Get your Humminbird education here! Learn about the different technologies offered in Humminbird Fish Finder units
Sonar Technology
Humminbird Fish Finder Single Beam Sonar gives you a precision, 20˚ downlooking sonar beam optimized for the best look at the bottom and structure. Because it’s more focused than wider beams, you’ll be able to penetrate to incredible depths, as well as see better definition and less dead zone than wider beams.
Benefits: Humminbird Single Beam Sonar Single Beam technology offers a great tool for locating fish, structure and determining bottom composition directly below the boat. With a single beam system, you’ll get:
- Better bottom and structure definition with our precision narrow beam.
- Easy to understand coverage – total coverage for fish and bottom is equal to 1/3 the depth (i.e. in 30´of water, you’re seeing an area 10’ wide).
- Choices of transom, trolling motor, inside hull “puck”, portable and thru-hull mounting transducer options
How Humminbird Single Beam Sonar Works
Precision 20°@-10db 200kHz down looking beam:
- Looks for fish and structure below the boat.
- Narrow cone angle provides better definition and less dead zone than wider beams.
- Narrow beam provides depth capability* up to 1000’.
*Your actual product depth capability depends on product model capabilities, transducer installation, water type, thermal layers, bottom composition and slope.
Humminbird Dual Beam Sonar gives you the great bottom and structure definition of the single beam, as well as a second, wider 60˚ beam that’s looking specifically for fish. It even tells you which sonar beam the fish are in…the display shows fish in the narrow beam as solid, and fish in the wide beam as an outline.
Benefits: Humminbird Dual Beam Sonar Dual Beam technology combines the superior bottom definition of a precision narrow beam and fish identification from a wide beam into one easy-to-understand image. With DualBeam, you’ll get:
- Better bottom and structure definition with the narrow beam.
- Greater coverage for Fish Identification with the wide beam.
- More knowledge about fish location - fish in narrow beam are shown as solid fish symbols, fish in wide beam are shown as hollow fish symbols.
- Easy to understand coverage – total coverage for fish is equal to the depth, while bottom coverage is equal to 1/3 the depth (i.e. in 30´of water, you’re seeing an area 10’ wide).
- Choices of transom, trolling motor, inside hull “puck”, portable and thru-hull mounting transducer options.
How Humminbird Dual Beam Sonar Works Precision 20°@-10db 200kHz down-looking center beam
- Looks for fish and structure below the boat.
- Wider coverage looks for fish outside the narrow beam, but still around the boat.
- Narrow beam provides depth readings up to 1000’. Depth capability depends on product model.
*Your actual product depth capability depends on product model capabilities, transducer installation, water type, thermal layers, bottom composition and slope. Broad 60°@-10db 83kHz wide beam: - Wider coverage looks for fish outside the narrow beam, but still around the boat.
- Wide beam provides depth capability* up to 1500’ on a 83kHz system, or 2500’+ on a 50kHz system.
*Your actual product depth capability depends on product model capabilities, transducer installation, water type, thermal layers, bottom composition and slope. 
A Humminbird exclusive, DualBeam PLUS® is the best of both worlds, on one easy to understand display. View the information from your bottom-looking beam and the fishfinding beams separately, together, or even overlaid onto one screen, for the best picture of fish, bottom and structure available. DualBeam PLUS is also more sensitive, revealing additional information from your fishfinding beam, as well as delivering greater depth capability and wider coverage!
Benefits: Humminbird DualBeam Plus
DualBeam PLUS™ technology overcomes the limitations of single beam sonar systems, combining the best capabilities of both narrow and wide beams into one system. A step beyond our traditional DualBeam, DualBeamPLUS offers greater sensitivity and reveals more information from the wide beam. You’ll get:
- Better bottom and structure definition with narrow beam.
- Greater coverage for game fish, bait fish and structure with the wide beam.
- Ability to quickly view narrow and wide beams simultaneously, individually, or “overlayed” together.
- Easy to understand coverage – maximum coverage for fish and bottom is equal to the depth (i.e. in 30´of water, you’re seeing an area 30’ wide), while the narrow beam coverage is equal to 1/3 the depth.
