Dude. check several of the topics in the forum 997 si initial setings. this is from one by Rgecy. Use the search box in the upper right.
Transducer should be set to Hi-Def. But could be set to others if you purchased them.
- Hi Def Sidescan is the 455/800khz / 83/200khz standard transducer that comes with the 997,998,898, and 1197
- Compact Sidescan is the 455khz / 83/200khz standard transducer that comes with the 797 and 798
- Sidescan is the older 262/455khz SI / 50/200khz transducer that was made for the 981 and 987.
DI Beam Width - Now I would say leave it on Wide. Basically your seeing everything with that setting.
2D - I would turn the 83khz off. It is really not needed in shallow water and only adds to recording size and decreases ping rate.
Dont know how much you use the navigation screens but I would have one of my presets for this. Remeber, once you get used to the order, you can hit View to move a screen ahead or exit to move a screen back. So ones that are close will still be one button away.
I would also disable any views that you dont need. I never use the Birds Eye Chart View (and a few others...) and have them turned off, so when I move through the views they dont take up extra button pushes and I can flip through quicker!
Chart Speed will be one of those settings that will need to be adjusted with boat speed. Your best SI images will be between 3-5mph and chart speed at 4 would be fine. It would be better if you match your Chart Speed to Boat Speed, so at 3 mph, set to 3 and 5 mph set to 5.
I would also set my Max Depth to something reasonable for your area. I pretty much stay in waters less than 150' deep and set my Max Depth to this. If you lose bottom, it will keep the unit from slowing down the ping rate to almost nothing trying to listen longer thinking its in deeper water! Can affect Recordings especially if this happens.
As for area of coverage, I generally tell people, if you are looking for fish, the smaller the better. I conside the optimal setting to be 2.5-3 times your depth. Especially if you are running 800khz. At 455khz, you can certainly move out farther since the beam looks more towards the surface than the 800khz.
Well, thats all I can think of for now!
Robert