Simrad GO7 XSE

Electrical and electronic topics for small boats
jimh
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Simrad GO7 XSE

Postby jimh » Tue Dec 08, 2015 10:57 am

About six months ago an article in the old forum announced the introduction of the Simrad GO7, a touch-screen chart plotter with internal GNSS receiver and SONAR. Very recently Simrad announced an updated model for the GO7, the GO7 XSE.

The principal improvement in the GO7 XSE appears to be its design to use the also recently announced TotalScan SONAR transducer. The TotalScan transducer is an array of transducer elements in a single housing, allowing for several modes of SONAR operation with a single transducer instead of individual transducers for each mode. The GO7 XSE and TotalScan transducer will be able to operate in the following modes of SONAR:

--Broadband Sounder, the trade name for conventional downward-directed pulsed SONAR using 83-kHz and 200-kHz frequencies, very short pulse length, and wide-band detectors;

--CHIRP, the confusing name often applied to frequency modulated SONAR using pulse-compression detection methods;

--SideScan, the confusing name for side scan SONAR using left, right, and downward beams simultaneously over a very wide fan angle;

--DownScan Imaging, a trade name for using high-frequency (400 to 800-kHz) downward beams;

--StructureScan, a trade name sometimes used for side scan SONAR

Simrad literature often combines these terms in confusing ways, for example referring to "Broadband Sounder CHIRP" or "StructureScan® HD SideScan" (assuming HD must mean high-definition). In spite of the confusing use of trade names or nebulous terms, and the concatenation of these terms to form even more confusing descriptors for the product, it seems that the GO7 XSE may offer some advantages over prior models, principally in being able to work in many modes with a single transducer.

After a cursory study, it appears that the innovation or improvement or major difference between the earlier GO7 and the new GO7 XSE is found mainly in the SONAR capabilities, namely:

--XSE has built-in capability for FowardScan, the awkward name Simrad uses for a forward-looking scanning SONAR;

--XSE has built-in capability for StructureScan, the awkward name Simrad uses for side scan left-center-right SONAR at various frequencies;

--XSE can work with the TotalScan transducer to implement some of those capabilities, but would require a special transducer for forward scanning SONAR.

To facilitate use of the TotalScan transducer, I suspect that the connector on the GO7 XSE must have changed to the new black 9-pin connector called the xSonic connector from the older-style blue 7-pin connector that was used on the GO7.

Both the GO7 and GO7 XSE have SONAR that can utilize "Broadband Sounder CHIRP", sometimes called by Simrad as "Broadband sonar CHIRP", and exactly what that means is still unclear. As I mentioned, for many years now Simrad has been referring to "Broadband Sounder" as a trade name for what is believed to be conventional pulsed downward-directed monotone or single-frequency SONAR using conventional frequencies from 50-kHz to 200-kHz, and using very short duration pulses and very wide-band detectors. The nebulous term "CHIRP" seems to suggest using much longer duration emission of frequency-modulated signals, and then, upon detection of these signals, processing them using a method known as pulse-compression which greatly enhances the effective target resolution and the effective detector sensitivity. I cannot understand how the two methods can be combined as is suggested by such odd terms as "Broadband Sounder CHIRP." However, since Simrad has never offered a good definition of Broadband Sounder or CHIRP, I suppose they are free to apply those terms to any of their products in any manner, but the risk of doing that is to make the terms have little or no meaning. For example, exactly what "CHIRP fish-finding sonar," another phrase coined by Navico, actually means is unknown to me.

Lately there has been a great use of the term "CHIRP" or "chirp" in the advertising and marketing of SONAR to recreational boaters, so perhaps the combination of "Broadband Sounder" and "CHIRP" is just some advertising manager's way to describe some capability of the product in terms that remain consistent with prior advertising terms with the addition of the latest buzzword for SONAR.

The GO7 XSE uses the HEROIC user interface which is described as being "intuitive and tablet-like". It apparently has multi-touch gestures to invoke certain control features. It is not clear to me if the HEROIC interface is something new with the XSE or if it was part of the original GO7. I couldn't find a mention of HEROIC with the GO7, but it is used with the GO7 XSE. The user interface of both products is entirely through the touch screen, as there are no conventional buttons for control, other than an ON-OFF switch.