- Extended depth capability to 1500’.
- Choices of transom, trolling motor, inside hull “puck”, portable and thru-hull mounting transducer options.
Fishing Applications:
- When scouting for fish and structure, using both beams simultaneously lets view bottom and structure with best detail, and view a wider area to keep an eye out for active fish and baitfish around the structure.
- When vertical jigging, the wide beam provides a wider area over which you can monitor your bait presentation on-screen – this is especially helpful in wind and current.
- By comparing wide beam and narrow beam bottom depths on-screen, you can maneuver to keep your boat positioned where the fish hang on drop-offs or on other structure.
- Downrigger users can see their “canon balls” in the wide beam display, plus have the extra wide coverage for scouting for bait fish.
How Humminbird DualBeam Plus Works:
Precision 20°@-10db 200kHz down looking center beam
- Looks for fish, bait and structure below the boat.
- Narrow beam provides depth readings up to 1000’. Depth capability depends on product model.
Broad 60°@-10db 83kHz (or 74°@-10db 50kHz) down looking wide beam.
- Wider coverage looks for fish outside the narrow beam, but still around the boat.
- Wide beam provides depth readings up to 1500’ in 83kHz configuration or 2500’+ in 50kHz configuration. Depth capability depends on product model.
Humminbird TriBeam Sonar technology provides 90ยบ wide coverage and directional capability to pinpoint suspended fish to left, right or directly underneath the boat. The precision narrow beam provides bottom and structure detail and the two side beams look for fish and provide the ability to distinguish whether fish are directly below, to the left or to the right of the boat.
Benefits: Humminbird TriBeam Sonar
Tri Beam technology provides wider coverage and directional capability to pinpoint suspended fish to left, right or directly underneath the boat. With Tri Beam, you’ll get:
- Wide 90° total coverage from 3 sonar beams.
- Better bottom and structure definition with our precision narrow beam.
- Ability to distinguish whether fish are directly below, to the left or right of the boat. Solid fish symbols are below the boat, hollow fish symbols pointing left are to the left, and hollow fish symbols pointing to the right are on the right side of the boat.
- Easy to understand coverage – total coverage for fish is equal to twice the depth (i.e. in 30´of water, you’re seeing an area 60’ wide).
- Choices of transom, trolling motor, inside hull “puck”, portable and thru-hull mounting transducer options.
How Humminbird TriBeam Sonar Works:
Two fan-shaped 35°@-10db 455kHz side/down looking beams
- Each beam is oriented so the shallow edge of the beam starts at 45° down from the surface and extends to underneath the boat.
- Both 35° beams together form 90° of coverage.
- Depth capability of up to 160’; max distance out is 160’.
Precision 20°@-10db 200kHz down looking center beam. - Looks for fish, bait and structure below the boat.
- Narrow cone angle provides better definition and less dead zone than wider beams.
- Depth capability* up to 600’
*Your actual product depth capability depends on product model capabilities, transducer installation, water type, thermal layers, bottom composition and slope. 
For a full, 90˚ uninterrupted coverage of fish, bottom and structure, turn to Humminbird QuadraBeam PLUS Sonar. It uses two fan-shaped, 35˚ side- and down-looking sonar beams, a precision down-looking 20˚ beam and a wide, fish-seeking 60˚ sonar beam to help you pinpoint fish and structure. QuadraBeam PLUS Sonar can even tell where to cast, by showing if fish are to the left, right or directly beneath your boat!
Benefits: Humminbird QuadraBeam PLUS Sonar
Humminbird Fish Finder QuadraBeam PLUS technology incorporates all DualBeam PLUS™ capabilities, and provides wider coverage and directional capability to pinpoint fish and structure to left, right or directly underneath the boat. The new QuadraBeam PLUS transducer provides improved sensitivity and imaging to the sides of the boat, while the unit offers several choices for viewing this information on-screen. With QuadraBeam PLUS, you’ll get:
- All DualBeam PLUS advantages of better definition and wider coverage.
