Lowrance HDS series
Submitted by Lucky Tim on Mon, 2010-08-30 14:55
I'm starting to do a little research on my replacement sounder/plotter and thought that seeing as a few people on here have Lowrance HDS I wanted their thoughts. Any pros and cons?
Has anyone with a hard top had GPS signal strength issues?
Also, with depth quoted down to 1500m (mmm, mabye in a perfect fresh lake), how deep has anyone used theirs and still received a good bottom and fish reading?
Has anyone optioned with Structure Scan and used it outside of a river (ie offshore reefs?)
Cheers!
till
Posts: 9358
Date Joined: 21/02/08
Andy Mac was on a boat
Andy Mac was on a boat awhile back fitted with both the HDS 10 and a Furuno 585, might pay to ask for his opinion there =)
fisho-ron
Posts: 2539
Date Joined: 26/09/09
till was that on franks
till
was that on franks boat(decalla), didnt you go out with him or had he not fitted it yet?
till
Posts: 9358
Date Joined: 21/02/08
Frank had both head units
Frank had both head units fitted on his, but not the tranny on the Lowrance.
Dale
Posts: 7930
Date Joined: 13/09/05
Haven't seen or heard Andy
Haven't seen or heard Andy Mac on here for a while???
Cheers
Dale
"Just because you are a Character, Doesn't mean you have Character."
Mr Wolf
barneyboy
Posts: 1392
Date Joined: 08/01/09
I have the HDS 5
but it isnt a combo. the sounder is awesome. I am still learning to define what is what but Iam extremely happy so far. Have only used it up tp about 50 metres. I had a drama with the sounder bracket snapping off near the base. I think the weight of the unit contributed to that. The new mount hasnt let go yet but it is early days. So fingers crossed it hold together or I will have to look for some alternatives. The new mount was $25 by the way!!
FEEEISH ONNN!!!
lowrance
Posts: 34
Date Joined: 17/07/10
Lowrance HDS
The HDS series will have been tested out of sydney to 1100mt not mm! I have also sold a few of these with guys that have hard top bopats and work well. Some that have alloy or s/s rienforcings inside may not work as well, but if you do come accross with the unit dropping in and out i would suggest a external antenna. Structure scan works really well but out in open oceans if there is no structure well then its pretty bland. I'm pretty sure the down scan works to a depth of 80mt max anyways. But remembering that if there is no structure such as containers craypots or major reef it will not really impress. Ideally theyre to suit in rivers or dams or creeks chasing bara. But for high speed and extreme depths the HDS sdoundere side works well. I know a couple of guys using em and getting beyond 300m with suprisingly alot of info in between in 200KHZ!!
Bodie
Posts: 3758
Date Joined: 05/11/07
Ive got a HDS 7 as a
Ive got a HDS 7 as a straight GPS currently, and from that perspective ITs been great. However mounting them in the dash does reduce signal uality so I've fitted an external antenna.
Friend of mine in Karratha has the same unit mounted in an ally dash, adn having the same issues.
besides that works well, Im about to fit a 600w Transducer and will see how it reads the 200-300m water!
Seaquest
Posts: 1132
Date Joined: 22/10/09
I have the HDS 7m(gps only)
I have the HDS 7m(gps only) under a hard top and haven't had any issues.
Tim in my opinion I would look at two seperate units. I have a mate that runs a HDS7 and FCV585 side by side and the FCV585 leaves the HDS7 for dead when looking for new ground.
Also if your only going to have the one unit by the time you split the screens one gps and one plotter and then split the plotter to bottom lock and normal its getting pretty small. Unless you buy the HDS10, but for that price you could buy the FCV585 and HDS7m and gold card and nav planner. Nav planner is a must. Makes editing and planning trips a breeze. Its also good to see your charts on a larger screen on your computer. Good to back up your spots too.
All Boats have the HDS7m for $1380 including gold card at the momment.
alfred
Posts: 3097
Date Joined: 12/01/07
Will the HDS series talk to
Will the HDS series talk to the 585?
till
Posts: 9358
Date Joined: 21/02/08
Tim has the old one talking
Tim has the old one talking over boring old nmea, would be suprised if that didn;t still work.
Tim
Posts: 2497
Date Joined: 26/09/06
Connection
They will connect Alfred but the Furuno sounder will only send marks to a Furuno plotter.
It does give you GPS data on the 585 though so you can use the mark function on your sounder
alfred
Posts: 3097
Date Joined: 12/01/07
Ok so it's the same as with
Ok so it's the same as with the Navman unit. The 585 will recieve the data but not send it. Sigh!
grayzeee
Posts: 2283
Date Joined: 09/07/09
hey jamie , i'm wondering if
hey jamie , i'm wondering if your mate tim can mark a spot on the furuno and that waypoint is automatically put on the lowrance plotter .
that said , it's really only useful if you can scroll the cursor back and mark the actual spot , which is where a single combo unit really comes up trumps.
i need to get that nav planner sea q
wasted money on memory map
If I spent half as long fishing , as I do reading this bloody forum , I'd be twice the fisherman I am.
till
Posts: 9358
Date Joined: 21/02/08
Pretty much what I told you
Pretty much what I told you last time, press mark on the sounder, get a point on the gps.
Tim
Posts: 2497
Date Joined: 26/09/06
Not Quite
Not Quite Jamie. The marks stay on the sounder. The Furunos only seem to like talking to other Furunos.
You can move the cursor over old ground and mark it though. Co Ords stay on the Sounder unit but its easy enough to transfer to the GPS.
till
Posts: 9358
Date Joined: 21/02/08
Oh boo, I thought you said
Oh boo, I thought you said that you were sending the points to the GPS from the sounder, not just getting coords on your sounder.
grayzeee
Posts: 2283
Date Joined: 09/07/09
hmmmm. too good to be true
hmmmm. too good to be true
If I spent half as long fishing , as I do reading this bloody forum , I'd be twice the fisherman I am.
Lucky Tim
Posts: 2536
Date Joined: 28/11/07
what's the maximum depth
what's the maximum depth someone had personally used one and got a good reading?
till
Posts: 9358
Date Joined: 21/02/08
Perhaps ask Mightymouse? He
Perhaps ask Mightymouse?
He has the generation before, where the broadband unit was an external module, not integrated as it is now, and a 1kw tranny.
He has taken his out to where the ooglies live and bagged a few. Pretty sure he is getting readings out in +300m.