Helix 5 conundrum

[Duckslayer100]

So I got a $50 gift card for Scheels and decided to swing by there over lunch to see if they had Humminbird ice duckers. Asked the associated up there and he showed me the stack.

"You got a Helix 5 Sonar?" he asked.

"Yup," I said. "The DI."

"Oh, well this won't work."

"What?"

"I just was on the phone with a rep because a lot of guys have been asking, and he said the ice tranducer is for the Helix 5 Ice and Sonar units only."

I still had half a mind to buy it anyway because I've read many things to the contrary, but for $100 it's still cheaper just to get it shipped through Amazon.

Anyway, is this legit? Is my DI only good for summer fishing as the Scheels expert suggested? Or will the ice ducer work just fine?

 

[lostinnd]

Use the summer ducer on it, you can make it hang vertical. I believe he is correct there is no DI through the ice ducer.

 

[Vollmer]

I've heard there is no DI, but the unit is still usable for sonar.

 

[luvcatchingbass]

Huh that doesn't make a whole lot of sense that the ice ducer won't work. I can see it not having DI capability but can't it still be changed to flasher mode or run graph mode? I wouldn't necessarily consider someone at Scheels an "expert" especially in the fishing dept, but maybe I just have bad luck and always get the village idiot.

 

[Duckslayer100]

^^^ See, that's what I figure. I mean, I don't care if it doesn't have DI in the winter. I just want it to show me the depth and if there are any fish between the bottom and the ice. He made it sound like it wasn't compatible at all.

I've been Googling to find out more but can't really find a straight answer. And I have seen where people use the summer ducer to run down the hole, but I want to rig that in my boat and I don't feel like fishing the wire out at the end of summer just to use it ice fishing. It's going to be a 3- or 4-beer job just to get the damn thing from my console to the transom.

 

[Captain Ahab]

If it is just a DI unit, it is not designed to show 2D sonar. I think you are SOL for an ice application unless you can mount a DI 'ducer on something to get it to work. Also, DI uses more of a fan shape rather than a cone to produce the image so it wouldn't pick up fish as well from all angles.

 

[cfsfan]

DI unit will work. You just have to goto advanced setting and change it to ice mode instead of DI mode.

 

[Captain Ahab]

I would go Jason Halfen's web page(and send him an e-mail) or pose the question to him on a walleyecentral.com forum.

 

[guywhofishes]

Huh that doesn't make a whole lot of sense that the ice ducer won't work. I can see it not having DI capability but can't it still be changed to flasher mode or run graph mode? I wouldn't necessarily consider someone at Scheels an "expert" especially in the fishing dept, but maybe I just have bad luck and always get the village idiot.

THIS!!!!!^^^^^^ dumber than a box of rocks

and the young colored kid is super arrogant while being wrong about everything I have asked - at least the other guys are humbly wrong

 

[Duckslayer100]

If it is just a DI unit, it is not designed to show 2D sonar. I think you are SOL for an ice application unless you can mount a DI 'ducer on something to get it to work. Also, DI uses more of a fan shape rather than a cone to produce the image so it wouldn't pick up fish as well from all angles.

It's a combo unit. The Helix 5 DI Sonar/GPS.

Unless the SwitchFire sonar and DI aren't separate entities but, in fact, the same damn thing.

 

[guywhofishes]

If it is just a DI unit, it is not designed to show 2D sonar. I think you are SOL for an ice application unless you can mount a DI 'ducer on something to get it to work. Also, DI uses more of a fan shape rather than a cone to produce the image so it wouldn't pick up fish as well from all angles.

yep - DI measures a narrow slice or line rather than a cone - holy cow would a guy miss a bunch of stuff other than what's luckily in the "fan" or directly under (in the fan) - a guy would miss like 75% of approaches

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[tommygun23]

I know like my Lowrance Elite 5 hdi that I have been debating whether to get the ice pack you will not have DI with the ice ducer but you still have the capabilities of 2D sonar. But The lowrance isnt strictly DI. I am unfamiliar with the Helix.

 

[Motor Mouse]

Yes the DI unit will work. The enclosed instructions with the ice ducer tells you how to configure the DI unit.

 

[Captain Ahab]

It's a combo unit. The Helix 5 DI Sonar/GPS.

Unless the SwitchFire sonar and DI aren't separate entities but, in fact, the same damn thing.

If you have sonar capabilities, the ice 'ducer should work. I would still ask Jason. 'Bird makes so many different configurations, it can be very confusing. I was trying to figure out how many Helix 10's would do 360 earlier this year.

 

[Captainbrad]

It will work on your unit. Like many said the di function won't work. Like someone else said just go in and turn that screen off for winter and you are done. The ice ducer will work on any unit but will only work on the 2d function. Last winter I hooked one up for a buddy with the di/si unit and turned the two screens off for him. Worked great.

 

[LukeLuke]

yep - DI measures a narrow slice or line rather than a cone - holy cow would a guy miss a bunch of stuff other than what's luckily in the "fan" or directly under (in the fan) - a guy would miss like 75% of approaches

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I wonder how many know this. In summer, while drift fishing (side drifting), the DI is almost useless.

 

[phillyblunt701]

I've been looking to get an ice ducer for my helix 5 di gps as well and it looks like the xi 9 20 transducer will work.

 

[Captainbrad]

I've been looking to get an ice ducer for my helix 5 di gps as well and it looks like the xi 9 20 transducer will work.

thats the one.

 

[livininavandownbytheriver]

I have the Helix SI, which has the DI capabilities, so I emailed Humminbird directly about it and they told me to use the XI 9 20. They told me that it will work. So I plan on putting that together. I would assume it would also work for your DI. I know that there are special instructions to follow with the SI unit and there probably is for the DI as well, like mentioned before.