Today I finally finished the Helix installation. There have been so many steps in this process!
Today I cut the new 12 gauge wire that I had looped under my console and installed the new fuse panel.
Here's where the fuse panel will get mounted. This is where my Humminbird Interlink has been mounted for the last 5 or 6 years.
There was about a 1/8 inch gap here at the bottom, so I cut a couple pieces of plastic that I used to shim it and make it pretty close to even. My concern was that not shimming this would put stress on the fuse panel when I tightened the screws down, possibly cracking it.
Here it is, screwed into place.
Now the main power is connected to the panel.
And the leads for the Helix are connected.
The cover is on. This part is finished!
Next, I went to the stern and connected the choke that Humminbird suggested I add, to prevent trolling motor interference. This required me to cut the terminal ends off the onboard charger leads and attach the choke in their place.
After doing all of this, I reconnected the power and negative leads to the cranking battery.
Then I tested everything. Everything worked perfectly.
Next, I updated the software on my 798, so it could network with the Helix. The update want without a hitch. I tested that afterward and it all worked as expected.
I even spent some time playing with the networking settings on both units. In doing so, I found that I could actually view the side imaging from the 798 transducer on the Helix, while also viewing the DI and other screens from the Helix transducer, all on the Helix screen.
I know that as I spend more time with these, I will figure out more stuff.
I'm just glad this part is all done and I can start using it!