Lowrance fishfinders-preference?

[lokidog]

I'm looking at picking up a new FF/GPS combo.  I'm wondering if anyone fishing the salt is using the Structure Scan or Total Scan features on  them and, if so, how do you like it?

[Crunchy]

I have Gen 1 of Lowrance HDS 8.  Paid a pretty penny for it when it first came out.  Still pretty happy with it, although I just upgraded the sounder to an Airmar P66 which is about twice as good as the stock one.  Depending on your pocket book look for G1 to G3.  I am looking to add a second screen at the back of the boat since the kids are always in the way.

[lokidog]

I have Gen 1 of Lowrance HDS 8.  Paid a pretty penny for it when it first came out.  Still pretty happy with it, although I just upgraded the sounder to an Airmar P66 which is about twice as good as the stock one.  Depending on your pocket book look for G1 to G3.  I am looking to add a second screen at the back of the boat since the kids are always in the way.

I'm probably looking at an HDS7 or 9 Gen 3 touch.

[fishngamereaper]

Gen 3_with the chirp sonar. You'll be happy with it. And prices are coming down because they just introduced the new models.

[NRA4LIFE]

You will not regret either the HDS7 or 9.  I only have the HDS5 Gen2 and I am getting real edgy on upgrading already.

[lokidog]

You know how many different transponders they have for these things?  It's crazy trying to figure it out.

[cohoho]

Buy the biggest transducer you can.  I just picked up a TM260 for my HDS 10...  Night and day difference from the stock transducer.   

[Kola16]

Get the 9 gen 3. Its just as good as the new ones coming out (basically) and its miles ahead of the gen 2's since it has push button and touch screen capabilities. Also, its much bigger than the 7 since size does matter Don't get the Structurescan HD. It's overrated for saltwater. If you can get a good deal with the LSS-2 transducer than go for it, but its not that great for saltwater (the resolution isn't great). If you did want to spend money, you could get the Structurescan 3D, which is kind of cool. That is a good chunk of money though ($700+?). Just get a good main transducer if you are looking to save a little, and if you want, you could add the other transducers later. The Airmar P66 would be a good choice ($150?).

[bloodhound]

make sure you get a unit that comes with the 50/200 transducer if you plan on not upgrading the transducer. dont get one with the 83/200. if you get a combo with the structure scan you dont really get anything out of being able to see whats on the bottom in salt water, but the side image allows you to see bait fish schools really well and shows you which side of the boat there they are on along with with the fact it gives you down scan which helps you see if there are predator fish under the school. now the new carbons have a duel core possessor in them that makes them twice as fast to operate along with a few other features that are really nice but they are more catered to bass fishing not salt water. you wont be disappointed in a gen3 unit no matter which way you go. make sure if you have wifi at your house you connect the graph to it so it can do an update. it should do it automatically once you connect to wifi if there is an update available. i have 4 lowrance units on my boat and i install them daily. if you have a questions just shoot me a message.     

[lokidog]

make sure you get a unit that comes with the 50/200 transducer if you plan on not upgrading the transducer. dont get one with the 83/200. if you get a combo with the structure scan you dont really get anything out of being able to see whats on the bottom in salt water, but the side image allows you to see bait fish schools really well and shows you which side of the boat there they are on along with with the fact it gives you down scan which helps you see if there are predator fish under the school. now the new carbons have a duel core possessor in them that makes them twice as fast to operate along with a few other features that are really nice but they are more catered to bass fishing not salt water. you wont be disappointed in a gen3 unit no matter which way you go. make sure if you have wifi at your house you connect the graph to it so it can do an update. it should do it automatically once you connect to wifi if there is an update available. i have 4 lowrance units on my boat and i install them daily. if you have a questions just shoot me a message.   

I've always had 83/200 transducers and have had no issues with fishing saltwater, not sure what the big difference is with the 50/200s?

[bloodhound]

the 83 or 50 and 200 is the angle in which the sound ping from the transducer is directed.  the number 50, 83,200,455,800, changes  the way the transducer will send sounds waves. the deeper the water the narrower you want the sound waves sent. this causes a better and more accurate image in deeper water since the sound wave are more closely concentrated. but the 50 setting will also allow you to spread the cone angle more so you can see fish farther away from your boat in larger bodies of water.

[KFhunter]

I have Gen 1 of Lowrance HDS 8.  Paid a pretty penny for it when it first came out.  Still pretty happy with it, although I just upgraded the sounder to an Airmar P66 which is about twice as good as the stock one.  Depending on your pocket book look for G1 to G3.  I am looking to add a second screen at the back of the boat since the kids are always in the way.

I'm probably looking at an HDS7 or 9 Gen 3 touch.

I'll have my hands on this exact model next week (HDS7 gen 3).  I think it'll be excellent I did a lot of youtube looking about it.  This one has the side scan and upgraded transducer.     

[lokidog]

Bloodhound, the 83 is better for my type of fishing as I prefer more detail over a wider beam, I usually use the 200 more as well.  Also, my fishing will be less than 300' so I do not need the extra penetration of the 50.

KF, I think I'm going for a 12" now as I only have room on the dash for one unit whether it is 5" or 12".  I might settle for the 9 though. The nice thing with the 12 is that I can wireless connect a tablet or my phone as a secondary screen w/o any modules to add.  Look at www.thedigitaloasis.com, they seem to have the best prices around.

I saw the RayMarines today at WestMarine, they looked nice, but the price is even higher than the Lowrance.

[Kola16]

the deeper the water the narrower you want the sound waves sent. this causes a better and more accurate image in deeper water since the sound wave are more closely concentrated.

Unless it is over 500ft. Then most units with smaller transducers you have to switch back to the lower frequency or else they won't even find the bottom with the 200 kHz frequency.

The nice thing with the 12 is that I can wireless connect a tablet or my phone as a secondary screen w/o any modules to add.

You can do the same thing with the 7 and 9 right out of the box. But I would rather have a 12 too

[lokidog]

Maybe the wireless is with all of the Gen 3's?  I thought it was only the 12.

My 83/200, usually on 200, has no problem hitting 500', even at 24 mph. If it's deeper than that, it really doesn't matter to me.   

[Kola16]

Maybe the wireless is with all of the Gen 3's?  I thought it was only the 12.

My 83/200, usually on 200, has no problem hitting 500', even at 24 mph. If it's deeper than that, it really doesn't matter to me.   

The wireless is with all the gen 3's. It's the gen 2's that need the module

[HntnFsh]

 Heres a thread about Lowrance fishfinders on Ifish that may be of interest to you.
http://www.ifish.net/board/showthread.php?t=1349386&highlight=lowrance

[lokidog]

Interesting.

I've had no problems with my 2013 HDS5. Still waiting to test it to see if it survived the latest dunking.

[lokidog]

I really liked the look of the RayMarine demo mode that I saw yesterday, but their website is horrible to try to figure out what hardwre I would need to actually get the screen to show what I want it to show.

Does anyone know if my NMEA 2000 fuel flow meter will work on any NMEA2000 compatible unit?

[KFhunter]

Heres a thread about Lowrance fishfinders on Ifish that may be of interest to you.
http://www.ifish.net/board/showthread.php?t=1349386&highlight=lowrance

That doesn't bode well for Lowrance. 

[HntnFsh]

And that's only 1 of the threads Ive seen!  That many complaints from what is a relatively small user group is enough to scare me away from Lowrance. I need a new unit for my boat. 7". Having a hard time deciding between the Raymarine Dragonfly 7 pro and the Garmin 73 sv. Don't think Raymarine has Side view so will probably go with Garmin.