The GO7 XSE has a feature called by the trademarked name TripIntel, apparently to mean trip intelligence. This means the device can track and display trip information, including historical trip data, in various ways, including overlaying the data on charts. One example mentioned is the display of a track of a prior voyage on the chart. Being able to show an array of track points gathered on a prior voyage is not exactly a new "technology" (as Simrad describes TripIntel); most chart plotters allow the user to load a collection of track points from historical data and display them on the chart plotter. Calling this function a "technology" and branding it as TripIntel is something new. One would hope there is more to TripIntel than Simrad can explain in a sentence or two in their earliest promotional pieces. I suspect they aren't doing justice to the real features of TripIntel with the limited descriptions they provide. There must be, one would hope, more to it.

I have not seen pricing for the new GO7 XSE. I suspect that its introduction may also affect the price of the GO7 (plain), now perhaps an obsolete product. The product is often sold in bundles which include electronic chart cartography software and transducer hardware.

The GO7 XSE remains nicely agnostic about electronic chart cartography and which charts from which publishers it will use. As did the GO7, the XSE can use Navico's own Insight Genesis charts, Jeppesen's C-Map® charts, chart from Navionics, and charts from NV Charts.

To know exactly what transducers will be offered in bundles will have to wait for vendors to post those bundles and their prices. Simrad expects to have the GO7 XSE on the market in February of 2016. A 5-inch display version, the GO5 XSE is also coming.

Putting aside the confusion about the actual SONAR, what it does, and what Simrad likes to call it, the new GO7 XSE looks like an attractive device for small boats because its SONAR capabilities seem quite broad and being able to realize most of them with a single transducer seems attractive to boaters who don't want their boat transom to look like a transducer testing laboratory. If you have any comments, feel free to chirp in.

jimh
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Re: Simrad GO7 XSE

Postby jimh » Sat Dec 12, 2015 10:33 am

An additional feature which Simrad says "is unique to the GO7 XSE" is called "Cruise Charting View." Simrad says that Cruise Charting View is "[d]esigned with power boating in mind," and that it "brings together crucial navigation data and charts in one easily readable display." However, the boater can also change the presentation, as Simrad says the boater can "[c]hoose the information most relevant to your crusing (sic) style and on-water activities..."

I think I can already do this with my five-year-old Lowrance HDS, that is, I can overlay data of my choice on the chart plotter display. I hope there is more to the feature called Cruise Charting View than this.

Hoosier
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Re: Simrad GO7 XSE

Postby Hoosier » Sun Dec 13, 2015 11:24 am

The fact that the GO7 XSE is chart-source agnostic is nice. Now they need to add the capability to load NOAA vector or raster charts directly. All commercial charts are out of date as soon as the chips are produced, though some can be updated through a subscription service with the vendor. NOAA charts are free and current so if you could download them directly you could be confident you have the best information available.

[Please note: NOAA charts are NOT a feature supported in the Go7 XSE. HOOSIER mentions this only as a "wish it could" comment.]
1978 Outrage V20 with 2004 Suzuki DF-115. 1992 23 Walkaround with two 2010 Yamaha F-150s.

Hoosier
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Re: Simrad GO7 XSE

Postby Hoosier » Sun Dec 13, 2015 11:39 am

Looks like the original version of the GO7 has been replaced. I looked on eBay and you can get [a GO7] with the 83/20/455/800 kHz transducer for $649.
1978 Outrage V20 with 2004 Suzuki DF-115. 1992 23 Walkaround with two 2010 Yamaha F-150s.

jimh
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Re: Simrad GO7 XSE

Postby jimh » Sun Dec 13, 2015 12:29 pm

Re using NOAA raster (BSB) or vector (ENC) electronic charts with a recreational chart plotter: I think that only Raymarine is offering that, but they don't make use of the actual charts from NOAA. They seem to repackage the NOAA charts in their own wrapper, but I think they are still free.

