Humminbird steps up again

[McCarter]

In keeping tradition with leading the way in innovative fish finding technology, Humminbird Electronics again seperates itself from the pack.

Humminbird® Expands Innovative Sonar Offerings With the Addition of Down Imaging™
2009-09-28

EUFAULA, Ala. (Sept., 2009) – Expanding on an impressive list of sonar capabilities, Humminbird® announces the addition of Down Imaging™ Sonar to its groundbreaking Side Imaging® technology.

"Humminbird's goal continues to be to provide anglers with the most innovative technology and Down Imaging is the next step in that process," said Dale Logue, product manager for Humminbird.  "Adding Down Imaging to Side Imaging, and our new SwitchFire™ Traditional Sonar, the opportunity to find highly productive fishing spots is unprecedented."

Like Humminbird's innovative Side Imaging Sonar, which revolutionized the marine electronics industry, Down Imaging presents picture-like images of the bottom.  Down Imaging views are focused directly beneath the angler's boat, giving a detailed look at structure and the water column.  Down Imaging and Side Imaging together give anglers an incredibly detailed, full 180° view of the bottom.

Click link to read more : http://www.humminbird.com/company/media/press_release.aspx?id=1278

Here are some screen shots












McCarter himself

[River Walker]

 Lowrance already has it.

[McCarter]

already has what?   theylowrance cant even get the bugs worked out of there side imaging?

[ROI Outdoors]

Lowrance's technology is different than Hummingbird's; they are both in a league of their own but Hummingbird's imaging capabilities are definitley ahead of Lowrance.  I hope Lowrance does duplicate the technology because it is the competition between the 2 that drives the improvements - hopefully we will be able to count the zebra mussels on small rockpiles soon!

[Waterfoul]

At this point in time you cannot even get a Lowrance with SI.

[McCarter]

yes because they are having problems getting the bugs worked out of the SI.  Im not trying to knock lowrance, they make an excellent product, too. 

[Savage]

I have the H-bird side imager and can tell you it rocks.  I can't wait to see the down imaging.  Can I get it as an upgrade to my current unit?

[Savage]

Oh never mind, I read the press release and it looks like I can get it as a free software upgrade.

COOL! 

[Joby @ Humminbird]

Oh never mind, I read the press release and it looks like I can get it as a free software upgrade.

COOL! 

Yes you willbe able to download the new software  in January 2010 for the new Down Imaging feature. It is free of charge.

[thedude]

Joby - is there plans to have the down imaging for the 797?

i noticed its the only model excluded, but i was under the impression it would be capable since it has the same transducer etc. I guess i'm just keeping my fingers crossed that the 797 was the one-off that didn't make it into the first release because of the different sized screen.

[Joby @ Humminbird]

Joby - is there plans to have the down imaging for the 797?

i noticed its the only model excluded, but i was under the impression it would be capable since it has the same transducer etc. I guess i'm just keeping my fingers crossed that the 797 was the one-off that didn't make it into the first release because of the different sized screen.

We make every attempt to make software upgrades free and available on as many units as possible but in some cases we are constrained by hardware limitations. This is the case with the 797. Unfortunately the 797 doesn't have the memory and program space to handle the addition of the Down Imaging functionality so it is not possible to upgrade the 797 with the Down Imaging capabilities.

[Lightningboy]

My chevy is better than your ford.  LOL

That's about what this comes to.  Everyone should be happy they got a choice.  With only 2 major companies, we need all the competition possible.

I waited for Lowrance for a couple of reasons.  I like the screen look of lowrance sonar better than H'bird.  Second reason is the lowrance net set up.  This is the future of marine electronics; integration of your boat controls & sonar/gps.

I predict your boat will have a "brain" based on sonar/gps in the future.

We all better get over the "secret spot" mindset too.  It won't be long til they work out how to get accurate side scan images in waves; once that happens, it won't be long til every spot is mapped and known. 

In 20 years location won't matter as much as presentation, since we'll all know all the spots.