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Ive been looking at the Lowrance HDS8 with the side imaging. Has anyone actually been on a boat with this unit. The Demo looks great but manufacturers can make any demo look great. Was trying to get some feedback on the actual usability of this thing. With the side imaging transducer being mounted on the trolling motor will the side image be distorted with every movement of the motor? I suspect in windy conditions this will be practically useless. Just gettin some opinions.
Thanks
Bill
I have the hummingbird 797 si with side imaging. The side imaging gives detailed, almost 3d picture of structure. Passing a bridge pilon is pretty cool as you can see it in detail all the way to the bottom. In Frankfort there is an old covered bridge that sits on the bottom of the KY under the "singing bridge" that replaced it. You can see it plainly (although it is now collapsed). Our county search and rescue has very high end side imaging sonar and I will not go into what they use it for. If you want a unit that will give very detailed structure such as underwater cliffs, downed timber, or a sunken barge side imaging is the way to go. The other benifit to side imaging is my 797 si gives you a view up to 150ft left, 150ft right and a view directly under the boat. So you see a much larger picture than with the single view bottom units of about 40ft. You can ^ sensitivity to as close as 40ft side to see bait fish and fish. The only distortion I get is when making sharp turns as the side view gets streched or compressed depending on the side. Have not used the Lowrance model, however, they do make quality products. I would recomend side imaging!
i have never had a lowrance but i know some people who have. and they have nothing but bad things to say they are always messing up and the service reps are terrable. i have the humminbird 1197si and its mounted to my trolling moter and i love it. yes if you make some quick movemints it will get distorted but it picks right back up. and another thing is you can put your trolling motor down and idol and it picks up perfect. and the service reps are awsome i have never ben on hold when i have called. and the only times i have called was just to figure out how to transfer data from your chip that you saved to your computer. i have three humminbirds and they all still work perfect. i have the b/w witch was the first one i bought then i got the best color one with the gps then i got the 1197si and i will run all three and use all three. like i said i have never had a lowrance so i dont know but my buddies have lowrance and that is what drove me to get a humminbird and im glad i did.
[QUOTE=bill28wagner;393354]Ive been looking at the Lowrance HDS8 with the side imaging. Has anyone actually been on a boat with this unit. The Demo looks great but manufacturers can make any demo look great. Was trying to get some feedback on the actual usability of this thing. With the side imaging transducer being mounted on the trolling motor will the side image be distorted with every movement of the motor? I suspect in windy conditions this will be practically useless. Just gettin some opinions.
Thanks
Bill[/QUOTE]
I have the hds-7 with the structure scan, I've only been on the water twice with it. it is unreal how it shows the structure, in the down scan mode. it shows the stumps and trees like they are. i really like that part, but it never id any fish neither trip. i had mine on split screen, with the structure scan on the left and the regular transducer imaging on the right. on the right side, i did see some fish arches. and nothing on the lift side. but i did not get a bite that day and that was last sunday. so who knows, could have been fish their and could not have. i did see one white spot i thought might have been a fish, i put the cruser x on it and zoomed in, and it broke up into about a hundred pieces. so thats the best report i can give you right now. I sure hope it does better, on trips to come. than it did the past two trips.:)
I also have the HDs7 and love the unit. The gps is awsome and alot of options. I am also still learning how to set it up properly for fish etc.
But please post your experience about the structure scan. It sounds great but at an additional $550 I really need to know if its worth it.
I used tech support to assist in a download of a new operating system and they (Lowrance) were very helpful and had on line videos with full directions.
Done loads of research. Buyin one tomorrow......hope for the best. Ill let you know.
I can tell you for a fact, that you will get to know Linda Colt really well. She's the customer service/ president/ workhorse of Lowrance. I know of two people right now with the HDS8 that have filled up with water. Yea you will get another but right now it's five more weeks for a replacement with Lowrance. I wish you the very best of luck. I have had nothing but bad units from Lowrance since 06. They will be leaving my boat in the very near future. The quality of their product has gone down hill . ;)