Humminbird 570 DI Fishfinder- A Bust!

Well, I will be sending my second 570 DI back to Amazon! This one also does not go to "Simulator" mode when I first power it up  . As per instruction manual, if you hook it up to your battery without connecting the transducer, it will go into the Simulator mode so you can play around with it and get more familiar with it's functions. I know it's kinda picky, but if one function doesn't work, can you be completely certain all the others are working properly??

When I emailed Humminbird, they wanted me to send it back to them for repair! Um...no. Thankfully, I ordered it thru Amazon and in 2 days, they had another one on my front porch and took the old one. Guess I'll be doing that again. 

Looks like the search continues..... anyone have some recs for a simple, quality FF around $300-$400?

Wow that just plain stinks.  I bought my 597 DI from Cabelas and it was fine out of the box.  Out of curiousity, did you update the firmware after registering it on the HB website?  Just a guess....but who knows it might have helped!

Hey, thanks for the sympathy and the advice. I registered my first one and thought I updated the firmware. Even emailed HB folks and they said it wasn't working right. But when I tested the second one, I was away from home and hadn't registered it yet. Will do that tonight. So am I to assume you were able to use the "Simulator" mode?

BTW- nice setup on your yak! 

Hey, thanks for the sympathy and the advice. I registered my first one and thought I updated the firmware. Even emailed HB folks and they said it wasn't working right. But when I tested the second one, I was away from home and hadn't registered it yet. Will do that tonight. So am I to assume you were able to use the "Simulator" mode?

BTW- nice setup on your yak! 

Thank you kindly.  Yes it goes to simulator mode whenever it doesn't see the transducer.  I hope you can get your issues resolved there is nothing more maddening than defective equipment out of the box.

So, sent back the second 570 DI and sat down to order yet another 570 and couldn't do it. After talking to the folks at HB, (they were pretty nice about it all, as they should have been), I ended up ordering the 597 ci HD combo. Got it yesterday and it worked right out of the box. May get out on the water tomorrow to try it for real. Love the color and that was the one option I thought I could go without. Can't believe the difference between b/w and color. I guess it was meant to be or either it was HB's marketing ploy to get me to buy up!

Are you all shooting through the hull with the DI technology or is your Xducer in the water?

I was told by somebody who does installs that you only get around 10% signal loss shooting through a boat hull, so shooting through a kayak hull  is no trouble at all.

I was told by somebody who does installs that you only get around 10% signal loss shooting through a boat hull, so shooting through a kayak hull  is no trouble at all.

Quite true and it does make for a clean install.  I opted for keeping my transducer in the water for accurate temperature readings......important when fishing our local lakes.

I shoot through my kayak hull with my 200kHz Xducer but I read that the new DI and downscan which have 400 and 800 kHz modes do not shoot through a hull very well. That is why I am curious to hear from someone who has actually done it.

I installed my first 570 DI with thru hull transducer and it appeared to be working well accept that it didn't go to "Simulator" mode. The second one didn't work either. I caved in a bought the HB 597ci HD blah blah blah and have yet to try it on the water. But the first DI seemed to work fine. I used the foam puck method and mounted it directly under the seat inside my WS T120. Did the same thing with the newest HB. Of course with little experience on Puget Sound and what the bottom supposed to look like, I can't be sure it gave me the picture it is supposed to. Not much help, eh? Sorry.

I will be trying it out on the Sound next weekend and will may have a better review of it.

So I'm replying to my own post! Is that sad or what?  But just an FYI for anyone interested in a HB FF or any other FF for that matter. Anyway, I guess the folks from HB monitor this site cuz I got a PM this am from their Customer Service dept apologizing for my frustration regarding the 570 DI units I ordered. Hmm. That was nice though...

Apparently, they knew there were some units that were shipped without the Simulator mode on them.  I got two of them! But they didn't do anything about it cuz they figured folks would just hook them up in their power boats and fiddle with it on the water with the transducer hooked up. Hmm....

I can't say I blame them, it doesn't make sense not to sell something just because a few are missing an (uneccesary) option that most people will never use.

I can't say I blame them, it doesn't make sense not to sell something just because a few are missing an (uneccesary) option that most people will never use.

The very least they could have done was slip in a note in the box (or...preferably, note this somehow to make the buyer aware before the purchase) describing the missing "option" that's standard on other units of the same model.

Thumbs up to Hummingbird. The fact that they sought you out says a lot about a company.
Enjoy your 597! I have a non DI version and love it! Though it does suck a lot of juice so plan on a bigger battery if you want more than a day of fishing time. I have a 9ah and that works pretty well.

I can't say I blame them, it doesn't make sense not to sell something just because a few are missing an (uneccesary) option that most people will never use.

The very least they could have done was slip in a note in the box (or...preferably, note this somehow to make the buyer aware before the purchase) describing the missing "option" that's standard on other units of the same model.

A company does not want a sub standard product to leave it's plant but once it does it is then a matter of minimizing damage. If there is a strong possibility that the error will go unnoticed by the majority of customer they will most likely cross their fingers and wait.
The fact that they found this thread means that they are searching for discussion related to "missing simulator"