No depth display

i have a hds-8 gen2 w/side scan. There is no depth display on chart screen. Reads —ft. Worked fine last week, launched yesterday, no display. was doing some data set-up.i wonder if I messed something up. Both transducers look ok, connections ok. Also any detailed sources for set-up and operation? The manual is not that informative.
Thanks

Did you try a hard reset ?

Don’t do a hard reset! Check your data sources in the sonar setup menu. Should be at the bottom of the menu. you will have choices for global and local (this unit). if your display is hooked up to the desired transducer choose that unit ie. your HDS8 (this unit). I lose data when the source selected is the head unit that is hooked up to the trolling motor transducer and the motor is out of the water. It isn’t a problem when I shut off the HDS unit hooked to the trolling motor transducer. Lowrance has some documentation online that explains the hierarchy of global and local defaults in their downloads section of their site. Depending on whether you have both NMEA2k and Ethernet or one or the other will determine the hierarchy. Playing with the settings does affect other defaults so it is worth your time to look this info up to know what gets changed as you tweak the system. http://primus.lowrance.com/icr/units/HDS%20System%20Overview.pdf

See if this helps.

Copied from another forum

Sharing Transducers/temps.

HDS settings when using Network Sonar

Network sonar enables Multiple HDS units to share a single sonar source, or to change all units in the network from source to source. There are a few settings that need to be changed so that network sonar does not change where the unit is looking for its sonar overlay data (depth/temperature). With network sonar enabled you are only able to display one set of sonar data at a time, if you wish to show the depths and temperatures from different transducers network sonar must be turned off. *Running two transducers at the same time can cause cross talk interference.

There are two ways to network HDS units and use Network Sonar:

• Ethernet only: Allows sonar data to be shared only while network sonar is enabled. When network sonar is enabled on both units you will only be able to use one sonar source (data from one transducer) at a time.

• Ethernet and NMEA2000: Allows sonar data to be shared via network sonar. Also allows sonar overlay data to be shared via NMEA2000 network when network sonar is disabled. (Can show temp from one unit on another)

To enable/disable Network Sonar:

Menu>Menu>Sonar>Network sonar. (This dot must be highlighted in both units before network sonar will function. To disable it only has to be turned off on one of the two units.)

Setting the Temp and Depth source:

Setting the temp and depth source will allow the unit to display the active sonar data while network sonar is enabled and to display its own data when network sonar is disabled.

Menu>Menu>Network>Data sources…>Sonar>Water temperature>Menu>Scope>Local

Then set the active source as HDS-# Sonar [This Device]

This must be performed on at least one of the two HDS in a network; it can be done to both.

Follow the same procedure for Depth.

Data Source Selection menu when networked with Ethernet and NMEA2000.

Data Source Selection menu when networked with only Ethernet.

Excuse my butting in but I think I have the same problem.

Same unit w/ the sidescan / bottom scan.

It was working fine one day & the next day when I lowered the boat on the hoist and started to get things going for a night troll, I got a “no input” (I believe this is the exact verbage, but I might be a little off.) on the screen when I slected the structure + structure + sonar page. The color sonar was fine, but I have no sidescan & bottom scan.

The boat is kept on a hoist except when I ‘m doing work on it or, like putting in a new sonar & all my connections also look good. Pulling the LSS II box is going to be a real pain but if I need to pull the Lss transducer it’ll really be ugly.

Bladepuller, the no source message means either the LSS box is out, the lss doesn’t have power, or you have a bad ethernet cable. My old boat would do that on the bow locator intermittently, and it turned out to be a bad cable.

I would check to make sure your LSS is powered up first, then try a different ethernet cable, and then if neither of those work, call lowrance and ask them what to try next.

Thanks John. I have my LSS box mounted in an compartment where I can see the box & the power light is on, when I power up the head. I have connected the yellow wires on the harnesses.
I bought the LSS kit from Reeds Outpost. I have always been treated fantastic & highly recommend them on their customer service so I’ll likely pull the cable & the box, it is fairly easy to get @, and take them over there next wekeend. Lee, the manager, has been 100% stand up, IMHO.
The HDS-8 head was bought directly from Lowance when a 522c, that I inherited when I bought 2 yr old pontoon for the family, died & Lowrance rebated on this unit.
BTW, Lowrance knew I had not bought the 522C new. It was well out of warranty & still gave me $$$$$ for it. I was ready to go to a Hummingbird. Hopefully I don’t have a series of problems w/ this unit.
Reeds sells both.

Lowrance sent me a new ethernet cable that arrived today. On Friday I pulled the boat out of the lake and called Lowrance. The “No Source” message came up and obviously no structure scan. I called navionics and was told to see what the 3 small, dim, power, sonar & link labeled leds were doing & the serial number also. In rmoving the LSS II box I jiggled the ethernet cable & that changed the LED for “link” which had been intermitant in its blinking before hand but was not doing anything but then came back up upon ethernet cable being bumped. Power was a steady glow * sonar was a rythmic blink.
Obviously the cable was bad. I took a lot of care, I think, in installation but will take more with the new cable.
The Lowrance customer service techs were both (I delt with Ade in San Diego 1st 7 then Earl in Tulsa) great to deal with. Earl also thought that instead of tying the yellow wires on the LSS & HDS 8 wiring harnesses together (Doing this has the LSS turn on when the HDS is activated: The yellow wires act as a relay switchleg) that there might be a voltage drop and to run the LSS yellow wire / switchleg relay to a dedicated in-line switch. I’ll have to turn the LSS II unit on by it’s self. No big deal that I might do.
Bottom line for me is that I was very skeptical of Lowrance in general and customer service specific. Now I don’t feel as worried about not going to the bird. I just wish I had another 2 months of open water to spend some quality time with the system.
I’m just a guy & not associated withor have an interest in Lowrance.

There’s always the bathtub in the winter months!

Nah. I put the old Pro V away and really don’t have any place to store it around here so it stays close to ML.

I met you and Holst & somebody else one fall day probably back 6 years ago at Georgies when you were eating. I was in there w/ my wife, her sister & my now ex Bro in law.

I remember your wife and sister…but sorry.

If it was the trip I recall, we had wide smiles!