New fishfinder

I think I am going to go with the hummingbird pmax197 di! Does anyone have any good or bad thoughts on this unit? Will a fish finder with down imaging use more battery as I am going to go with a 10 recharchable battery pack.

Good question I wish I had an answer for you, I think I will take this to the expert. Fishfindermounts.com Wade might have some answers, mean while I am sure someone else might have some info hang in there.

I use a Lowance ff. It has color display, uses more juice than b&w, alarms and other things I don't use. I went with a small, no maintenace battery, 12 volt. I will run lights for night fishing, cats and salt. I used the thread that was posted for pontoons as to wiring, battery box and lights. One battery does it all.....GT.

GT wrote:I use a Lowance ff. It has color display, uses more juice than b&w, alarms and other things I don't  use. I went with a small, no maintenace battery, 12 volt.   I will run lights for night fishing, cats and salt. I used the thread that was posted for pontoons as to wiring,  battery box and lights. One battery does it all.....GT.

How heavy is the battery? I want light as possible thats why 10 rechargeable battery pack seems best.

Probably 2-3 pounds. I place it behind my seat, doesn't effect the balance of the tube. I run it for 5 to 6 hours, don't know how long rechargeables last. Have it in a water tight plastic box.

If you are going with AA rechargeables then I think it may suck it down pretty fast.

I just have the pmax 170 and use a 8 AA rechargeable pack and get 30/40 hrs on a charge. I then picked up a Lowrance elite 4xDi  and it sucked that 8 pack dry in 30 minutes. It is a little bigger unit than the 197di so its not a direct comparison.

I've been thinking about getting the 197di. I'm gonna wait and see how yours works out


I do like the AA packs due to weight and being able to keep a spare pack ready. Its also nice to be able to just buy some alkalines if you're out on vacation somewhere with a dead pack.

i use a 12v battery, small fits on the inside of pocket....i have the 160pmax with dual beam imaging....last a full day of fishing...its black and white so might help last longer too....

fish finder and battery

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Hope this helps

Tony G Fishing

battery, its small picked up at Frys, 18 bucks...

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Thanks everybody! Now the weather just has to cooperate.

Hi Gibbies, sorry, I am late to respond.

The 10ah is a rather large battery for that fish finder. It will likely run it (if the battery is in good condition) for like 10 days straight!

The TE Energy one that "Tony G" has will run it for a good day.

We actually sell fish finder mounting kits for float tubes, and our 2.9ah kit would be great for you. That is here:

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And if you want to go even cheaper, we have a great non-powered version here:

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I hope that helps you Gibbies

Super late to the party on this one obviously, but I just got the Humminbird PiranhaMax 197di and I love it. The thing is sweet, does a great job on the tube and the FishID feature works very well for me. The only thing I wish is that I could view both the sonar and the DI at the same time. Besides that it does more than I need. For the Price I would highly recommend it. I don't think there is a better unit out there right now for under $150.