Fish finder?? Fish finder?? Fish finder?? Fish finder??
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Thread: Fish finder??

  1. #11
    Join Date
    May 2010
    Location
    Athens, OH
    Posts
    355

    Default

    Wakina,

    Nice post, and good information! I agree with Wakina about the HDS really only being worth the extra money if you are going to integrate it with other system.

    I bought my HDS Gen 2 with no intentions of networking it. Last year however I bought the Lowrance "Point 1" external GPS that updates 10 times / second. Then I plugged my marine radio into the HDS as well. Now my radio displays my GPS position, and... and... If I want to I can "share" my location through my radio and any of my friends can "see" me on their Lowrance HDS units, and I can see them if they have one.

    I realize that you are buying it for a fish finder, but if you can see your friends and you can get reports from them, then it is better than seeing what is in the water. For example: I can tell a buddy, "Hey, from where I am right now go NW for 1 mile trolling 2 MPH. We just picked up 6." He doesn't have to ask where I am, and he already has my exact GPS coordinates.

    This was not something that I thought about when I bought it, but now it is something that I wouldn't go without.

    Wakina is also correct in that any autopilot or radar system is quite easy to set up with the HDS systems and almost "plug & play."

    However, he is also correct about needing to be an attorney... lol

    My brother who owns the boat with me is an attorney in Pittsburgh and he spends a couple hours each year reading and learning about some new feature for us to start using... It's pretty comical that Wakina mentioned being an attorney in Philly!

    -Matt

  2. #12
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Location
    Fostoria, Ohio
    Posts
    1,805

    Default

    Madd Matt

    My father-inlaw grew up in your neck of the woods at Millfield, Ohio. My wife still has alot of relation down there in Glouster and Corning, we get down there a couple of times a year for visits.
    I have seen some monster Whitetail bucks outside of Glouster as well as a Black Bear just north of town. Just wondering if you ever hunt those big bucks there in Athens County?
    Some of those roads are scary curvy, in fact they are so bad you can see your own tail lights when you go around some of those curves. Found that out when we cut across from Rt. 33 to Rt. 13 Beautiful rugged Country in that part of Athens County.
    Wakina
    23 foot Pro Line
    HDS 5X Sonar
    HDS 5M GPS
    Navonics chip, model #DMSD/649P+
    Platinum Plus Lake Erie and Lake St Clair Marine.
    Raymarine Dragonfly7 Sonar-Downvision-GPS combo with chirp technology.
    Navonics Hotmaps Premium East chip

  3. #13
    Join Date
    May 2010
    Location
    Athens, OH
    Posts
    355

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by wakina View Post
    Madd Matt

    My father-inlaw grew up in your neck of the woods at Millfield, Ohio. My wife still has alot of relation down there in Glouster and Corning, we get down there a couple of times a year for visits.
    I have seen some monster Whitetail bucks outside of Glouster as well as a Black Bear just north of town. Just wondering if you ever hunt those big bucks there in Athens County?
    Some of those roads are scary curvy, in fact they are so bad you can see your own tail lights when you go around some of those curves. Found that out when we cut across from Rt. 33 to Rt. 13 Beautiful rugged Country in that part of Athens County.
    I hunt when I can... Typically only have time for gun season, but I actually sighted in the cross bow today. Who knows. Maybe I'll get time to get in the woods.

    We do have big deer compared to those large dog looking things up North. lol

    -Matt

  4. #14

    Default

    Wakina
    I've been very happy with my Raymarine Dragonfly 7" screen. It has CHIRP hybrid technology on the sonar and the GPS works as it should. Not network compatible. I bought the unit this past spring with Navionics gold chip for around $700.
    TheBigE22

  5. #15
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Location
    Fostoria, Ohio
    Posts
    1,805

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by thebige22 View Post
    Wakina
    I've been very happy with my Raymarine Dragonfly 7" screen. It has CHIRP hybrid technology on the sonar and the GPS works as it should. Not network compatible. I bought the unit this past spring with Navionics gold chip for around $700.
    TheBigE22
    Thank you for the first hand information on the Dragonfly 7 it is much appreciated.

    My current chip will not work in the Dragonfly 7, the Navonics Platinum Plus chip is to large for the memory. To many MB's, the Hot Spots Premium chip will work and so will the Gold and Silver chips. I have a new Hot Maps Premium East so I will probably just get the bare unit with transducer and use the chip that I have. I am keeping both HDS units, I have no complaints with the HDS 5M GPS it is an excellent unit but am tired of replacing transducers on the HDS 5X Sonar. The sonar has never performed as well as I had originally hoped it would, most likely due to the transducer issues.

    So, I am going back to something that to me is more enjoyable and easier to operate. Something that doesn't have several different electronic pages and enough settings to confuse a fighter pilot all while you are trying to figure out the fish. When I started fishing the big lake we only had a compass and no sonars or GPS units. My first unit was a Ray Jefferson flasher I bought at Sears. Then I had a LORAN C unit made by Sitex and a Sitex video sonar as well. Also used various models of those paper graphs with the replaceable stylus and rolls of paper.

    For me, to be constantly fooling with electronic gadgets takes the fun and relaxation out of the fishing, I go fishing to rest my mind and have fun. So I am going back to the K.I.S.S. system. Kind of like those set them and forget them ovens you used see on TV.
    Wakina
    23 foot Pro Line
    HDS 5X Sonar
    HDS 5M GPS
    Navonics chip, model #DMSD/649P+
    Platinum Plus Lake Erie and Lake St Clair Marine.
    Raymarine Dragonfly7 Sonar-Downvision-GPS combo with chirp technology.
    Navonics Hotmaps Premium East chip

  6. #16
    Join Date
    Jul 2011
    Location
    Wild Wings Marina
    Posts
    105

    Default Super sonar

    Look for the NEW HDS-GEN 3s due out after the holiday season.....

  7. #17
    Join Date
    Sep 2014
    Location
    Monroe, MI
    Posts
    91

    Default HDS 7 gen2 touch sale

    If anyone is still looking for a new GPS/FF, West Marine has reduced the HDS 7 Gen2 Touch to 799.90 online. Probably because the Gen3 is coming soon, but still quite a unit for the price.

    Gradyfish

  8. #18
    Join Date
    Jul 2011
    Location
    Wild Wings Marina
    Posts
    105

    Default

    BPS Rossford, has it for $899 with the structure scan bundle

  9. #19
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Posts
    312
    Blog Entries
    3

    Default Lowrance HDS-7 Gen 2

    For any walleye.com forum member I will meet or beat West Marine or other vendor prices on any product to the extent that I can. I respect the MAP pricing restrictions so in many cases my web site doesn't reflect the lowest prices available. If you have a specific model in mind and provide with the MPN number or related SKU number from our web site I can quote a specific price.

    Below is the link to the Lowrance fish finders on our site.

    http://www.walleyetacklestore.com/lofich.html

    Best to all in the New Year.

    Walleye Rick, walleye.com and walleyetacklestore.com


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