Lowrance HDS-5

[kandil]

Hi I just ordered one of this any one have used it? I am not going to use it until the spring so I want to hear some feedback about it and how you like it or not like.
Thanks for all The advice I got her in my old thread!!!!this was the out come
http://www.ebuyersworld.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=34243&CartID=3
PS I got it today 1 day shipping it looks great and can not wait to install it

 

[brown_one]

Re: Lowrance HDS-5

i looked at this at bass pro. i loved the screen. i am really leaning towards getting this. they had it for $749

 

[Boatist]

Re: Lowrance HDS-5

Did you really buy the 50/200 Khz unit? I would not buy that unit unless I was going to fish over 500 feet deep in saltwater.

I would get the 200/83 khz unit as has much better target seperation in water down to at least 400 feet of salt water.

I am thinking about the HSD-7 but Lowrance has been streaching the truth lately like a politition so need to wait until I can see one of the units on the water.

Also I found a problem in their GPS Route programs that is unacceptable to me. I guess it not a problem to most as I talk to all 3 sales reps at the boat show and none could answer my Question or had herd of the problem. Later in the day the factory Rep was there their and confirmed the way my unit works is the same on all Lowrance units. The problem I talking about is when running a route if you can not get to a waypoint along the Route then the unit will continue to direct you to that waypoint. Say you can not get to the 3 waypoint in a route of 6 waypoints. In my case I came around the corner headed to my 3rd waypoint and found a large oil tanker and 2 tugs pushing him up to the dock so had to go around. The next waypoint is the channel under a bridge but could not use the GPS as it still wanted me to head the 3 waypoint. Now this is a very foggy area many days. Sometimes so foggy that when go under the bridge can not see the bridge or the bridge supports. Even seen a Navy ship anchor in the main channel for 3 hour because they did not want to pass under the bridge with GPS and Radar but no visial of the Bridge. Really did not see the ship but heard then contact the bridge to see if the bridge could see them and guide them but the bridge could not see them either. Then they called vessel traffic as ask permision to anchor and wait for the fog to lift. Vessel traffic said they had no traffic in either direction in that area and gave them permission to anchor in the channel. Then for next 2 hours every ship vessel traffic talk to they gave the position of the anchored ship and the fog condition in the area. Fog finally raised the the ship got a bridge opening and proceed under the bridge.

Another place where this Lowrance problem with routes comes into place for me is when we are fishing in the ocean. Say we run the route to get to a location 20 miles to the North of our port and launch Ramp. We fish in the area and move around looking of bait and fish. Now we want to run our route in reverse to get back to port in the South. So we run the route but see the first waypoint is 5 miles to the north when we want to run 15 miles to the south. With Lowrance only way you can do it is to go into the route and delete that waypoint. There is no way to just deselect that last waypoint. With Furuno all you have to do is just go and put a minus next to the waypoint but the waypoint stays in the route. With Garmin when it see your closer to the next waypoint in the route it switches to it and your off.

Some of the time there is no fog and really do not need the routes but I always use them anyway. It just my way of making sure we know how to use them when it foggy and also gives us confidence that all the routes are safe. It will also really save us fuel keeping us on a straighter line than if we were just watching shore and trying to stay a mile or 2 offshore. I have sent a letter to Lowrance telling them I will not spend the money for a top of the line products unless they correct that problem. If mine is the only letter I am sure they will do nothing.

The simulator on the new units look fantastic and the hype sounds even better but before I spend that kind of money I have to see how it works.

I hope when you try it out you come back and tell us how it works. One thing I want to know is if the 83 khz frequency really gets a 120 degree return signal useing the 200 Khz 20 degree transducer. They say it does but I want to see a test before I buy. Easy to check if it wider than 20 degrees just be dropping a weight off to the side. Should see it right away if it see a 120 degree cone angle. If it only 20 degrees then will need to be at least 20 feet deep before you will see it.