- Ability to distinguish whether fish and structure is below, to the left or right of the boat.
- Wide 90° continuous sonar coverage (no gaps) from 4 sonar beams.
- Three panel QuadraBeam view showing you down, left and right simultaneously.
- Easy to understand coverage – total coverage for fish and bottom is equal to twice the depth (i.e. in 30´of water, you’re seeing an area 60’ wide).
- Choices of transom, trolling motor, inside hull “puck”, portable and thru-hull mounting transducer options.
Fishing Applications:
- Watching the Humminbird Fish Finder QuadraBeam PLUS view will help you understand where the structure and fish are located. When you see structure or fish to one side, cast in that direction – you’ll put your bait where the fish are.
- When you’re scouting for structure with traditional sonar, you’ll likely miss structure off to the left or right, but with Humminbird Fish Finder QuadraBeam you’ll have wider coverage and can find that structure. Either you’ll find structure you would’ve missed, or you’ll find it in less time.
- When trolling or fishing along a submerged drop-off, you can monitor the bottom position in the side beams to keep your boat positioned at the edge of the drop off, or at a constant distance.
- When trolling, you’ll likely see bait fish to the left or right. When you spot baitfish to either side, swing the boat around and troll parallel to your wake to put your bait in the area of the baitfish.
How Humminbird QuadraBeam PLUS Works Two fan-shaped 35°@-10db 455kHz side/down looking beams
- Each beam is oriented so the shallow edge of the beam starts at 45° down from the surface and extends to underneath the boat
- Both 35° beams together form 90° of coverage..
- Depth capability of up to 160’; max distance out is 160’.
Precision 20°@-10db 200kHz down-looking center beam. - Looks for fish, bait and structure below the boat.
- Depth capability up to 1000’. Depth capability depends on product model.
Broad 83kHz 60°@-10db down-looking wide beam. - Wider coverage looks for fish outside the narrow beam, but are still around the boat.
- Depth capability up to 1500’. Depth capability depends on product model.
If you spend your time fishing along banks, the shallows, under docks or around pilings, Humminbird Wide Side™ Technology was tailor-made for you. Its two conical 16˚ beams look to the left and right of your boat, finding fish and structure near the surface out to 160 feet! Its down-looking 24˚ beam constantly measures depth, as well as revealing fish and structure directly below.
Benefits: Humminbird Wide Side
Wide Side technology combines left and right sidefinding beams that scan for fish and structure to the sides of the boat. This configuration is popular with anglers fishing shallows, along the banks, under docks and around pilings. With Wide Side, you’ll get:
- Ability to view structure and fish near to the water surface, but out to the sides.
- Ability to look left, right or both directions simultaneously – always with digital depth on-screen.
- A single down-looking beam to track depth and show bottom contour.
- Choices of transom and trolling motor mount transducer options.
Fishing Applications:
- Save time when fishing around docks by using Wide Side to look underneath the dock to see if there’s fish before you start casting. If you don’t see the fish, move on and concentrate your fishing elsewhere.
- When trolling along banks, scan to side to look for fish and structure – cast to bank when you see a good spot.
How Humminbird Wide Side Works Two conical 455kHz 16°@-10db side-looking beams
- Each beam is oriented so the shallow edge of the beam starts at 7° down from the surface and extends down another 24°.
- Maximum distance out is 160’. Distance capability depends on product model.
Optimized 200kHz 24°@-10db down-looking center beam. - Looks for fish, bait and structure below the boat.
- Depth capability up to 160’. Depth capability depends on product model.
Humminbird Advanced 3D Sonar uses a unique array of six sonar beams to show you an incredibly detailed, real-time, three dimensional view of contours, drop-offs and other features of the bottom you simply can’t see with traditional sonar. You can even view the 3D image and 2D sonar side-by-side for complete understanding of your favorite hot spots!
Benefits: Humminbird Fish Finder 3D Plus
Humminbird Fish Finder 3D technology creates a multi-dimensional image of the bottom to reveal contour behind the boat and depth contour side-to-side over a wide 53° area. You’ll see the bottom contour in true 3D, not just a profile of the area below the boat. With 3D, you’ll get:
- Bottom contours in three dimensions, with ability to rotate and tilt the shaded image to enhance your knowledge of the bottom.
