Power up hummingbird 798ci from house

[troypb]

How can power my Hummingbird 798 ci fishfinder/gps from the comfort of my house the view my Navionics Hot Maps cards of different fihing spots since its 14 degrees here in Ky. I see this at Bass Pro so I know its possible.

 

[John_S]

Re: Power up hummingbird 798ci from house

Minimaly, you need a HB power cable and a 12V DC 1A source. Push the power plug onto the connection in the back. You might need some tape to hold it on with. With no transducer attached, it will come up in demo mode like you see in Bass Pro. I think the demo location is somewhere in FL so you will need to zoom out and move curser to the lake you want.

I use a portable power set-up that includes the same lock in mount as the boat. It has transducer and I can get a gps lock within my living room.

HB released new S/W in January that includes down imaging capabilities plus other enhancements and bug fixes. It is easy to do via SD card, but you want to make sure you have good power source and connection. A power glitch during the update might mean you have to send the unit into HB. Otherwise wait to do it in your boat.

 

[pduquette]

Re: Power up hummingbird 798ci from house

I got the kits from HB to hook up to Pc via usb . and there is a power cable with 2-9v to hook up to the power terminal . This will last about 30 minutes with acessories attached . My 717 dosen't have the sd card , but the caseing has a spot for one... Either of you have the external gr50 gps ?? peter

 

[John_S]

Re: Power up hummingbird 798ci from house

I got the kits from HB to hook up to Pc via usb . and there is a power cable with 2-9v to hook up to the power terminal . This will last about 30 minutes with acessories attached . My 717 dosen't have the sd card , but the caseing has a spot for one... Either of you have the external gr50 gps ?? peter

Be careful with PC-USB on higher powered color screens. New batteries don't last long. You don't want them to die during the S/W load.

I have the same 798ci model as the poster. It has internal 50 channel. On the main fishing boat I use it on, I have GHRA 50 channel, which is the high accuracy receiver that is now discontinued. Question?

 

[pduquette]

Re: Power up hummingbird 798ci from house

I have the 16 , and was hopeing the upgrades in the sw would allow for the 50 . Like you mentioned the price has seemed to drop /as since they were discontinued . Even Hb has said they hadn't tried it w/ the 717 for compatibility .I may have to be the guinneepig LOL .peter

 

[John_S]

Re: Power up hummingbird 798ci from house

The 50 channel receivers draw more power, which may be too much for the earlier units. I discussed this with Greg when I still had a 797 which has the same issue. The newer receivers seem to lock on to more satalites and quicker than the 16 channel. If you don't mind messing with cables, you can wire the new receivers to be powered by a switch and not the unit. Idealy the same switch that would provide power to the unit.

 

[pduquette]

Re: Power up hummingbird 798ci from house

Thanks for the reply <and sorry 'bout the thread re direction> for now I will keep reading the HB site ..I don't wanna mess up my unit too much before I learn how great it is to start with ! thanks peter

 

[Deltaden]

Re: Power up hummingbird 798ci from house

I asked the same question on another forum and was told by someone to use a 3 amp in-line fuse ON BOTH POS AND NEG LINES between the 12v garden tractor I have available and the unit. Does that sound OK?
Also, It was suggested to purchase a PC-11 Power Cable from HB for the out-of-water practice sessions. Any comments welcome

 

[John_S]

Re: Power up hummingbird 798ci from house

I asked the same question on another forum and was told by someone to use a 3 amp in-line fuse ON BOTH POS AND NEG LINES between the 12v garden tractor I have available and the unit. Does that sound OK?
Also, It was suggested to purchase a PC-11 Power Cable from HB for the out-of-water practice sessions. Any comments welcome

I saw the post and as indicated the PC-11 Power Cable is what comes with the 798. It would probably work fine with a PC-10 if you had one. The PC-11 was originally speced for the larger units and has larger diameter wire and a noise choke. Fuses are sized to protect the wire, so maybe that is where 3A fuse is coming from.

I don't have a HB install manual to look at, but 3-amps seems too large for the 798 manual spec of 650mA draw. Dual fuses seems like overkill, and I have never wired one that way. Mine has a single 1 Amp fuse on the positive side.

I have multiple stations on multiple boats and a portable set-up. Some have PC-11, but most are older and have PC-10. All only have 1A fuses. Never blown a fuse or had a problem. If you have to buy a cable, get the PC-11. A PC-10 w/ 1A would be plenty for a temp hook-up in the garage.

 

[ultra353]

Re: Power up hummingbird 798ci from house

What i use is a cordless drill battery, 12volts or i have one thats 14.4v that works well too( check your fishfinder for acceptable voltages). I get some connectors that fit the prongs that come off the batt and and run some wire to the power cable that powers up the FF. I always run a 1-3 amp inline fuse for safety. Works great and last a long time.