Depthfinder/GPS Suggestion

[jhillman17]

Looks like I'll be purchasing my first boat and wanted to know what kind of Depthfinder/GPS everyone would suggest. Looking stay around/under $1k...sorry no big screen TV's!

[Frank Walsh]

Right now I am at a loss what to buy. The technology and models are changing so fast, I cannot keep up with them. I was really thinking that Humminbird was the way to go. But since I learned they do not support Lakemaster software, that's a game changer.

I imagine that since so many models are new this year, you may have to give people a chance to gain some experience with them. I know Mr. Johnson just went to a HD-5, so he may be the first to comment.

[Tim Kelly]

After recent Lowrance releases I'd be a bit wary of buying any of their new models. They seem to like testing the software on the customers rather than doing it before marketing them. Hopefully they've got this HDS lot right, but I'd be tempted to get one of last years models which has had the wrinkles sorted out on it.

If you can live with the Navonics only, the humminbird models are pretty reliable. I wish Hb would support lakemaster, so I could put my Dr Depth software straight onto the unit, as we don't have any mapping over here.

[Frank Walsh]

You would have to verify this, but I think Doug said the new HD-5 currently does not support Navionics, but should be corrected with the next software release.

Not to say Lowrance is the brightest bulb, but they manufacture the digital gages for Bombardier. Guess what. They don't operate in the cold. At 32 degrees, it takes approximately 20 minutes for the gages to warm up sufficiently to display. Guess who's smarter? I paid for them!

Another piece of logic for Tim's suggestion is price. The non-current models are light-years cheaper. Especially with the closeouts.

[jhillman17]

I was looking at the Humminbird 917c anyone have any experience with this unit?

any idea where are they closing out last years lowrances?

[Doug Johnson]

I'll know more next week after a few days in Whitefish Bay. Been playing around a little with the unit with the boat sitting in the garage. At first I thought a degree in computer engineering would be of great help, but after an hour or two of fooling around and actually reading the directions it seem like there may be some pretty neat things you can do with the unit.

Just picked up a LakeMaster chip for the LOTWs and installed that, and it looks fine. Doesn't go past Big Narrows except for the main chanel, and nothing north and east of the French Portage. Looks like it covers all of Whitefish Bay, but nothing north of there. Looks like everything in the Sabaskong area as well as Buffalo Bay and Minnesota waters are there. All ready spotted a missing reef though, and I know where it is as I hit it about 10 years ago.

Doug Johnson

[Illinois Dennis]

Doug, better figure out those skull & cross bones symbols with audio alert for that one! I'm guessing you got the Lowrance HDS-5 unit? They started trying to sell that HD as an add-on, think it was $500. Sure shows a lot of reds, oranges, etc. I couldn't figure out what it all ment so I stayed away from it. It looks like the same display but now built in. Hope its worthwhile for you and you have good luck with it.

I really like the looks of the Humingbird widescreen units with HDside imagining, maybe in a 10.4" screen. But at $2,500 will have to hit the lotto. Doesn't seem to support Navionics or Lakemaster, could be wrong.

So, I understand how to use the Lowrance (after many weeks of use); really liked the color units; can mostly read the fish I think pretty good. Can tell most of the time if the walleye look like they are active or not, at least I can catch em when I think they look active. Like the dual map slots for plane map for driving and fancy new HD maps for fishing reefs (the detail is great now). So I saved up for the 38c unit and have been very happy with that.

I don't know what units are on clearance either; Uncle Frank will have to send you an e-mail on his secret spots.

I don't know how much fishing faith you can really expect out of a unit. Its a start when fishing but then it's up to the user......

[Frank Walsh]

I think most of the discounts came from the big outlets. Cabela's, Bass Pro, etc. However, I had heard of some from boat dealers. I would check anyone that might have stocked them. I imagine that stock is dwindling on these.

I know my suppliers are out of them.

[Muskie Junkie]

I just recently purchased one of last years models with the 5" screen(Lowrance 5300C i GPS). That was one of the last units I could find. That was from E-bay. You may be able to find the larger size screen units but as it was said earlier, they are disappearing quickly. The same week I bought my Lowrance 5300C, I found an Eagle with external antenna( do not recall the model # but it is almost Identical to the Lowrance 5300C) on Muskie First, so I bought that too. So, watch the fishing websites and if you find one of last years models jump on it, they are definately disapperaing quickly.

Steve Ruhmann

[dpear]

Hardware store still has plenty of rope here and no shortage of rocks around.Give Lowrance a run for their(lots of)money.

[Muskie Junkie]

Wow, timing is everything, I just got an e-mail from Adam Oberfoell in regards to a unit he is selling. He can be reached at :aoberfoell@lwallen.com if you are interested. Steve

FYI
I am selling my one year old LCX-37C 8.4” color Sonar/GPS unit. This is the complete combo unit with GPS puck, transducer (never used) all cables, fuses, gimbal bracket, cover, original box and instructions.