- Ability to distinguish whether fish and structure are directly below, or out to the sides. <>
- Ability to view 2D sonar information from all six beams simultaneously.
- Wide 53° continuous sonar coverage (no gaps) from 6 sonar beams.
- Ability to quickly select views that show the bottom in 3D, 2D (traditional graph) or both together in split screen mode.
- Easy to understand coverage – total coverage for fish and bottom is equal to the depth (i.e. in 30´of water, you’re seeing an area 30’ wide).
- Choices of transom, trolling motor and thru-hull mounting transducer options.
Fishing Applications:
- Use 3D to accurately hold boat position over underwater structure, wrecks and reefs. You’ll clearly see where the boat is in relation to the structure as the screen updates in real-time.
- Use 3D when fishing submerged creek beds or along drop-offs to easily follow the underwater contour.
- View both 3D and 2D in split screen mode for complete understanding of bottom contour in 3D, and detailed view of fish and structure in the 2D screen.
- Locate hard and soft bottom transitions over a wide area by viewing all 6 beams simultaneously in a 2D graph.
How Humminbird Fish Finder 3D Plus Works:
Six conical 16°@-10db 455kHz down-looking beams:
- Beams are arranged to provide 53° continuous side-to-side coverage (16° front-to-back).
- Each beam overlaps the adjacent beam enabling “between the beam” detection of fish and structure at 11 points.
- For 3D image, depth is measured in each individual beam and plotted on-screen to reveal side-to-side depth contour. Successive sonar updates are connected together to create a complete picture. The image of the bottom is rendered.
- For 2D graph, sonar from 2 center beams is used to create a profile of the bottom and structure.
- Depth capability up to 240’ in 3D; 1000’ in 2D 83kHz
Alternative 60°@-10db 83kHz down-looking beam:
- Extends depth capability to 1000’ in 2D mode.
*Your actual product depth capability depends on product model capabilities, transducer installation, water type, thermal layers, bottom composition and slope
Another Humminbird first, Side Imaging Sonar will literally change the way you look at sonar. It shows you a true, picture-like view of the bottom, structure and fish on one or both sides of your boat, in real-time. And you can quickly change screens to view your traditional 2D sonar, or both at one time, mark the GPS location of structure you see onscreen, and more. You won’t find this technology anywhere but Humminbird.
Benefits: Humminbird Side Imaging Sonar
Humminbird Fish Finder Side Imaging™ provides picture-like images of the bottom, structure and fish, and covers an enormous area at one time – it’s the ultimate structure-finding tool! Plus, patent pending Side Imaging also offers all traditional down-looking sonar capabilities built-in, so you’ll have everything you need in one unit. With Side Imaging, you’ll get:
- A picture-like view of the bottom to both the left and right sides of the boat
- Up to 480 side-to-side bottom coverage at one time.
- Total 180° coverage for spotting bait and game fish in open water.
- Ability to pinpoint the location of fish and structure below, to the left or right of the boat.
- Ability to mark the GPS location of structure to the sides of the boat via and the sonar cursor.
- All DualBeam PLUS sonar capabilities including better definition and wider coverage for traditional down-looking sonar.
- Split screen viewing options to show traditional down-looking and Side Imaging sonar simultaneously.
- Alternative frequency selections to optimize for best image clarity or maximum coverage.
- Choices of transom, trolling motor, and thru-hull mounting transducer options. Side Imaging is not compatible with glue inside the hull applications.
Fishing Applications
- As a pre-fishing tool, Side Imaging lets you cover more area in less time to locate your winning spots before the tournament. Side Imaging lets you cover enormous areas of the bottom with one pass, allowing you to discover bottom structure that would typically take many passes and much more time with traditional sonar to locate.
- The Side Imaging lets you see to both the left and right simultaneously, so when you spot structure you’ll know which side of the boat it’s on. Now you can cast towards the structure, or if it’s further out just use the sonar cursor to mark the structure’s location and motor to it using GPS coordinates.
