Just ordered 2 HDS 5 w/Lake insight

[bwhntr350]

 Rookie bass fisherman here. Been hardcore into it for the last three years, going on four. Upgraded from from a 12' Smokercraft to a 17' BassTracker last year. This year, as was my plan, upgrading electronics from a 300 something or other Humminbird to two HDS 5's.

 Now, I will have to learn how to use the things, lol.

 

[Ripper]

My HDS-5x just crapped out on me and the HDS-5 Lake insight is what they offered me for an upgrade. I hope it works good and I can figure it out also.

[WCTaxidermy]

Hey guy's, the HDS units are awesome.  They are easy to operate and you will be glad you got them.  Something that will help you out greatly, is hook your new unit to a battery while your still at home and go to simulator mode, and you can play with all the buttons and learn what they do.  It is a very easy user friendly system.  Congratls........John

[bwhntr350]

@ WCTaxidermy

 Or I could just take you fisin' and you could show me the ropes

 Actually, thanks for the input. I have not heard anything bad about these units. I will have a huge learning curve but that will be more excuse to go fishing

[WCTaxidermy]

@ WCTaxidermy

 Or I could just take you fisin' and you could show me the ropes

 Actually, thanks for the input. I have not heard anything bad about these units. I will have a huge learning curve but that will be more excuse to go fishing

[BLKBEARKLR]

I am waiting to hook up my two HDS-7s and my structure scan, hopefully in MAr when I get back down to Texas where my bass boat is.

[DeerHarvester]

Sure wish I could afford to get 1 HDS-7, right now.  I guess I could us my tax money, but that will be going into the savings account.  I don't trust the way things are going with the economy.

Anyone have a review on these HDS units with Structure scan?

[bwhntr350]

Sure wish I could afford to get 1 HDS-7, right now.  I guess I could us my tax money, but that will be going into the savings account.  I don't trust the way things are going with the economy.

Anyone have a review on these HDS units with Structure scan?

 I have never heard anything but the word "Impressive" about these things. Structure scan is something I would like to add in another year or two.

 At the Puyallup Sportsman's show the were having classes to teach people how to use the HDS units. They had 22 of the HDS 10 units with LakeInsight (I believe w/lakeinsight). One could have signed up to buy these after the Portland show for $1,299. I signed up for one. I then figured that I wanted two of them so I bought my HDS 5's. About a week ago I was called that my 10" unit is ready if I want it and I told them "No Thanks". If I would have had a place to mount it, I would have bought it.

[bassquatch]

Great job ob the HDS-5's you will not be disappointed!! 

I have run Lowrance products for the past 7 years and have had zero issues! One thing you will want to do is run a yellow ethernet cord from one unit to the other, that way they can share waypoints, i.e. if you mark a waypoint on your console unit it automatically saves it on your bow mount. Another nice thing is the Standby feature, use this on your bow mount when your going to pull up and run to a new area, just press the Power button, select Standby and press enter, once you drop the trolling motor back down, just hit Power or Enter and your back in business!

This Winter I updraged to a HDS-8 on the console and a 5 at the bow and I added Structure Scan.....it's amazing! I upgraded to the 8 at the console for the 4 way screen split option, the 5's & 7's only split in half...comes in very handy when using the Structure Scan. Only problem now is finding time to fish all the new stuff I'm finding on the bottom! 

Very easy units to use, don't get overwhelmed. Nice job on the Tracker, I have owned one of those for 12 years and it's holding up very well considering it see's 1000 hours+ of use per year!

One last thing, if you haven't done it already, when you hook those up you can run the power directly to your fuse box under the console...no need for in-line fuses! 

Hope all goes well, congrats! Now C'MON MARCH!!!!!!

[bwhntr350]

Great job ob the HDS-5's you will not be disappointed!! 

I have run Lowrance products for the past 7 years and have had zero issues! One thing you will want to do is run a yellow ethernet cord from one unit to the other, that way they can share waypoints, i.e. if you mark a waypoint on your console unit it automatically saves it on your bow mount. Another nice thing is the Standby feature, use this on your bow mount when your going to pull up and run to a new area, just press the Power button, select Standby and press enter, once you drop the trolling motor back down, just hit Power or Enter and your back in business!

This Winter I updraged to a HDS-8 on the console and a 5 at the bow and I added Structure Scan.....it's amazing! I upgraded to the 8 at the console for the 4 way screen split option, the 5's & 7's only split in half...comes in very handy when using the Structure Scan. Only problem now is finding time to fish all the new stuff I'm finding on the bottom! 

Very easy units to use, don't get overwhelmed. Nice job on the Tracker, I have owned one of those for 12 years and it's holding up very well considering it see's 1000 hours+ of use per year!

