I just installed a Helix 7 MDI GPS G3N on the bow with a trolling motor mount transducer......WOW this thing is awesome......can literally see the limbs of the brush piles I was fishing. I broke the old transducer that was on there connected to a circa 2007 humminbird fishing buddy POS so it was a major upgrade!!!

my question is when running to a different location........is it better to put in standby mode or turn the unit completely off?........will it damage the transducer if it is still pinging while running down the lake?

It won't damage it but sometimes it can get a little quirky when you take it out of water and put it back in while left on. Putting it in standby is not a bad idea so when you drop it back in the water it will be pinging in the water and help reduce wierd depth readings for a few seconds while the transducer tries to read the depth correctly