- Once you’ve spotted bottom structure on Side Imaging, you’ll understand its orientation on the bottom so you can develop the best strategy to fish it. Traditional sonar is only one dimensional, but Side Imaging offers a “top down” topographic style presentation that virtually maps how structure lies on the bottom. For example, use the sonar cursor and Mark capability to save the GPS location of both ends of a fallen log, then just fish between those two marks.
- Side Imaging provides a great picture of bottom hardness – hard bottoms provide a stronger return and typically appear as lighter shades than the surrounding softer bottom. When fishing for those species that hang on hard bottoms or the transition, its easy to maneuver the boat along the boundary by just keeping the bottom edge at a consistent distance on the display.
- Once you’ve spotted promising structure, use the traditional down-looking sonar capabilities to spot the precise depth of suspended bait and game fish around the structure just like your typical fishfinder. SI offers our top-of-the-line downlooking sonar technology – you’ll have incredible sensitivity and detail.
- When trolling open water, you’ll likely see bait fish to the left or right. When you spot baitfish to either side, swing the boat around and troll parallel to your wake to put your bait in the area of the baitfish.
How Humminbird Side Imaging Sonar Works:
Two blade-shaped 80°@-10db 262kHz side-/down-looking beams:
- Each beam is oriented so the shallow edge of the beam starts at the surface and extends to underneath the boat.
- All beams together form 180° of coverage
- Depth capability of up to 150’ for clearest images; distance out to 360’ on each side. Under optimum conditions, both greater depths and distances are possible.
- Alternative 455kHz operation for these beams results in slightly less total coverage of 160°, but even higher definition images.
Precision 20°@-10db 200kHz down-looking center beam: - Looks for fish, bait and structure below the boat.
- Depth capability up to 1000’. Depth capability depends on product model.
Broad 50kHz 74°@-10db down-looking wide beam: - Wider coverage looks for fish outside the narrow beam, but are still around the boat.
- Depth capability up to 3000’. Depth capability depends on product model and transducer.
*Your actual product depth capability depends on product model capabilities, transducer installation, water type, thermal layers, bottom composition and slope
Interpreting the Side Imaging View on Your Humminbird Fish Finder
The Side Imaging “picture” is very different than a traditional sonar view, but is easily understood with just a couple of basic tips. First, since Side Imaging looks to the sides, the position of your boat is moved to the top middle of the screen and is represented by a boat icon. Sonar returns coming from the left and right side of boat are drawn on the corresponding side of this icon. The most current sonar information appears at the top of the screen, and the older sonar history scrolls towards the bottom. Second, when the sonar ping is first emitted, it travels through the “water column” that shows up as a dark, symmetrical band down the middle of the screen. This band will show returns from fish, structure and other objects below and slightly to the sides of boat. The left and right edges of the water column vary as the depth changes - much like traditional sonar, but turned 90 degrees. Lastly, once Side Imaging profiles the bottom below the boat, it continues to look further and further to the sides of the boat to define the bottom contour out to 360 feet using a topographic style shaded image. Remember, Side Imaging uses sonar, so strong sonar returns appear bright and weak sonar returns appear dark. To gain the most from this image, just apply these rules of thumb:
- Lighter shades of blue typically represent terrain rising from the bottom. Sometimes, very hard bottoms caused by solid rock surfaces also appear as whiter shades.
- Neutral shades of blue represent flatter terrain.
- Dark shades of blue represent descending terrain.
- Objects standing off the bottom typically appear as a bright spot or clearly defined bright shape with an adjacent dark “sonar shadow”. This shadow is not caused by light, but is actually the lack of sonar return because the object has already reflected the sonar energy. Generally, long shadows indicate the object is tall, and small shadows indicate a short object. Its important to note the shadow will often tell you more about the object than the primary sonar reflection. Objects suspended off the bottom (fish) do not have an adjacent shadow; often you can see a shadow, but at some distance away from the object. The greater this distance, the further the object is off the bottom.
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