 

[whofan]

Re: Lowrance HDS-5

Lately Lowrance has been useing the customer for field testing.

I would wait and research the forums for the next year or so before I`d buy one.

Then again Lowrance isn`t the only game in town.

Other companys out there build a quality product too.

 

[Tacklewasher]

Re: Lowrance HDS-5

I'm real curious about the HDS units as well. From the promo stuff on the Lowrance site, they look really cool. But I'm not sure in real life. I hope to see something at a boat show in March (Abbotsford BC).

I've got a LMS 522. Single frequency. I figured I would never use the dual and bought the single. Went fishing with a friend who has an LCX-27, DF and the difference on Okanagan Lake between the 50 and 200 was enough to make me realize I made a mistake on going single. So now I'm thinking of upgrading to DF and Lowrance comes out with new, fancy looking stuff.

So I want to see the HDS-5 and 7 to see what I think. I may be upgrading this year.

 

[kandil]

Re: Lowrance HDS-5

Hi Boatist thanks for the post yes I did get the 50 200 I will use it mostly on the lower Potomac river and the bay and some times I would use it on the east coast line NC and MD. And this was the unit that the sales man recommended for me and my area it comes preloaded with the Nautic Insight I hope he is right! BTW you did not say what model you found a problem in their GPS Route programs that is unacceptable to you?
Hi whofan you said
Lately Lowrance has been using the customer for field testing.I Guss I will be the Ginni big I well post my finding after my first use thanks to all for the feedback and spacial thanks to Dingbat for his help Understanding cone angles and transducer specification
http://airmartechnology.com/uploads/brochures/xducer_specifications_pc_rA_lr.pdf

 

[John_S]

Re: Lowrance HDS-5

The units that I have heard about issues with have mainly been the 520/522 models. Mainly S/W problems. From Lowrance website, you can see they had a release, and within only a month have a Beta out there. That is usually the sign of some major bug in a release, to push a beta out so quick. I have been told there have been a good number of S/W releases for this series.

LMS-520C (BETA release) 10/27/08 2.4.2 BETA 8.6MB
LMS-520C 09/30/08 2.4.0 8.6MB
LMS-522C iGPS (BETA release) 10/27/08 2.4.2 BETA 8.6MB
LMS-522C iGPS 09/30/08 2.4.0 8.6MB

I hope they have their act together for the new HDS line. There has been allot of grumbling from Lowrance faithful users, since the new company has taken over. If the new HDS is buggy, it might do long lasting harm to their respected brand name.

 

[whofan]

Re: Lowrance HDS-5

Hi Boatist thanks for the post yes I did get the 50 200 I will use it mostly on the lower Potomac river and the bay and some times I would use it on the east coast line NC and MD. And this was the unit that the sales man recommended for me and my area it comes preloaded with the Nautic Insight I hope he is right! BTW you did not say what model you found a problem in their GPS Route programs that is unacceptable to you?
Hi whofan you said
Lately Lowrance has been using the customer for field testing.I Guss I will be the Ginni big I well post my finding after my first use thanks to all for the feedback and spacial thanks to Dingbat for his help Understanding cone angles and transducer specification
http://airmartechnology.com/uploads/brochures/xducer_specifications_pc_rA_lr.pdf

I want to apologise for being so opionated. Lowrance makes some nice looking units.
They have a nice transducer design that cuts trough the water with minimal to no problems.
I hope they do tighten up on their software problems and make their customer service more effiecent.
I`m still running the 5200 Globalmap that has been good so far.
The software in my sonar was a huge let down in shallow weedy water.
Lowrance didn`t have a fix for me.
The 2.4 didn`t fix my 510, it did improve it somewhat though.

Keep us posted on these new sonars please.
They look great and hope they work good for all those who purchase them.

I want to get back the good perception I had of Lowrance when I was a proud owner of the X75.
I had no reservations buying the 510c base on my x75 experience.

