Review on Humminbird XI 20 Ice Transducer by Aaron Kindler

I am using a Humminbird 597ci HD with this converter. I have three reviews. Firstly, if you're fishing alone (ie no other Vexilar, Marcum or other flashers around) this ice fishing tackle works fantastic. In addition to the flasher, I found a feature on the 597 that I use to outsmart many others. RTS window. RTS stands for Real Time Sonar and will operate at its maximum signal rate while the rest of your chart scrolls to the left. I have used this feature to see the larger crappies straight away and in a large school I can pull the lure up and out of the school to only lure the most aggressive fish into a bite. Great feature. Now for the two things I didn't like. First, if you're in a clam or other shack and your fishing buddy has another tackle, the 597 ice rig will pick up ALL the glitches and become very complex / bordering on useless. Would love to help Humminbird fix the kinks in their products with some product research and development on the subject as it's great on its own but next to useless when the temps are below -20 and you have a fish pal that's in one Hole in two feet fishes away from you. The last problem I had was the connection cable. I'm attaching a photo of what happened on the ice after the first ride. It's supposed to attach two cables, but the design doesn't work well with ice build-up. Vexilar or Marcum turn signal wires are manufactured as a single wire; Why can't a company that makes great products like Humminbird do the same? I love Humminbird products; Actually I sold my HDS 7 from Lowrance so I can add 999 to my console on my boat. I like the 597ci HD on my boat and when fishing hard water when I'm alone. But the rest of the units leave a lot to be desired. Live fishing is great to try.