The GO7 XSE CAN NOT use the free charts NOAA has published for coastal saltwater and Great Lakes in BSB or ENC format. It would be wonderful if it could, but the GO7 XSE cannot.

jimh
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Re: Simrad GO7 XSE

Postby jimh » Sun Dec 20, 2015 5:35 pm

It may also be good to note that the Simrad GO7 XSE will NOT have any NMEA-0183 or Ethernet connectivity. Lack of NMEA-0183 might be missed if you are trying to connect legacy devices which only have NMEA-0183 to the GO7 XSE. You can only connect NMEA-2000 devices. Lack of Ethernet may not be a concern, as Ethernet is generally used to share high-data-rate information (such as screen presentations) between two devices. Since the GO7 XSE is aimed at the small boat market, and small boats generally do not have multiple instances of multi-function display devices, the omission of Ethernet may not be a concern to buyers. But I think it is important to note these two common interface methods are missing on the GO7 XSE.

jaymoussy
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Re: Simrad GO7 XSE

Postby jaymoussy » Wed Feb 24, 2016 6:31 am

Great information.

AZdave
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Re: Simrad GO7 XSE

Postby AZdave » Thu Mar 10, 2016 10:23 pm

I just ordered the GO7 XSE today. It seems that most vendors are packaging the plotter-SONAR with the more versatile (and expensive) transducer and maps. I agree that the marketing jargon is confusing, but that seems to be true for other manufacturers as well. It is backordered at this point, and all the big vendors seem to be selling it at list price. I don't think I'll need ethernet. I'll update when I've installed it.

santakrooz
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Re: Simrad GO7 XSE

Postby santakrooz » Tue Mar 29, 2016 8:02 pm

TotalScan looks interesting. I see [there are retail offers of] Go7 XSE bundles that include the TotalScan and [different] bundles that include the HSI Skimmer (chirp-broadband-downscan).

What is difference in capabilities between a Totalscan transducer and the Lowrance HDI Skimmer Medium-High DownScan HDI transducer (Model 000-10976-001 that is also packaged with some Go7 XSE bundles)?.

Thanks
SK

jimh
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Re: Simrad GO7 XSE

Postby jimh » Wed Apr 06, 2016 9:11 am

The features of the TotalScan transducer are described in a separate article. See

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=215

That article attempts to explain the difference between the TotalScan transducer and other transducer models. Please jump to that separate thread for advice on transducers. This thread is discussing the new Simrad GO7 XSE.

AZdave
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Re: Simrad GO7 XSE

Postby AZdave » Thu Apr 07, 2016 6:24 pm

I installed the GO7 XSE this week and have a few initial thoughts. The display is very bright, and is clearly visible in full sunlight. I used the device for a couple of hours in a local reservoir. The depth and fish display is clear and has high resolution. It uses polarization as part of the display generating mechanism. It's not noticeable unless you lean your head way to the side.

The side scan setting gives remarkable detail. I was using it when moving 10-50 ft. from a vertical rock wall. I think some sort of echo was giving a symmetrical ghost image on the opposite side of the boat as well. I need to look at that longer.

I was not able to link to my home wifi because you can only type caps on the display. [Later discovered that lower-case letter are possible--see below--jimh] I will have to change my wifi password. The unit is delivered with an installation booklet and a "Getting Started" manual, but the rest is a file in the unit's memory. I have not found the interface intuitive and user friendly yet, but I'm the sort who swears at PC operating systems because I'm used to the Mac OS. I'll be back when I've got more time and experience with the unit.

A postscript: I used the old transducer cable to pull 1/4-inch drip irrigation tubing into the rigging tunnel, then used the tubing to pull the new cable under the floor, and up into the center console. It works great. The tubing is very slippery and tapes well to the transducer cable. I was dreading this part of the installation, but it was quite easy (with the help of another person).

jimh
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Re: Simrad GO7 XSE

Postby jimh » Mon Apr 11, 2016 11:16 am

Many thanks to AZDAVE for his first-hand observations about the Simrad GO7 XSE.

The mention of the WiFi access password entry only being possible with capital letters is quite a good observation. I bet the designers did not think of that. If you only connect to a WiFi access point where YOU control the password, that restriction will not be a problem. However, suppose you are at some marina and need to get the Simrad GO7 XSE linked to the marina WiFi access point. You won't be able to connect if the marina WiFi access point needs a password with lower case letters. Then the restriction to only capital letter input via the user interface is going to be a problem.

porthole
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Re: Simrad GO7 XSE

Postby porthole » Mon Apr 11, 2016 12:37 pm

AZdave wrote:I was not able to link to my home wifi because you can only type caps on the display. I will have to change my wifi password.



That sure is odd. On the HDS Gen3 I can match my password with no problem, which uses upper and lower, characters and numbers.

