Not so good Lowrance 332c’s

I was think about getting a 332c but after reading these post in another forum maybe not.

Any 330/332c users have problems like this.

C and P from another forum.

The 330 332 and other units that use the LCG2000 antenna (hope I got the letters right ) are very suseptable to getting knocked out by boats radar or ground radar such as a airport or navel base. From what I understand that model antenna doesnt have sufficient shielding to protect it from radar. I went through three of them before I gave up. The one that lowrance put me into uses a diff. antenna the LCG12??? sorry cant remember the number. I used it for a three day weekend and so far no more problems. Their engineers must be going crazy trying to figure this mystery out.

Also.

Had a Furuno 1623 Radar and a Lowrance 332C installed professionally on my boat(18’Parker). 332C would fire up and aquire correctly. As soon as the Radar transmitted the 332C was Dead. The installer consulted with the factory and the Local RI Lowrance rep. They sent two replacement units which both fried as soon as the radar transmitted. After the third unit (and 3 weeks) I had them install a Garmin 188C which works great.

And another.

I to had mine professionally installed. Save yourself some time trying to find the location for the GPS antenna…if you have a hardtop you will have to have it on the console to get away from the beam. I had the exact same problem with my Lowarance GPS unit and the 2000 antenna. It is not properly shielded …went through three different anntena and all of them would get knocked down. The first two replacements would allow a hard reset ie turn off the batteries and reactivate with the Radar off. The third replacement went stupid and doesnt allow a reset. I am giving up and placing the unit on ebay…it works fine with the radar off with the exceptions below.

ALSO…I had a knock down from the ground control radar when we passed Reagan and another from a passsing boat when the radar was off. So you will need a long antennea extension…sorry for the bad news…I have enjoyed other Lowrance products and they tried to fix this one but it is a poorly engineered product and I just got tired of being the beta testor.

I almost bought one the other day, not sure if I would ever be near an Airport or another boat with radar..

Pierbridge I would’nt be scared away from the Lowrance 332c. A lot of people really like them and have had no problems. Maybe they don’t fish near high power radars. Most folks that I know fish smaller freshwater lakes and their boats do not have radar.

maybe a few people who fish the river can chime in and let us know what they think. All the barges on the river use and have their radars on. Or anyone who fish around the St. Paul airport on pool 2. Boy I am ready to get a 332 but have been thinking of the Garmin 178c… Just when I think I have made up my mind.

I bought one based on the recommendation of a few fisherman and have had no problems with it. Prior to that I had a Garmen, which now sits in my garage; just never got used to it and with the Garmen I did experience periodic electrical problems. Most of my fishing is done on Pool 5A of the Mississippi.

Hmmm…I don’t know if this helps…but…

I have a X-19 with the LCG2000. I’m on the Croix (with a ton of big boat/radar traffic) and the Mississippi. Never experiance this or any other problem.

I HAVE A 332C ON LAY AWAY AT SCHEELS IN EAU CLAIRE. IT`S SUPPOSED TO BE THE BEST UNIT FOR THE MONEY OUT THERE,HOWEVER I HAVE ALSO BEEN HRARING OF SOME PROBLEMS. BAD SCREENS BUT NOT THE INTERFERENCE PROBLEMS. I BOUGHT IT BECAUSE IN THIS AREA THEY ARE NOT TO BE FOUND ANYWHERE? SO THE QUESTION IS WHAT`S UP WITH THIS UNIT?

I have a 332 and it has been all over the river — next to barges, the St. Paul airport, big cruiser boats… I don’t even have the shield cable connected to anything because I cut it off mistakenly when I installed it. I haven’t had any problems and love the thing. The only problem I’ve heard is that they don’t network properly with other units, and that it is something that will probably be fixed with a future software update. I don’t have any other GPS units in my boat, so I don’t care.