When you Format an SD card, you are erasing all the information on the card, clearing it completely so be sure you don’t want anything that is on the card, making it ready for your next project.

Brian Klawitter wrote:

Thanks Ken and Happy New Year!

You too Brian and God Bless everyone’s new year!

The inline fuse is very important, a must have part of the wiring when going directly to a battery. It is also very important to install a switch to be able to turn the power off to the unit. If power is on all the time, even with the power button turning off the unit, some of your unit is kinda on standby with the power on. This is not good for the unit. Either install the wire to an on/off switch or unhook the wires from the battery for storage.

The Gen 3 units will have the touch screen AND key pad operation. Chirp sonar will be built into the unit and use your current ducer. Wifi built in so you can view the Lowrance screen on other devices like an iPad in another area of the boat.

Here is a link to learn more. http://www.lowrance.com/en-US/Products/HDS-Gen3/

Lowrance has partnered with Motorguide to use Lowrance GPS. Check out the link below. This may be an option for an Auto Pilot need.

http://www.lowrance.com/en-US/News/Lowrance-Partners-With-MotorGuide-to-Launch-PinpointConnect/

Press the Pages key and only use the Sonar screen. The GPS antenna is built in and I don’t think you can “turn it off”, just don’t use those screens.

The LSS-1 transducer has one crystal aimed down, one to the left and one to the right to get data return to draw the picture on your screen. The LSS-2 has two crystals pointing down, left and right so there is much more data to get detail from. With the added crystals and power the LSS-2 can give you readings from further away and clearer readings.

In addition to what Brian said, if you don’t have a marine radio they don’t go anywhere. Just cut the inch or so of the individual wires off where they come out of the cable and save the NMEA 183 just in case you get a marine radio in the future.

Mike is right. If your HDS head unit is not listing a device on the Device List then the device is usually not getting power so it can communicate with the head unit. The power and ground wires coming from the power node would be the first place to check.

If you do the hard reset that is suggested, be absolutely sure to save your waypoints, routes and trails to an SD card because the hard reset, holding in the Zin and Zout keys and pressing the power key, WILL erase all Waypoints, Routes and Trails. A soft reset, holding in the Pages key then pressing the power key will reset to factory settings without erasing the Waypoints, Routes and Trails.

Check your cable and connection from the transducer to the module. Is your Ethernet network is working properly. It sounds like your module is alive, but I want to be sure.

I think this is a transducer problem. If the Ethernet is sending information across the network but you are getting a ‘No Source” then the transducer isn’t talking to the module.

If the ethernet is working properly and there are no problems with the LSS-2 transducer connections or kinked or pinched cable then you may need to call Lowrance Customer Care for further assistance. 1-800-628-4487

As I remember, icons were used in the LCX, LMS and earlier units because they did not use as much memory as Waypoints and memory was an issue. With the HDS units and the hardware becoming bigger and cheaper, icons were not needed any longer. Now Waypoints are used. They are the same as icons but have the Lon and Lat associated with them.

To change the icon associated with the Waypoint, you can use the arrow key to move the cursor over the Waypoint on the map, hit menu and edit the Waypoint. In this menu you can change the blue circle to an X and change the color to any of the 7 options available. There are also alot of subject specific icons to choose from. Be sure to save your changes.

You can use the NMEA network to have both units use the LGC 4000 GPS puck. Hit menu twice, go down to Network and choose Data Sources. Go to GPS, hit enter. Find the LGC 4000 in the device list and choose it in each unit.

The transducer would be a PDT-WBL if you want a temp. sensor in it. Get the PD-WBL if you don’t need a temp. sensor.

Check out the Insight Genesis site to be able to create your own mapping from your sonar logs. With the premium subscription you can choose vegetation or bottom hardness features in your mapping. Go to the Insight Genesis web site to try it out.

https://insightstore.navico.com/

Lowrance has a WiFi unit for the HDS units where you can use an Android phone, iPhone, iPad, etc to see your display on your HDS on your mobil device. Go to the link below to learn more.

http://www.lowrance.com/en-US/Products/Wireless/GoFree-WIFI-1-Module-en-us.aspx

As I recall the LMS and LCX units can only read an SD card up to 500 MB or so. The Navionics card might be too big for the 522 to read.

