Don’t wait, download and install the 4.0 update!

All you guys who own Lowrance HDS units, regardless of the model, be sure to go to http://www.lowrance.com and download the new update for these units and install it into your HDS units. Or you can check out your local Lowrance Dealer and see if they can help you by updating your unit for you. Some of the stores or boat dealerships do this.

There are more features that HDS 5 & 7 owners will appreciate like splitting the screen into 3 panes when you are running Structure Scan.

For the HDS 8 & 10 owners you can program your six favorite screens into shortcut boxes above the quick access keys when you go to Pages to change your screen view.

Some of the things to look for are multiple improvements in sonar processing resulting in better overall sonar performance including:
Less interference from trolling motors / Improved noise rejection overall / Faster high speed run recovery / Improved depth auto ranging in shallow water.

These improvements are embedded in the 4.0 software so there are no adjustments required by the user to gain benefits. This means we need to leave the sensitivity on Auto Sensitivity for the best results.

Get this update on your HDS units so you can see and experience the difference. If you have any trouble getting the update installed go to the Lowrance page where you click on the link to download the update, go down the page to Troubleshooting and click on the link to PC users “Detailed Instructions”. In here you can follow screen by screen instructions to help you through the download process.

I agree, I noticed a difference on my HDS8 and 5,

Biggest hint to people installing the update, Make sure the Card your using is completely blank when putting the program on. Then it will go smooth.

Dont worry, You dont lose your waypoints or trails.

The engineers are always working to make these units better and better. This is why it’s so important to download each new update that comes out for your electronics. They don’t stop thinking of new stuff just because the new line of units came out. They keep thinking of new things like improving the speed of the map redraw or how fast the pages load or shortcuts we can use. Sometimes the update might be stuff in the software that we don’t see but rest assured that these improvements will be a benefit regardless.

Then after 5 or 6 years, the improvements out grow the current hardware and a new generation of units will be available. Take the HDS units for example, they replaced the LCX units. The LCX units are still great Sonar units and Chartplotters. But for Structure Scan to be used by us, Lowrance had to come out with new hardware that would run Structure Scan, hence the need for a new generation of electronics, welcome High Definition System or HDS.

Remember that just because a new line of electronics comes out that doesn’t mean the older stuff is suddenly no good. To the contrary, they work great. It just means we have more choices in electronics and the new stuff gives us more information, options, functionality or some other improvements.