Weellll, I've been lurking a while and trying to get a handle on this SI technology in anticipation of purchasing it for my bass boat so maybe it's time to come out. BTW, the Whitedog name is one I use on several other forums so I use it whenever I can. It relates to another hobby, upland hunting with pointer and setter dogs. I'm gettting to the point my memory isn't what it once was so using the same user name and password simplifies things for me.
I had planned to get a 700 series depth finder/gps for the bow to be used while on the trolling motor and a 997 or (hopefully) 1197 for the console. Found a 797SI on Ebay at a price almost the same as for a plain bottom machine so purchased it and it should arrive any time now. I've been a really good boy so hopefully Santa will bring me one of the others for Christmas or shortly after. Now, I only have to remove everything from the bilge in the back of the boat and attempt to get wires and cables run. If you have ever owned a bass boat you know that is never as simple as it sounds. I spent thirty years as an Electronics Tech so maybe I still can follow instructions and not blow up a unit.
I'm already a bit confused about the software available and it use so I'll have lots of questions shortly. Meanwhile I'll continue to learn from the posts, pictures and videos here. I'm excited about it and at my age it's not easy to get me excited about anything.