If these new units work as good as they look we are all winners.

I make it known to others here my displeasure with Lowrance
in hope that no one here goes through what I did and maybe someone from Lowrance reads this and works to build a better product for all of us.

I know they can do better than they did on the last product generation because I had a better product in the generation before that.
this new product generation maybe great, I hope it is.
It has been all about the software and Lowrance acting like its a problem unique to your unit not the many units they have.


I want to add that in my dilemma Iboats took care of me and Lowrance both, so when you guys go shopping Iboats is the first place to look.

 

[Barnacle_Bill]

Re: Lowrance HDS-5

FYI, I have heard from several sources that Lowrance is coming out this year with something comparable with HB's Si units. I'm curious as to what they come up with as I really like my Lowrance's. X102C and LCX-27C.

 

[John_S]

Re: Lowrance HDS-5

FYI, I have heard from several sources that Lowrance is coming out this year with something comparable with HB's Si units. I'm curious as to what they come up with as I really like my Lowrance's. X102C and LCX-27C.

I think you are refering to the new HDS models, but they do not do SI. It is my understanding that HB owns most of the patents related to SI, that it would be very difficult for Lowrance to field something with that capability.

I would be happy to be wrong, because the competition would help drive down the current cost of SI.

 

[dingbat]

Re: Lowrance HDS-5

If it's any consolation I probably would have gone with the 200/50 as well. I could see the 83kHZ if bottom fishing in the mid-depths but that fishery doesn?t really exist around here. Most fishing is done in shallow coastal waters or out in the abyss looking for pelagics. Not much in between.

There are some opportunities for wreck fishing that might be interesting with 83kHZ but that?s pretty much a winter fishery. You have to travel 30-40 miles offshore to get there in conditions that most recreational guys would rather forego.

A lot of guys like to use 50kHZ in combination with ?bottom lock? . You would be amazed at the detail you can get using the two in combination. A lot of guys swear you can see a big flounder come up off of the bottom after a bait using that method. Using the finder in split screen \ Dual frequency mode is also popular for narrowing down the location of the fish.

Run the unit in split screen running both 200kHZ and 50khz. If the fish show up on both screens you know they are pretty much right under the boat. If the fish show up on the 50kHZ screen and not the 200kHZ screen then you know the fish are off to the side of the boat. I run split screen\ dual frequency all the time when trolling.

 

[Tacklewasher]

Re: Lowrance HDS-5

Run the unit in split screen running both 200kHZ and 50khz. If the fish show up on both screens you know they are pretty much right under the boat. If the fish show up on the 50kHZ screen and not the 200kHZ screen then you know the fish are off to the side of the boat. I run split screen\ dual frequency all the time when trolling.

That's what I was seeing on my friends 27. It's what I'm missing with the 522.

So what is the difference between the 50kHz and the 83kHz? Why is one better for ocean and one better for lakes?

 

[kandil]

Re: Lowrance HDS-5

A higher frequency will increase the target resolution of small fish, and the narrower beam will reduce
side lobes in areas with fast-changing water depths. Lowering the frequency results in a wider beam and better deep-water performance.

 

[Tacklewasher]

Re: Lowrance HDS-5

So if I'm fishing Lake Okanagan, which goes to 700 ft, it sounds like a 50/200 may be better. I know I lost bottom last weekend with the straight 200. Or is it a big deal as I'm only going down 150ft on the downriggers?

Okanagan is the only lake I'm concerned about the depth. Others I fish with this boat are 150-200 ft deep. And the fish are usually 40-60ft deep.

 

[mphy98]

Re: Lowrance HDS-5

dollar for dollar I believe the hummingbird with SI is the best around. I researched the daylights out of this and the lowrance people have been hammering lowrance latley, because of this and the SI of the hb thats the way I went.

