Sonar/GPS/ Side Imaging Help

[davidsa]

My bow unit has died. Third dead unit in 10 years. My now 10 year old console unit runs like a charm but should have been retired 4 years ago.

In looking at replacesments for the bow and console, I'm torn on what to buy. If I thought something would last for 10 years then I would not mind so much the big bucks. Given the life of my recent stuff seems to be about 3 years, this inspires me to buy value and assume it will need to be replaced in 3 years

For the Bow, I was thinking of an Eagle 480 or the Lowrance 510x for Color. GPS on the bow would be nice but I can see my console GPS from my bow so I don't have to have it.

The console is realy tough for me. I don't want to spend a ton but like the 7 inch screens and side imaging technology.

Has anyone used the side imaging technology Hummingbird has on the ledges of KY Lake??? Can you see fish on the drops along with the structure???

I can get a pretty decent price on a Lowrance LCX 28 HD but I'm not sure I should spend that much and come up without Side Imaging.

any thoughts on how well this new technology and color helps over just good mono-chrome technology???

thanks

[bigrod]

I believe in aug. or sept. that Lowrance is coming out with the side image add on for the new hds units

[aceoky]

I don't know about the side imaging as I've never tried it (but have heard good things) as for color it's a huge difference IMO, you can easily tell hard bottom from soft, mark fish Right on the bottom , tell trees from weeds etc. (this based on a Lowrance 520C) It's akin to the difference in B&W Tv vs color IMHO. (but maybe a bigger difference )

Whatever you decide I suggest you at least check out some color units, I think you'll be glad you did.

[davidsa]

Thanks I'm leaning toward the 510 color for the front which is the 520 less the GPS. A 520 for the console is another option for me. What type of mapping cards are you using with yours? How is the accuracy??

I have a Lowrance H2O handheld with a fishing hot spots elite mapping card. The map does not seem very accurate. Sitting in little river one day on Barkley, I noticed the unit showed me 15 foot on the bank and I was at least 15 yards out in the water. While not a huge deal, the GPS does not put me right on a spot and would be tough to find a specific object in open water.

If I got the 520, I would need to buy a mapping card of some sort.


The side imaging is coming out for the new Lowrance units but we don't know when or at what cost. Info on this should be out in July.

[Bass Addict 170]

My bow unit has died. Third dead unit in 10 years. My now 10 year old console unit runs like a charm but should have been retired 4 years ago.

In looking at replacesments for the bow and console, I'm torn on what to buy. If I thought something would last for 10 years then I would not mind so much the big bucks. Given the life of my recent stuff seems to be about 3 years, this inspires me to buy value and assume it will need to be replaced in 3 years

For the Bow, I was thinking of an Eagle 480 or the Lowrance 510x for Color. GPS on the bow would be nice but I can see my console GPS from my bow so I don't have to have it.

The console is realy tough for me. I don't want to spend a ton but like the 7 inch screens and side imaging technology.

Has anyone used the side imaging technology Hummingbird has on the ledges of KY Lake??? Can you see fish on the drops along with the structure???

I can get a pretty decent price on a Lowrance LCX 28 HD but I'm not sure I should spend that much and come up without Side Imaging.

any thoughts on how well this new technology and color helps over just good mono-chrome technology???

thanks

For what you'd be spending on the 28 HD, you would be much better off getting at Humminbird 798 ci and a Navionics chip. The navionics is a lot better detailed topographically than LEI Hotspots, especially on KY Lake. They have 5 Hi-Def lakes (KY, Barkley, Barren, C-land, and Dale) that are in 1 ft. contours. But the side imaging is awesome, have a lot of guys I work with and hear back from at BPS that love them.

[smuckey41]

i have the 1197si on my bow and it is awsome. dont know anything about the lowrance si but the humminbird is great. and the chip i use is the navionics hot maps and you can zoom in and pin point spots perfect. also on the side imaging if you see fish or stucture or what ever you can scroll over and mark that spot and it will show exsactly where it is on your map. and as far as ledges on ky lake i dont know but with my experence with the lakes i fish you can tell where drops, humps, ledges, points, holes, trees, rock piles, road beds, and i even have seen a lounge chair so i am sure it will show ledges on ky lake. this thing is awsome cant realy describe it in words. and as far as color it is a big diffrence. and people i know have had alot of trouble with lowrance and there service department. i have had no proublems with any of my humminbirds and i have three and if i had any questions there service department is great and are happy to help even with the small stuff. the only unit i will ever own is a humminbird. hope this helps


thanks
chuck

[smuckey41]

For what you'd be spending on the 28 HD, you would be much better off getting at Humminbird 798 ci and a Navionics chip. The navionics is a lot better detailed topographically than LEI Hotspots, especially on KY Lake. They have 5 Hi-Def lakes (KY, Barkley, Barren, C-land, and Dale) that are in 1 ft. contours. But the side imaging is awesome, have a lot of guys I work with and hear back from at BPS that love them.

i have the 798ci humminbird on my dash and it is awsome to just not as good as the side imaging.

[Bass Addict 170]

i have the 798ci humminbird on my dash and it is awsome to just not as good as the side imaging.

You have the 798 or 788? The 788 is just a GPS/Sonar combo (which I have on our boat), while the 798 is that plus side imaging. The 798 is the cheapest of the three side imaging units Humminbird offers.

[davidsa]

Thanks Guys!

I was leaning toward the 798SI or 998SI for the console. Anyone know if the mapping packages they have pre-loaded on these units is any good or should I skip that and just buy a Navionics card.

thanks again

[Duayne]

If you are going to replace both, you may want to look into the network options for both low. and hummingbird. Both have it I believe. With that, its my understanding that you could use the transducers/GPS antennas of one unit on the other unit. Not sure if you could use the maps from one on the other..

[davidsa]

I was wondering if one could see GPS maps on a networked unit if the screen you were looking at did not have inherent GPS capability itself. If anyone knows that would be helpful.

[Bass Addict 170]

Yeah, Humminbird has a Interlink option for $100, but it only allows you to share waypoints, tracks, and routes. You can get transducer spliter-cables and run multiple units off one transducer, or hook up a high-speed trans. to your 798 along w/ the side imaging unit. Lowrance does have a linking option (Navico Expansion Port), but is a lot more expensive, and cables to connect to it are seperate :/ . But no, you CANNOT see Navionics or any other maps on an interlinked unit if it does not have the card plugged into it. One chip per unit kinda deal. However, if you are looking for replacing both fishfinders and saving a few $$$$, look at getting a 798 c SI (External GPS) and a cheaper 700 series, like a 778c. You can run 2 units off one GPS Module as long as they're interlinked (Lowrance doesn't offer this as far as I know).