GT56 works best with what MFD?

[azbohunter]

I have a friend who guides for sturgeon, he runs a 94svUHD/GT56 and is unhappy with SI. He has a friend who runs a Hummingbird SI and he has fished with him and is blown away by the difference. He called me and asked why? I have read the the 94 is not capable of using the GT56 to it's full capability? Is this factual? Is there a Garmin MFD that would be comparable to HB in SI (and I am assuming he is using MEGA) I should add, without going to a 8616 ...
Thanks for your opinions!

[puhlw]

Depends what HB MFD he has. I used to have a gen 1 solix. Side imaging was very good but only less that 20ft in depth. DI was never very good. My biggest complaint with that unit is constantly having to adjust it for different conditions.

I currently have a GT56 with a 943xsv and also run a 8612xsv. I dont see a noticeable difference with these. Both are very good. With that said I limit my range to no more than 60ft for side imaging.

Here is the thing with side imaging, there are a LOT of factors that can make your image different besides the unit itself. In most cases your not going to get images like you see on the garmin/HB website or a commercial. Those are done under optimal conditions.

For instance

1. Transducer placement, turbulent water off your transom can degrade the image
2. Dirty water can degrade your image
3. Current (turbulent water) can degrade your image
4. Pollen in the water can degrade your image
5. Speed of the scan

I would say SI range is the biggest factor. Unless your looking for something huge its just not practical to have 100ft scan range (200 total)

Say you have a full HD unit. 1280pixels wide, so 640 pixels out each side. 100ft side scan range, each pixel equals 1.875" Kind of hard to make a detailed picture of anything with 1.875" pixel blocks unless the target is huge. You did mention sturgeon though so....

If you don't want to break the bank a 943XSv or the echomap ultra 10. Both have higher screen resolutions. I would also look at transducer placement. I have found this turbulent water off the transom to be a factor in many cases, especially square backed aluminum boats

[azbohunter]

Thanks for your input, much appreciated. I will say this two guys/boats I mentioned team up in guiding for sturgeon so they fish side by side, same waters and conditions. He is hoping to upgrade his MFD to combine with his GT56 to have something close to comparable. He is also considering LVS32. I have fished these same waters for salmon and scoped several large sturgeon, in 25' of water, they look pretty awesome when they are 7 or 8 feet long!

[azbohunter]

To add to this thread, just looking for advise. I found out the friend is running Helex 9 with MEGA. So then my question is what MFD, in 10 inch screen, would give the closest imaging using the GT56 under equal conditions. Or won't it happen.

[fishnhams]

All he will get from a 10” unit is a bigger version of the same image he is unhappy with now.

[Ted-LA]

I would think the screen resolution would come into play with the 94svUHD having fewer pixels per inch than a Helix 9', Echomap Ultra 10', etc. Maybe I'm just showing my lack of knowledge and understanding of how that works but my 102 has a much better SV than my 93.

[pdxfisher]

Depends what HB MFD he has. I used to have a gen 1 solix. Side imaging was very good but only less that 20ft in depth. DI was never very good. My biggest complaint with that unit is constantly having to adjust it for different conditions.

I currently have a GT56 with a 943xsv and also run a 8612xsv. I dont see a noticeable difference with these. Both are very good. With that said I limit my range to no more than 60ft for side imaging.

Here is the thing with side imaging, there are a LOT of factors that can make your image different besides the unit itself. In most cases your not going to get images like you see on the garmin/HB website or a commercial. Those are done under optimal conditions.

For instance

1. Transducer placement, turbulent water off your transom can degrade the image
2. Dirty water can degrade your image
3. Current (turbulent water) can degrade your image
4. Pollen in the water can degrade your image
5. Speed of the scan

I would say SI range is the biggest factor. Unless your looking for something huge its just not practical to have 100ft scan range (200 total)

Say you have a full HD unit. 1280pixels wide, so 640 pixels out each side. 100ft side scan range, each pixel equals 1.875" Kind of hard to make a detailed picture of anything with 1.875" pixel blocks unless the target is huge. You did mention sturgeon though so....

If you don't want to break the bank a 943XSv or the echomap ultra 10. Both have higher screen resolutions. I would also look at transducer placement. I have found this turbulent water off the transom to be a factor in many cases, especially square backed aluminum boats

Here is 100' range on a gt50. I think there is plenty to see and learn with this range.





Here are sturgeon at 143' on gt50 in muddy water.



These are at 800kHz. I now have a GT56 that I like even better (but no screen shots with it).