998si/di vs. 958di

[LY34]

Ok I want the best possible Down Imaging so would the 958 do better than the 998? I would think that the 958 would be better due to it being DI only, but if its DI is tha same as a 998 I'm gonna spend the extra $ on the 998 an get Side Imaging as well. I currently have a 997 at the console and I'm wanting the DI for my trolling motor. Thanks for any help

[kosmo]

Ok I want the best possible Down Imaging so would the 958 do better than the 998? I would think that the 958 would be better due to it being DI only, but if its DI is tha same as a 998 I'm gonna spend the extra $ on the 998 an get Side Imaging as well. I currently have a 997 at the console and I'm wanting the DI for my trolling motor. Thanks for any help

i believe that the 958 would do better because of it having the dedicated down looking crystal . you will do better especially on the 800khz. eres some pictures that i took today with my 998. there 455khz

[SlabPappi]

I dont know about the 900 series but I put an 1198 on the console and thought the same as you and put an 1158 up front and lets just say im very disappointed in the dedicated crystal 1158. So much so infact I Will probably go with the new Lowrance when the big unit comes out in DEC.And I Would add that Ihave never owned anything but Humminbird.

[LY34]

Thanks guys. Slab I understand were your coming from. I like my 997 BUT... The pics I've seen from some of the Lowrance units are unreal!! They are pricey an I really don't understand there transducer set up plus Lowrance dosent have humminbirdGreg.....lol. good pics kosmo

[rnvinc]

Like kosmo mentioned the 958 has dedicated DI crystals for down imaging where the 998 has computer generated DI images from the info received in the SI crystals...

Both the 958 and the 998 also have 2 separate 2d frequencies...with Switchfire
The 958 has:
200 kHz / 25° @ -10db
455 kHz / 16° @ -10db

The 998 has:
83 kHz / 60° @ -10db
200 kHz / 20° @ -10db

Rickie

[rnvinc]

I dont know about the 900 series but I put an 1198 on the console and thought the same as you and put an 1158 up front and lets just say im very disappointed in the dedicated crystal 1158. So much so infact I Will probably go with the new Lowrance when the big unit comes out in DEC.And I Would add that Ihave never owned anything but Humminbird.

Slabpappi..can you post some pix from your 1158..??

Rickie

[kosmo]

Yes ,i to would like to see some sents ive never seen any from the 1158.also could you give more details as to why you dislike the unit.ive just recently been comparing my 597 to my998 .ilike both but i think that i like the 998 di better while searching for structure,then the597 once ive marked it.it appears to me that the 998s wider di covereage area is helpful.what im saying is with the 998di it doesnt really matter if i go dirrectly over the structure or i still see in at least one of the si crystals were the 597 has to be nore directly over the structure or i will miss it.the 800khz being the harder of the to ferquencies to use for searching.hope that makes cents.im not to good at explainning

[lcookie]

I have a couple different HB units and I feel that the dedicated DI units do produce better images than the DI from SI conversion. On larger and/or harder images the DI from SI shows up fairly well but overall after a day of fishing I feel like the DI from SI leaves me wanting more. Whereas I have to place the DI sensitivity on a SI unit to 16 or more to get a somewhat decent image I rarely ever set my DI unit above 6 and the images are very crisp. I have gotten to the point that I have shut the DI views off on my SI units. One of the biggest things that I have found that makes your images look good or suck is the chart speed. If you are not liking what you see mess around with it and other settings until you get your desired results. When I started I was not liking what I was getting. I knew there was more to be had based on images I saw people posting online. This made me focus more and make me dial in my images to get what I was seeing elsewhere. Also, on the larger screens the resolution goes down. I personally like the image on my 998 better than my 1198, but overall I like the size advantage the 1198 give me when it comes to split screen and when I am out searching for new places to fish. I will use the 1198 to find points of interest and then get on the TM and use the 998 to pin point things to fish. There is no clear cut way to say Low or HB is better. Each has their advantages as it pertains to how an individual fishes. These things cost $$$$$$ so making sure you have dialed in your decision based on how you will use the unit is a must. I have many friends that use LOW and when I am out with them I will see some things and go wow thats whats up and I will see other things and say hum is that it. This goes in reverse too. All these units are awesome and once you get them dialed in there is no looking back. Here are some pics I took yesterday while I was out striper fishing. As the day went on the wind got up and the slight ripple on the water turned into full blown chop with rollers, but I still think I was graphing good quality images.


Trees on both sides of the main river channel. Small pods of bait also.


More bait hanging out above a stand of trees just of the main channel.


Small school of stripers just off of a drop as I was headed to the river channel. These guys were cruising.


School of stripers handing out just off a drop. I was running parallel to the drop in this one. These guys were stationary for the most part.


These are images I took with my 998. These are those harder/larger objects that I mentioned where the DI from SI came out good.

I think the quality of these images give me a clear advantage as it comes to fishing because I pretty much know exactly what is going on below me. Now getting them to bite is a whole new topic

[kosmo]

ok, i went out fishing today and took a few pictures of both the 597di and the 998 to compare.sorry about e of the pictures. between the glare off of the water,boat waves and the sun, sum didnt turn out as well as i would like. this should give sum ideaL of what to expect from a dedicated di transducer and the di fromsi transducer.keep in mind that i was not taking the time to tweek things mutch i was just taking pictures of places that i fished.theres a post that i read somewere were a person is having trouble getting good resuts with there 596.i cant remember were i read that post , but if any nos that person please tell them about these pictures that ive posted. most of the pictures with the 597 are with the unit running on the default setting

[kosmo]

and no i didnt i didnt mean to post those gps coordinates. i got in to big of a hurry ..o well