 

[John_S]

Re: Lowrance HDS-5

As a happy SI user, I would not recommend it for finding suspended fish, deep water, for trolling, etc. Great for structure finding, but IDing fish in the side beams, is not that easy. The HDS should be great at this but, recommend waiting for some user input/reports. The HB 3D unit might be an option, but would need to research more. The old 3D version (Wide series), like the SI, was not very good.

 

[Boatist]

Re: Lowrance HDS-5

Kandil
The Lowrance unit I have is the handheld H2O C but Lowrance uses the same GPS software on all units. Each unit will have a difference Firmware but the basic GPS software is the same for all units.

The HDS has many features I like and some I do no like. The only reason I would like the 200/83 khz unit is the 83 Khz is a higher frequency so has a more detailed return than the 50 KHZ. Still per Lowrance it will still do deep salt water. The thing I not sure about is the 83 khz unit actrally uses the 200 khz 20 degree transducer but per Lowrance has a 120 degree cone angle.
Is that sales pitch like they would say last year up to 60 degrees when it was only 20 degrees or is it really 120 degrees.

I use to fish Saltwater down to 450 feet but with a 200 khz 20 degree transducer could only see fish down to about 200 feet. So I added a second 200 khz transducer but only 8 degrees and could see fish down past 400 feet. My old Lowrance unit has automatic bottom track which they no longer have since they went to a menu system. My unit you can set to expand the bottom for great resoultion in deep saltwater. Example you can set it to display bottom and up 10 feet or any number higher than 10 feet. So Bottom fishing out at 400 feet would set to display bottom and up 40 feet for rockfish. OfCourse Lowrance has not had that feature since they went to a menu system, except in manual mode where you have to keep changing the deepth.

The new unit uses digital signal instead of the old analog signal. It suppose to work much deeper with a lot less power and they expanded the bottom zoom to 8 times which will be a big help for deep water bottom fishing like rockfish or cod.

Here it California have not been able to fish deeper than 20 fathoms or 120 feet for over 5 years now. This year there saying we get 30 Fathoms or 180 feet. Salmon will be closed again this year for California so they can Farm the desert and not release any water for fish.

Anyway the new HDS digital unit are like the diference from regular TV and HDTV if the simulators they are useing are even close to real. I not crasy about the internal GPS antenna as I would prefer external. You can still buy external but at extra cost. Most people may like the internal. On my boat I am sure will still get a good position but I not sure I can get the WAAS error corection satelites that are over the equator without the exteral antenna as they are low on the horizon.

 

[dingbat]

Re: Lowrance HDS-5

The new unit uses digital signal instead of the old analog signal. It suppose to work much deeper with a lot less power and they expanded the bottom zoom to 8 times which will be a big help for deep water bottom fishing like rockfish or cod.

It's the same old analog signals as before. They use an A/D to convert the signal from an analog transducer signal to digital for display processing. There is really nothing new other than improvements in the noise reduction algorithms.

In fact some complain of having too much filtering being done. Some of the returns used to identify certains types of fish is filtered out of the returns.

Pretty pictures. Have to see how it pans out in real life useage.

 

[John_S]

Re: Lowrance HDS-5

Kandil
The thing I not sure about is the 83 khz unit actrally uses the 200 khz 20 degree transducer but per Lowrance has a 120 degree cone angle.

That is what HB does for most of its dual beam. If there are only 3 pins to the transducer, that would preety much confirm it. One to transducer, one to temp, and one to ground.

 

[kandil]

Re: Lowrance HDS-5

This connector has 5 pins I searched the manual for the transducer specification for the cone angles and all what I found is it has built in temp sensor and it is a Broadband sounder and this is the main reason for me to choose this setup the 200KHz is a 20? and the 200KHz is a 36? I am not sure how it would be a 120? maybe at 5000 ft deep
Frequency: 50/200 KHz
Power output:250W peak to peak (31W RMS) actual,30,000W peak to peak analog equivalent
Depth capability:5,000 ft.