This unit sold for around $1699.99 in December.



I will sell for $950



First come, first serve.

LCX-37C Sonar/GPS Chartplotter Combo
Description
Specifications
Downloads
Accessories
Incredible 8.4" (21.3 cm) diagonal SVGA, 16-bit color, SolarMax™ TFT display
600V x 800H resolution
Depth range to 3,000 ft (915 m) at 50 kHz
Precision 12-parallel channel GPS+WAAS receiver
Lowrance radar compatible
LowranceNET® networking (NMEA 2000® certification pending)
High-speed ethernet connection links multiple Lowrance display units and modules to operate independently on shared network data, including sonar
Delivers a brilliant 8.4” diag. TFT color display, and sonar/GPS chartplotter performance. Features expanded built-in background map of the continental U.S. and Hawaii with over 3,000 lakes with depth contours. Waterproof

memory card slots are compatible with a superb variety of high-detail, plug-&-play electronic chart options loaded on MMC/SD cards.

[Frank Walsh]

Well Dick, I gotta tell you, the rocks were a lot heavier in my day. And a lot harder too. Not like this junk they call rocks today.

And the rope.....people would stand in line for days just to get hung with it.

Let me tell you.................

[jhillman17]

well the down payment has been made on the boat...so next are the necessary accessories.

Any new updates on the lowrances?

I see thorne bros has the humminbird 917c with puck and transducer plus free navionics premium chip for $999. Anyone have any experience with this unit?

[Troyz]

Talk to Josh at thorne brothers, he has run these units and can answer and question on these units. Otherwise I still have 3 Hummingbird super 60 in basement, just can't find were to plug in the gps chip.

Troyz

[Doug Johnson]

Ran the Lowrance HDS-5 the last four days and I still think a computer engineering degree would be of great help. However, I'm slowly figuring it out.

Lots of stuff you can do with the unit, but as far as I can tell most of it is done to show off how brilliant the Lowrance software engineers are.

However, The GPS mapping system with the LOTWs LakeMaster chip seems to do pretty well. A little too much detail at times and it hard to tell if the lines you see are showing you if it's getting shallower or deeper, although the real shalow stuff is shown in blue. Map detail is very good, but really haven't paid too much attention to the depth accuracy so far, but so far looks pretty good. The unit seems to keep up it high speeds (40MPH+) even when It's set at a pretty high relolution. Sort of seems to lope along, the map will sit there for a second and the quickly catch up, seems O.K. So far I've been pretty impressed with the mapping side of the unit. Lots of neat things you can do here.

GPS accuracy of exactly for where you are seems to be better that any of the Navonics chips I've had or seen. It hasn't shown me crossing over land even in some very narrow spots. However, I've found that this can vary from spot to spot on the LOTWs, so I'll wait and see after I travel more.

So far I haven't been very impressed with the depth finder part of the unit. Doesn't always show me what the depth is on the screen at low speeds over soft bottom even in 25-30 feet of water, but that may just be me learning what buttoms to push. So far haven't had much luck seeing fish hooks, but that may be because there's no fish? There's lots of different ways to fool with this screen, and maybe I need a new transducer, so let me try some more before I say it's a POS.

All kinds of other things that you can make show up. I would guess when I figure out which buttoms to push it will be a pretty good unit. The GPS side looks real strong so far.

Doug Johnson

[dpear]

Well Doug yours sounds-at least for now-a little better than those 2 TV sized,rock weighted monsters I had on my old Triton.Your point about the 'software engineers'at Lowrance may also be valid.They just may be starting to get it right.May.I've been pretty harsh on them the last year or so but now can point to one mess they appear to have sorted out.
Bets and I have had Lowrance motor vehicle GPS units for years.Big compared to newer options out there but the quality color mapping was fabulous and showed extreme detail.VERY nice for hunting!Then,of course,came 'improvements'to be downloaded.That was basically the end of the units in terms of performance,quality,etc.I just left mine off,Bets replaced hers with a Garmin.
Then a week or so ago we were talking about the maps and detail on those oldies vs the new stuff and she decided to try the new downloads.Voila!Back up and going-so far flawlessly!She pulled her Garmin even and is back to the Lowrance.Like having a Nav/Lakemaster combo in your car.Every slough etc shows up.
So I apologize to those 'software engineers'-for now.

[Doug Johnson]

Here's some more on the HDS-5.

Lowrance finely has software that you can down load the will allow the HDS units to read a Navonics chip. If fact there was two of them about a week or so apart. I did this, takes about an hour and 15 minutes, plus another 30 minutes or so to load it into a SD card and then into your unit. This all seemed to work O.K. even thought it's pain in the you know what.

After this the unit does read a Navonic's chip (I have a LOTWs gold) with out a problem. You loose some of the features that where available when using the LakeMaster Chip, but over all the unit worked about like the old Lowrance units with the same dis-accuracy (shows you on land at times, etc.).

