Panoptix Tryouts with Jim Hillburn on Dec 30, 2018© Photos Posted by Mark Primo Miller © Hi-Res Source
Jim Hillburn just got his Panoptix Add-on for his Garmin and these are the first attempts with it. Just using Auto settings and really not knowing much about it. You would think for $1500 that Garmin would give you at least a cheat sheet or quick reference card for it. Anyway, it performed okay but only seemed to have a range of about 100 feet out, gauged by pulling up to an Oil Rig and it's legs. The Transducer was mounted on the Starboard Stern. Dropping a Fishing Jig on the Starboard side did not show up, but it did on the Port Side. The unit also showed some schools of Fish and it showed Jim what I looked like while Scuba Diving underneath. Unfortunately his dead phone battery kept him from taking video. Seems like the unit should be able to record itself - Garmin?? Anyway, while not totally blown away, it does have it's place as a "Live View" video of what is going on below. The online videos from Garmin seem to show much more detail of the bottom structure. Seems like the unit should be able to overlay with down-view too. Anyway, this was a first hand trial by regular Joe's who don't know much about adjusting the unit. The Dive on the Barataria Bay Pogie Boat was short due to very poor visibility. Basically I just fed some of my friends and caught a Soapfish off a FAD on the way up for my Aquarium. Light even had trouble making it to the top of the wheel house at 64 feet. The bottom depth was 89 feet.
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