One last thing, if you haven't done it already, when you hook those up you can run the power directly to your fuse box under the console...no need for in-line fuses! 

Hope all goes well, congrats! Now C'MON MARCH!!!!!!

 Hey thanks for the info! I have spent two days trying to figure out how to link these together. Finally, figured out that the ethernet cable was the way to go. So, you have structure scan, do you not have a NEMA2K backbone to do that? Can you still share sonar with structure scan?

 Also, I was wondering about the power. I was just planning on running it all the way back to the battery with the fuse. So, I really can just run it to the fuse block, assuming I use a 3 amp fuse?

 Thanks on the Tracker. I call it my entry level bass boat. I love it. Cool thing is that I can run it ashore on Banks Lake and not worry too much about the rocks. No need to update the boat, imo, so I am updating everything else.

 

[bassquatch]

You do not need to mess with NMEA unless you are adding Sirius Radio, Radar or Systems analysis info like engine temp, fuel consumption blah blah. Just the Ethernet. Also with the ethernet you will be able to toggle between units, meaning you can switch the bow mount to view the stern mount's transducer and visa-versa.

If you remove the fuse box panel, you will see you already have open fuses, just use the black and red wires for pos and neg and you will see exactly where these go as there are already existing wires, (stub off the yellow and blue wires, these won't be used unless you add componets like Structure Scan, NMEA, etc..later), using female blade connectors in size 18? (red), just attach one to the red and another to the black wire, slip them on the male blade next to the corresponding fuse in the fuse box and you are good to go! Repeat the process for the bow mount, it's that easy! The hardest part is fitting your fingers in the fuse box LOL! I used needle nose pliers, just be patient and don't force anything! Once those are in place, power up and use simulator mode to learn the ropes! Ethernet will just plug into the back of one unit and run to the back of the other, easy.

The wires on my bow mount I had to run on top of the deck up to the bow as I didn't want the pain of drilling through my lock boxes for the sake of hiding a couple wires...I just used cable clamps and self tapping screws into the wood deck and it works fine.

Trackers are great first boats, that was my concept too, but I can go anywhere in mine and not worry about the gel coat, which when you get out bass fishing and around all the rocks, docks, pilings and laydowns then add wind, waves and boat wakes it can get a tad brutal at times! I have considered upgrading over the years myself as mine is stuffed to the gills with tackle and rods, but all I think I will do now is upgrade to a 75hp 4 stroke and keep her running a few more years. I have been on many large lakes in this State and others, like Potholes Reservoir and Clear Lake in CA., and aside from it taking a while for me to make long runs with my 40hp, I have never felt unsafe! I don't tournament fish so no need for double livewells and 75mph, although the extra space and wider decks would be nice it's just not enough to justify the $40+K upgrade!

One other upgrade you may want to consider is a recessed trolling motor foot control box!!! Both "Troll-Eze" and "Comfort Troll" offer them and they are worth their weight in gold!! It's the one item I would not give up on my boat!!! Also, keep in mind that you are now sucking more power out of your single deep cycle....I slipped a second deep cycle into the gap between the factory deep cycle and the cranking battery on mine, just be sure it's in a battery box! One thing I noticed about Lowrances are that they will power themselves off if they detect low power! I used to run around on one deep cycle until it died, then go back, open the compartment and switch everything over to the fresh deep cycle and continue, PAIN!...now I just run the two batteries in series and they don't drain as fast and outlast me on the water! I prefer Eveready's Maxx Marine deep cycle from Wal-Mart.

On that note, if you upgrade your onboard charger ever, go GUEST period!! Do not waste your money on Pro Charge or the like, they're garbage!! Get a 2 bank or 3 bank, although you won't have to charge your cranking battery as often, it's nice to have the option.

Hope all this helps, if you have any more questions regarding set-up or troubleshooting once it's all running, let me know! One last thing, because of the length of our boats, if you run the factory 83/200khz transducers front and rear, you will get minor interference between units, not a big deal but it happens. One thing that helps is to run a puck style transducer off the bow mount trolling motor, the cone angle is tighter and the interference will all but disappear. Also try hitting "Stop Sonar", then "Standby" on your console mount before heading up to your bow mount...

Also, since you're a "rookie basser" if you need any tackle tips, lake suggestions or have any other questions let me know, I'm happy to help in any way I can!  I am a bassaholic and have been fishing for them since I was 15 (now 42). It's an awesome sport and something you can enjoy all over this State and many many others!!

It's March in 11 days.....be ready!!

[bwhntr350]

 Thanks Bassquatch! I have some running to do and I will pm you later.

 Appreciate the time you took to write all this:)