AZdave wrote:I have not found the interface intuitive and user friendly yet,


I have found the same with some features on the HDS Gen3
Thanks,
Duane
2016 World Cat 230DC
1999 Outrage 21, Yamaha SW Series II 200
1997 Outrage 18, Yamaha 125
1983 15 SS, Honda 50
1980 42 Post
1983 34 Luhrs 340 SF

jimh
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Re: Simrad GO7 XSE

Postby jimh » Mon Apr 11, 2016 1:59 pm

porthole wrote:On the HDS Gen3 I can match my password with no problem, which uses upper and lower, characters and numbers.


I would not expect there to be such a difference in the features of the Simrad GO7 XSE and the Lowrance HDS Gen3, inasmuch as they are both made by NAVICO and use the same basic operating systems.

Perhaps we can investigate this limitation of ALL CAPS in more detail. Any other GO7 XSE owners able to confirm?

porthole
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Re: Simrad GO7 XSE

Postby porthole » Mon Apr 11, 2016 5:02 pm

Dave, are you sure you are looking at the on screen keyboard correctly?
Don't have mine handy at the moment, but I recall the caps lock being in a non standard location.
Thanks,
Duane
2016 World Cat 230DC
1999 Outrage 21, Yamaha SW Series II 200
1997 Outrage 18, Yamaha 125
1983 15 SS, Honda 50
1980 42 Post
1983 34 Luhrs 340 SF

AZdave
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Re: Simrad GO7 XSE

Postby AZdave » Tue Apr 12, 2016 6:29 pm

My apologies gentlemen. There are lower case letters available if you touch the letter key a second time. I can connect to my home wifi. I would be happy have my previous post corrected if that's possible. Thanks.

jimh
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Re: Simrad GO7 XSE

Postby jimh » Wed Apr 13, 2016 7:25 am

To see a screen capture from the GO7 XSE that shows the touch-screen keyboard layout would be interesting.

PapaLlama
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Re: Simrad GO7 XSE

Postby PapaLlama » Tue May 03, 2016 3:49 pm

After much brow-furrowing I took the plunge and bought a Simrad GO7 XSE. All testing has been [in water depth of less than] 50-feet, so add that grain of salt, but so far I am impressed by:

--the extremely bright screen
--the intuitive and customizable interface
--the structure scan mode, which works as advertised

A larger screen would be nice, but even structure scan--which is a real screen-hog--is acceptable.

Downscan allows easy identification of bottom features. Schools of bait have depth to them that traditional sonar can't provide.

Touchscreen works well even with moist hands; the Apple iPhone should take a note.

The only complaint is about the mount, which is the only option in my small boat. It is clunky to attach and doesn't pivot. Cheaply made, don't expect it to last too long. Go with the flush mount or find another solution. I would guess that SIMRAD's sister, Lowrance, makes a competing model in terms of performance and price, but they are not as good looking at the moment.

At $750 with the TotalScan transducer--which is not chump change outside the world of marine electronics--I still call it a reasonable value. I will be glad to help with any specific questions.

jimh
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Re: Simrad GO7 XSE

Postby jimh » Tue May 03, 2016 3:55 pm

Thanks for the hands-on review. If you have any interesting screen captures, please add them. In particular, I would very much like to see a screen capture of some side scan SONAR operation. My own special interest in side scan SONAR is to see some echoes from objects in depths of 40 to 100-feet of water.

PapaLlama
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Re: Simrad GO7 XSE

Postby PapaLlama » Wed May 04, 2016 7:47 pm

I should get some time to use it more this weekend. Will try to shoot some targets of known size for reference and post.

jimh
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Re: Simrad GO7 XSE

Postby jimh » Tue Jul 05, 2016 7:15 am

We have not had any updates posted to the thread about the SIMRAD GO7xse. Can we have more reports about this device from actual users, please.

It looks to me that the Simrad GO7xse is one of only a few sounders that can use the new TotalScan transducer. If anyone has a set-up with the GO7xse and TotalScan transducer, I would like to see some reports and possibly some screen captures of the sounder in operation.

PapaLlama
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Re: Simrad GO7 XSE

Postby PapaLlama » Sun Jul 10, 2016 7:26 pm

[The below] screenshots are from a SIMRAD GO7 XSE using [the Total Scan transducer]. The structures are concrete pipe. In 17-feet saltwater. Side scan and down scan.

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