Fishfinder / Chartplotter

[will]

I'm in the market for a fishfinder for my boat, i'm thinking about a Lowrance HDS-5F from BCF see here

Does anyone have any experience with Lowrance, the HDS series or can suggest anything as an alternative?

I like the look of this unit, and the upgrade ability to structure scan, and Navionics charts (at extra cost).

Any thoughts are welcomed & appreciated.

 

[Matt76]

I have got 2 HDS5's, one for sounder and one for GPS. I have only had them a short time but am very happy. I was going to get the HDS7 combo unit like that but got talked into getting the 2, mainly because the GPS side will be really hard to see when its only half a page, even on a 7 inch screen. If it is set up on the NMEA network you should be able to put the depth and other info up on the GPS screen though I think so if you are navigating around you can make the GPS take up the full screen.

The sounder is nice and clear, the gps with navionics card shows a fair bit of information and even shows sandbanks and stuff to watch out for.

I havent played around with features though yet.

 

[will]

A guy at whitworths said that the combo units were hard to use split screen, but I think for me I'd probably use gps to navigate to a spot, then switch over to sounder to look for structure, drop-offs & fish. So thinking that I might be able to get away with just one combo unit. Plus I don't get the boat out much more than about 10-15 times a year, any more than $900 might be over doing it.

 

[superiorcruiser]

looks like good value..

 

[Eug]

having two separate units makes it handy for identifying new spots whilst traveling with your gps and sounder running separate. split screen can be annoying but is doable, go bigger if you have the cash.
as for the lowrance, it's a great unit we use it in a mates boat however the structure scan LSS-1 is an additional $7-900 which is a bit steep.
with the way the aussie dollar is look abroad, it's near half price. only problem is that lowrance have geofenced the GPS so it's useless outside America so get a Canadian model.

alternative is the hummin bird 798, 898 or 998 - i run one of these and we have just as much functionality, the bonus is that the side imaging is built in to the unit which makes it a little cheaper over all. a 798si was around $900 from memory (equivalent to HDS5 with LSS-1 which i was quoted $1900 for domestically). only catch is that some overseas units read imperial which suits some people fine when fishing/boating.

have a google around plenty of info on the fishing sites.

 

[WoodyD40]

I have a navman combo unit - which i now only use as a chart plotter, as i have now installed an eagle depth sounder. I found it was too much of a nuisance to swap over the screens on the combo unit - thats why i bought a seperate sounder to use. But at the time i was doing a lot of fishing (out every 2 weeks). Now that i have the Navara i hardly take the boat out - as i'm too interested in going 4wd'ing with the family.

I have heard a LOT of good reports about the Lowrance HDS models - so that is probably a good way to go. Personally i would still go for seperate units even though i'm going out on the boat as much any more - only because i have the combo unit, and its a nuisance to swap screens all the time. IMO.

 

[Scottar]

Will,

The Lowrance is a good unit but Navico, the company that make them can be a bit difficult to get along with. The Humminbird units have the advantage of only requiring the one transducer on the back of the boat to do both the side imaging and the normal sounder. Both units have a two year warranty however - once the lowrance is out of warranty it is essentially a throw away where as BLA (The Humminbird guys) do carry parts and do repairs. The other point I will make is that if you have the option of buying the unit through a dedicated marine electronics specialist in your area - consider it. I have spent the last 20 years working for such a company in Brisbane ( Actually handed Keys and phone back today to move on to bigger & better things) and the response we continually got from customers was "finally, someone who knows what their on about."
Unfortunately for the punters, most of the big chain stores spend more on flashy advertising than paying wages to hold onto quality staff that know and understand the products that they are selling.

Regards

Scott

 

[Ankaz]

I'm running with a Lowrance HDS 10 which due to the size is fine on split screen but my last unit was a smaller combo unit and it was hard to use on split screen.
Anything smaller than a HDS 7 and I run with separate units.
Lowrance are very easy to use compared to other units, very simple and self explanatory features.
If you have any questions I'll do my best to help.

 

[Rickstar]

Had the HDS-5F for 2 years now and couldn,t be happier.When navigating back in the dark I use full screen.Can backtrack through the trees and logs with confidence.Navionics software is on an sd card and cannot be backed up if you know what I mean.I haven,t tried to play with waypoints that are on the card and edit on a pc yet.Bought mine from Canada for $750.0 Au $

 

[longy509]

any more updates on the new model split screens im looking to spend around a thousand bucks

 

[joffo81]

We use an HDS 10 and are very happy with it but factor in the cost of a navionics chart card. The HDS is user friendly and has performed well for us so far.

 

[hosery]

any more updates on the new model split screens im looking to spend around a thousand bucks

Hey mate do yourself a favour and have a look at getting 1 out from the states. A good mate got his from there and saved a considerable amount compared to buying here. About $500. I'm looking at getting a new sounder/chart plotter in the near future and ill be getting mine from the states. Only down side is you can't change the units it all imperial but that doesn't worry me. If you can handle that I'd seriously consider it if I were you.

 

[Jon]

I quite like the HDS range my old man has 2 hds5's one as a plotter and the other sounding. Not a bad unit at all. Myself I have a Furuno FCV-585 and a lowrance plotter. The Furuno absolutely shits all over the Lowrance in my opinion. It has a lower resolution, no side scan, but somehow it just gives out the clearest pictures with very little in the way of noise. They are quality units but you do pay for it and they are a little bit behind some of the newer technologies around. Would I trade my Furuno for a HDS? Hell no!!

 

[longy509]

Thanks everyone has anyone had any experience with the raymarine dragonfly

 

[Yobbo]

be careful buying a new lowrance plotter that includes a Navionics gold card, it will be a "bundled" card and the maps on the card can not be updated with the online "freshest data" and a imported GPS unit may be geo-fenced. I use a lowrance 5 sounder / fishfinder and a lowrance 5m chartplotter with navionics gold on my boat, I also use a 10" android mounted at the helm for weather, AIS, tide, the android also has the navionics and jeppesen c-map apps on which comes in handy plotting a course

 

[Stevo_d40_05]

HDS 5 elite. With nav card gold.
Nothing else needed.
Not too pricy either.

 

[rastas dog]

Hey mate i've got an hds7 at the console and an hds5 up front for when I'm casting lure's. they are great units and i don't have any problem seeing them when it's split screen i've got the lss2 structure scan but have yet to install it.(lazy i know).

 

[NT-Boy]

Lowrance elite 5 with gps.

If I was going to do it again I'd go the elite 5 HDI.....

 

[Biscuits]

I work for Furuno Australia, so i am bias

 

[Jason]

The Lowrance HDS stuff is great. I've had the Elite 5 as well.

I used to work for TMQ, which is/was the JRC distributor in Aus, had some dealings with the other brands, but Lowrance is perfect for most recs.