However, this download seem to make the unit have trouble with the LakeMaster LOTWs chip. I find that at times the mapping system will just black out and the map will be nothing but a black screen (worked fine before the download). This seems to happen the most when I have a split screen, or if I'm changing directions or speed. It seems like there's a little too much for the little chip in this unit to think about after the download that makes it able to read the LakeMaster chip, with all it's detail. That causes it to lose the ability to keep up reading the LakeMaster chip and the screen just goes black. The mapping screen at times will work for a while if under constant speed and direction, but when you slow down or change direction it will go black. If you do a zoom-out it will usually work again for a while.

Talked to Lowrance a couple of times and the first gal told be to send the unit in as there must be something wrong with it (might get it back in six weeks or so). Tried again and this time the gal agreeded with me that there is probablty something wrong with the new up-date software. They are suppose to let me know what they find.

I also got a different chip (new one) to see if it was a bad chip, but I doubt that.

Does anyone else have a HDS-5 unit that they are using on the LOTWs who has downloaded the new up-date and is having the same problem? Maybe I just have a bad unit, but I think it's a software problem.

Doug Johnson

[Tim Kelly]

The folks on Walleye Central have been reporting problems with the HDS units and their updates, so I don't think you're alone Doug. Doesn't look like Lowrance have learnt anything from the troubles they had the last couple of years...

[dpear]

I now have a simple Garmin up front.Crystal clear depth,temp,weeds,fish,whatever-oh my god,I feel so stupid and ignorant. I'm almost ready to just give up and focus on fishing again.:confused:

[NETim]

I am hoping my 520c's fore and aft can hold together long enough to get through a week up there. They've been operational for nearly a year now and I haven't had any trouble with them. (knock on wood)

However, I haven't had them up shallow in weeds yet (Oops! The better half just reminded me that we spent two weeks on Bemidji last fall and got in some weeds. No problems that I can remember, but hey, I couldn't remember going up there in the first place.) so I'm not sure if all the s/w updates I've done are a good thing or not. I kept the previous s/w updates on SD cards in case I think I need to go back to previous versions. I am currently running their 2.4.2 beta s/w in both units. It reminds me of the beta status with a warning message every time I power them up. Something like, "Hey! This is test s/w and you'll probably crash into something sometime today."

Of course, the way it sounds this year, the lake is "behind" so maybe the 520's and their new s/w won't get much of a weed workout.

I'm thinking by the 4th day, possibly the 5th, at Oak, I should have the electronics squared away and maybe I can fish a little.

Some old guy told me once that people actually made their way around LOTW and actually fished w/o these things beeping and honking at us all day long.

Ludicrous! :)

Back to Bemidji. It's slowly coming back to me now. The GPS assured me many times that I was trolling through blue grass and casting at swing sets. The wonders of modern electronics. :rolleyes:

[Illinois Dennis]

I'm not a big fan of updates unless something isn't right or I'm 99% sure the update is needed for something that has been lacking.

Weeds might be scarce but heard the water levels are UP.

[Tim Kelly]

Humminbird have announced, at Icast, that they will be compatible with Lakemaster from now, with software updates available for some models. Another nail in Lowrance's coffin?

[dpear]

Hummingbird here I come!!!!!!!!!

[Bucktail54455]

This all sounds like winter/offseason talk to me. Just kidding with you guys. The weather sounds terrible ( new word ) up there. I am so glad that I pushed back my next trip dates. Maybe spring will arrive by the time I get up there late July and early August. I will pop over to the island to meet you when I am up this time Frank. Let me know what your typical daily schedule is, if there is such a thing, so I can stop by when your there.

On a different note. I have been sending out to my congressman and one of my senators from here in WI and asking them if they can explain the difference in the definition of communism and what their party is trying to pull in Washington. I sent a copy of the definition and asked if anyone in there office can please explain the difference to me.

I asked Herb Kohl if he minded If I just bring my wife home from Iraq now as she doesnt reallly seem to be there fighting for the USA anymore! I dont think she joined up to fight for the United Socialist Americans............

[jhillman17]

Well, I bit the bullett a few months ago and purchased a Humminbird 997c SI unit. Good news is, since they are coming out with the newer model, i got a hell of a deal on it compared to what it was last summer/fall.

Picked up the unit at Gander Mountain for $1200 plus a Navionics chip. All in all, I thought it was a hell of deal.

I've only had it out on the water a few times so far down here in indiana, but so far so good no issues whatsoever. The side-imagining technology is something to be seen. Down here in indiana most of the lakes are just dead trees and muck bottom, but seeing a tree that you had no clue existed and being able to mark it is quite nice. I caught my personal best largemouth 2 weekends ago, 7lb 2oz off this tree in a tournament.

I can't wait to get it up on LotW and see actual structure this summer!

Not sure about the durability, but no issues with upgrading to the down-imaging as well. if anyone cares...i'd give it 2 thumbs up!

[Frank Walsh]

Yet to hear a bad thing. Keep us posted.