Chirp

[Shadslinger]

I just ordered a 2nd Garmin unit with chirp sonar to go with my other side view unit. Anybody have screen shots of striper or gizzard shad with the chirp sonar? Is it truly the next best thing or just hype built up by the manufacturers? Real world experiences? Looks mostly the same a regular ol sonar to me..haha I read where size of bait was easier to determine with chirp.

[steviejayvaughan]

I wouldn't believe the bait size thing. I can tell peanuts from mediums, but you can do that with regular sonar most of the time. I like mine, but doesn't really help me find more fish. It does mark pretty well running down the lake.

Peanuts


Medium gizzards


Stripes

[Shadslinger]

I like that. Those are some pretty sharp screenshots

[archenemy]

Feb 1, 2017 17:43:10 GMT -5 Shadslinger said:

I like that. Those are some pretty sharp screenshots

I have the lowrance tm150 medium chirp on my hds-12 gen2. It has better separation than the skimmer but I have trouble with it finding the bottom. Don't use it much as I feel strongly the sonar hub is garbage. Not worth the money IMO.

[coheasion]

I have tried the Chirp settings on my Simrad unit and have not found them that useful TBH. One of the things that kills it for me is that with my transducer if I'm using Chirp I cannot use downscan/Sidescan....and honestly I find using the downscan and sidescan much more useful in finding bait. And when looking for Stripers if they are suspended under you the traditional sonar will find them just as well as Chirp. I have not yet encountered fish holding close to the bottom to see if Chirp will help differentiate the fish from the bottom a bit better though

I set my fishfinder up with a 3 way screen with sidescan across the top like stevie has above and then traditional sonar and downscan splitting the bottom half so I can see all 3 at the same time.

[steviejayvaughan]

That's a 1kw transducer for those shots I think the tm150 is 300 watts. I actually like the sonarhub and for whatever reason got better sidescan performance when I ran my lss2 through it. I agree though the standard 83/200 is all you need paired with sidescan/downscan.

[archenemy]

Feb 3, 2017 9:17:10 GMT -5 steviejayvaughan said:

That's a 1kw transducer for those shots I think the tm150 is 300 watts. I actually like the sonarhub and for whatever reason got better sidescan performance when I ran my lss2 through it. I agree though the standard 83/200 is all you need paired with sidescan/downscan.

You have the gen 3 unit ? The gen 2 won't support ss and chirp simultaneously without the sonar hub processing the chirp. I'm gonna try the lss2 through the hub and see if I can clean up the images.

[steviejayvaughan]

It's a Gen 2. I originally had a M model with no internal sonar or sidescan so the hub did all my sonar processing. I was running a 83/200 and lss2. Upgraded to another Gen 2 unit with integral sonar/sidescan. Hub does the chirp, unit does the sidescan so I can view both.

[Pete D.]

Feb 3, 2017 8:44:33 GMT -5 archenemy said:

Feb 1, 2017 17:43:10 GMT -5 Shadslinger said:

I like that. Those are some pretty sharp screenshots

I have the lowrance tm150 medium chirp on my hds-12 gen2. It has better separation than the skimmer but I have trouble with it finding the bottom. Don't use it much as I feel strongly the sonar hub is garbage. Not worth the money IMO.

Arch I think you should try to update your sonarhub. I have been really happy with mine.

[Pete D.]

Feb 3, 2017 10:54:54 GMT -5 steviejayvaughan said:

It's a Gen 2. I originally had a M model with no internal sonar or sidescan so the hub did all my sonar processing. I was running a 83/200 and lss2. Upgraded to another Gen 2 unit with integral sonar/sidescan. Hub does the chirp, unit does the sidescan so I can view both.

That's cool I'm running an M unit also. I didn't realize anyone else knew about em . I have an lss-1 hub and ducer, and the tm150 hooked to my sonarhub all hooked to my hds 12M and have been real happy with it. I have heard from many that the external sonarhub are clearer and less compressed than the units that have them all internally.