All these mounting options are great. If you choose to mount your LSS-2 ducer with the cable facing the stern, you will need to go into the Structure Scan menu and choose “Flip Left and Right”. The default left and right are correct if the end of the ducer with the cable coming out of it is pointing to the bow. If you mount it with the cable facing back then flip left and right so what shows up on the screen on the right side will really be on the right side of the boat.

Dandorn, I like your choice of music!

Lot’s of improvement over the last year. Supply of products is very good. Some of the delays in getting product out is a shortage of parts in the industry that Lowrance does not manufacture in house.

Sonar can only be shared through an Ethernet Network. The NMEA Network carries GPS, Temperature, Sonic Hub, Sirius Satellite info. etc.

The Elite series is more of an entry level line of units. Not as many customization options and you won’t be able to view the side scan on any of these units.

The HDS series is a full component system expandable to left, right and down scan, Radar, Sonic Hub, Sirius Weather, and more.

BTW, the HDS Touch units are not replacing the Key Pad units. The HDS Gen 2 units are offered in Touch and Key Pad models as side by side Gen 2 models. Both are current models, neither is replacing the other, just two different options depending on personal preference.

You will actually like the Gen 2 much more because of the increased speed of the processor. Pages load much faster and navigation through menus is faster too. The Structure Map feature on the Gen 2’s is pretty cool too if you happen to have a Structure Scan addition to you HDS unit.

The primary differences between the Gen 1’s and Gen 2’s are the Gen 2’s have a faster processor and they have the Structure Map feature. You can go here to learn more;

http://www.lowrance.com/en-us/

The white line is there because the “Depth Line” is on in the Sonar menu. This is the true depth of the bottom. If there is a slope to the bottom or you are over a drop off then there will be yellow shading from the high side to the deeper side of this slope or drop off that is being marked within the coverage of the transducer. This is the way a three dimensional image is shown on a one dimensional screen. On LCX units change the palette to Bottom Color Tracking, on HDS units change the color to palette 13. This will show the bottom in a brown color and make it easier to distinguish the bottom from the interference created from the transducer signal bouncing off rocks and then getting back to the receiver.

If you have HDS units with Structure Scan change to a split screen with traditional sonar on one side and Structure Down view on the other. The Structure side will show the rocks and bottom make up. This will teach you how to interpret what the traditional Sonar is showing you.

As for the vertical lines, this is interference from another transducer. If you have HDS units, hit the power button and then hit enter on the unit at the console if this unit is the one at the bow on the trolling motor. This will put the HDS unit in Standby mode, turning off the transducer eliminating the vertical lines. When you want to use the unit at the console again just hit the power key and then hit exit and the unit is back up instantly.

If you have LCX units then go to the Sonar menu and Stop Sonar to shut down the transducer temporarily. This will also eliminate the vertical lines.

Thanks Brian. I appreciate your kind words. Lowrance is always improving their customer service and products and I’m sure every other electronics company is doing the same. If they’re not they are loosing ground to the competition. I find it’s best to do your own research and make the decision that is best for yourself.

Hearsay is like dock talk, not much value being disseminated there.

Call Lowrance Customer Care at 1-800-324-1354. If the unit is an HDS unit it has a two year warranty. The agent can get you fixed up.

I wanted everyone here to know that I sent a PM to jc3363 to get their contact information because the head of Lowrance’s customer care wanted to personally call them and clear up this issue. I have had no contact from the original poster of this thread. This makes me think that this complaint may not be a real issue, just someone with a different agenda.

The selection menu is the same on all the HDS units so it should be the same on the 7 or the 10.

To help answer your questions;

HDS 5 is a sonar/chartplotter combo unit. This is the original HDS unit.

Elite 5 is a sonar/chartplotter combo unit. Fewer features than the HDS unit to hit a less expensive price point.

HDS 5 Gen 2 is the next HDS unit. Same as the first generation but this new unit has a faster processor for quicker page loading and refresh rate. Plus a new feature called Structure Map. This is a sonar feature and only applicable to those who have an LSS-1 or an LSS-2. (LSS = Lowrance Structure Scan)

As mentioned in one of the other posts, Lowrance makes a dedicated Chartplotter without any sonar features. These units will have an “m” after the model number. Example HDS 5m, Elite 5m or HDS 5m Gen 2.

The 83/200 ducer that comes with the HDS unit is the best for the traditional sonar and the transducer that comes with the LSS-1 is the only one that will give you the left, right and down views of Structure Scan. You need both, one for each type of sonar, and they both come standard in each package.