Hello there good people, and fellow fishermen. I’m new to the forum, and I have a quick question.
I currently have a Lowrance HDS-5m unit. How do I know if it is a Gen 2 unit? And, will Lakemaster chips work with this (I was under the impression that Lakemaster was made for Hummingbird units).
Appreciate any feedback. Thanks.
Jim Duffy
The Gen2 units have “Lowrance” in White lettering while the Gen1 units have it in black. That is the easiest way to tell at a glance.
They will read the old Lowrance lakemaster chips, but the depths will be off by roughly triple. It’s a meters to feet conversion software difference. They won’t read humminbird specific lakemaster chips.
If you are able to find a 2012 or older lakemaster chip it will work fine in any HDS unit provided it isn’t at SW version 3.5 or 4.0.
Get a Lowrance Lake Insight Chip, it uses the same mapping data Lakemaster had, plus recent updates.
Many thanks for your quick reply, Captain Musky. That’s a pretty straight forward way to tell the difference between Gen 1 and Gen 2 units.
I have a buddy who has a Lowrance 522C and he has a Lakemaster chip in it, version 4, which he swears by. He highly recommended I look into seeing if this chip would work in my unit. But, per your advice, I think I’ll look into the Lake Insight chip.
Thanks again for your help with this issue. Take care.
Jim D:
Ok, good. Thanks for the info, Jetro.
If you are able to find a 2012 or older lakemaster chip it will work fine in any HDS unit provided it isn’t at SW version 3.5 or 4.0.
Get a Lowrance Lake Insight Chip, it uses the same mapping data Lakemaster had, plus recent updates.
My old Lake Master chip is better for some bodies of water than the Lake Insight chip, so I wouldn’t say it has the same mapping data. Twice over the weekend I had to use the good old Lake Master chip for the bodies of water I was fishing, one being Lake Michigan. The other lake had no data what so ever on the Insight or any other chip available for my Lowrance HDS units.
My old Lake Master chip is better for some bodies of water than the Lake Insight chip, so I wouldn’t say it has the same mapping data. Twice over the weekend I had to use the good old Lake Master chip for the bodies of water I was fishing, one being Lake Michigan. The other lake had no data what so ever on the Insight or any other chip available for my Lowrance HDS units.
Good point, I should have clarified that being the bodies of water I have fished here in MN and Canada.
You are referring to the Lowrance Lake Insight Pro chip? I know there is an HD version (same data, but includes shaded relief) and there is another chip that Lowrance makes that is intended for the Great Lakes and Coastal waters. My buddy bought this one by mistake and was completely useless for inland waters, but showed great detail for Lake Superior which he unfortunately never fishes. 
The two chips I am comparing would be the Lowrance Lake Insight Pro and the Lakemaster MN chip. I have two HDS units running side by side at my console and one has Lakemaster while the other the Lowrance chip and I have yet to find a difference other than the contour line color between the two.
Well Captain Musky, your reply inspired me to pull the trigger on ordering the Lake Insight Pro chip. I’ll give you a heads up on how it works out for me in my area of northwest Wisc lakes. Appreciate the time you took for a detailed response to my inquiry.
Jim D
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
