not having to have the boat directly over the structure to pick it up.  

Blanked, let me see if I can help you here. I grew up with Lowrance and after many years of seat time and hours of instruction can use those very well. Not to say there arent others as good, I just know them better.

But...one thing I didn't like was all the time it took to explore structure during limited practice. (too much zig-zagging)

 My 979si has cut that time in at least half and expanded my findings.

 Its parameters...1.depth doesn't affect it, however your center line is wider. Range does affect it..so the closer you look the more you see, 100' each side is where I put mine usually. 2. It'll find bait fish!!! 3. Great for ledges and underwater stumps and laydowns.It'll take you all of two outings to start to get used to it.

 But I drive and waypoint with (in the dash) LC27 and 525 up front ...remember nothing over 6mph with the humingbird and must be mounted transom center.

 If I had to give one up ..it would be the si  IMO but I'm glad to have it along.

Did you get my pm with the web address?

My unit.

I bought a SI about 4 months ago. I only had about 1 year experience with a $200 grayscale sonar before that. I would say the learning curve for each is similar. It is important with either type to run over stuff that you already know what it is. That being said each has their particular things they are better at. I typically run in half screen mode with standard sonar on the left and SI on the right. Best of both worlds in one unit, but you must have the larger screen for that. Even with the larger screen I sometimes have to lean in because the detail is so great.

Some usage things I have noticed

On more than one occasion I ran over a sunken boat. There was no hesitation in recognizing that it was a boat.

Typically when I run over a new hole I know the general shape of the hole first pass.

Most Florida lakes I fish are heavily weeded and I can't see fish on the SI unless they are almost under the boat.

Just like flying in an airplane the higher you are the more area you can see, but the less detailed it is. At 8 ft I usually set the SI range to 40 ft each direction. At 20 ft I usually set it out to 100 ft each direction.

I can see fish beds.

My friends who spend more time on the water typically still pull in more fish than I. (anti Bait Monkey clause)

A story from yesterday.

Just yesterday I saw a fish on the regular sonar side of the screen as I was trolling. I immediately marked it (screen snap shot and gps waypoint on one button) and 5 seconds later he bit my lure as it passed. After releasing the fish I was able to review the screen shot and make the comparisons of the regular and SI. On the SI I could not see the fish at all, but I could see the shape of the entire weed bed that he was hanging over top of. It was a peninsula jutting 40 ft out from a weed covered shore line. He was within feet of the tip of the peninsula. The bottom was 20 ft and the weeds that created the peninsula were 10 ft tall.

You can tell a lot from one pass. On regular sonar it would take me many passes to figure it was a peninsula, not an island. Dose it help me catch fish? Not exactly, but it helps eliminate a lot of water fast.

I didn't know I was gona type that much when I started. I guess I like the thing.

;D

You guys are gonna create a weight control problem for the bait monkey and you are causing me to lust after something electronic :'(. Those are some of the best descriptions of SI benefits I have heard. Thanks.

    I have the 797 and love it. As far as interpreting the images, here is the best way I can describe it. When looking at the right side of the boat, tilt your head 90 degrees to the left... That will show you the bottom, the water column, and then the top of the water... Which you will usually see the bubbles from your prop. The same goes for the left side...In order to interpret the image of the left side, tilt your head 90 degrees to the right. I hope this helps.

Just having images like this come up on the screen has convinced me that I will always have side image. The top picture is a submerged tree with fish all around the top of it. The second picture is a large school of baitfish. Taken with a 997c SI.

d**n!  I just dropped a grand on a Lowrance LCX-28.  I could have bought a SI unit.  Oh well, maybe next year.  I'm beginning to think that I need professional help.  I'm turning into a fishing techno junkie.  ;D

I took my new 997csi out today for the first time. It takes some getting used to but I am in love with it already. I decided to go look at stuff that I knew was there. It blew my mind. I found a sunk boat next to a dock, some tires and all kinds of brush. I also run a Lowrance in the dash. I think it is important to have both.

I did find I got the best images within 100 ft. If any body has any advice as far what settings to run it on, in a lake that doesn't exceed 60ft. I would appreciate it. I think I can get better images according to some of the pics I'm seeing if I could get the settings right.

Calm water and matching the boat speed and graph speed are the two biggest things for me.  If the boat is rocking the picture isnt as sharp.