Humminbird Greg Please

[THOMMO59]

G'day Greg,
I'm in Australia and looking to buy a 898 HD SI unit, however, over here they are $2250 -$2500 for the unit where as you guys have them for $1299 upwards.

What I need to know is will the US unit work correctly here? Does it have pre installed mapping or gps etc that doesn't convert. Are the units able to be reset, eg, Imperial to Metric?

All these sorts of questions, if you prefer I PM this stuff to you, please let me know.
thanks

 

[Humminbird Greg]

THOMMO59,
The Domestic (U.S.) version units will operate in Australia however I officially recommend that you purchase an International version 898c Si HD Si Combo model from your local dealer. The Domestic version unit will have U.S. version ContourXD maps in it but should have a world base map that will not have any detail for Australia. It will have imperial measurements only and cannot be reset to display metric measurements. It will also only have U.S. based Time Zones.

 

[THOMMO59]

Thanks Greg,
I had a feeling you might say that, appreciate your response.
cheers

 

[THOMMO59]

Well my new baby arrived, the HB 898 HD SI and I just got back from the maiden voyage. love this thing and I was very indecisive about the images I might get, basically, I thought people were playing me a little. Here's some of my images today, first time out, bugger all experience but thanks to Wayne, Greg and HB TV, I think I did pretty bloody good first time.

 

[Humminbird Greg]

"I think I did pretty bloody good first time"
+1 !

 

[THOMMO59]

Got the new transducer, did a. 5 min test and looks better but won't know for sure until the weekend. Do you recommend dielectric grease in the fittings at the back of the unit?
Thanks

 

[Humminbird Greg]

No I do not. Those contacts are gold plated to reduce the chance of corrosion and should not need anything like that.

 

[THOMMO59]

Thanks mate, I'm in salt water most of the time and thought maybe it would be good preventative maintenance but thanks for setting me straght

 

[Humminbird Greg]

I just thought of this when you mentioned salt water use: If you leave the power on to the unit’s power cable, you may want to use a little there but that is more galvanic versus oxidation but the dielectric grease can help with that too. The only time I have seen any sort of corrosion was when a power cable was left powered and doused daily with salt spray or was submerged in water (which happens when your boat sinks… ). I use to do testing on our products and accessories.

 

[THOMMO59]

Although I'm in salt, I have my unit wired the the main fuse biz under the dash and the power is controlled by a master switch on the dash so I would have to forget to turn all power off to leave it live . We run dialectic grease in all of the fuel injection and ecu connections on our motocross bikes, that's where my idea came from. Are you telling me that you sunk one??

 

[Humminbird Greg]

Not sure of it would be classified as “sunk” or not but the dock lines were the only thing keeping the motor above water. This happened several times to an old DC18 Tracker we had here at Humminbird. Seems we developed a crack in the hull and the auto bilge pump could keep the water out through the week but not always on the weekend (power to the boat house would go off leaving the battery with no way to recharge). Finally set everything up to get the hull welded and coated – no more leaks!

 

[Okuma]

Not sure of it would be classified as “sunk” or not but the dock lines were the only thing keeping the motor above water. This happened several times to an old DC18 Tracker we had here at Humminbird. Seems we developed a crack in the hull and the auto bilge pump could keep the water out through the week but not always on the weekend (power to the boat house would go off leaving the battery with no way to recharge). Finally set everything up to get the hull welded and coated – no more leaks!

I'd love to see some pictures of that!

 

[Major Mark]

Greg,
anything in the future plans for spring '14 for new models (replacement for the 898cHDSI?) that you can divulge? Making equipment upgrade in spring & trying to get ideas of piggy bank expenditure. Basically if I find a good price on a 898 should I jump, or wait for a newer, greater option...

 

[Humminbird Greg]

Nothing that I can talk about Major Mark.
Any new models should be announced before spring, so you should be good to go by then.

Greg Walters at Humminbird

 

[Humminbird Greg]

I'd love to see some pictures of that!

Never thought to get any pictures of it. My thoughts usually were a little graphic at the time…

 

[THOMMO59]

I hope they paid you extra for the R&D work in your own time!
I did a thorough test on the new transducer over the weekend and it kicks ass now! Thanks for all your help. I rang back HB over here and thanked them for their diligance and sending me the new one and they were more shocked that someone actually bothered to ring back and thank them lol.

 

[Major Mark]

figured as much Greg, but thanks for the response