Electronics mount question

[Echo]

The iPad mount is awesome! Couple of questions:
1) I looked on the app store for Lowrance. Many apps available. Which one did you use?
2) is the Fishhawk screen you show an app also? I have a fishhawk at the helm, but using an ipad is a good idea.
3) can you setup to use multiple ipads?

Great idea. Thanks for the post and pictures

[dgf2250]

The lowrance app is called 'GoFree Link'. To use it, you connect the iPad to a wifi hotspot that the HDS-Gen3 unit broadcasts. The first time you connect, you have to enter a password which is available in one of the menus on the HDS. After the initial connection, you don't enter a password.

The FishHawk screen shot is also an app available for iPhone and iPad. It operates using a bluetooth connection and is an 'out of the box' feature on the 4xd model (the newer one that shows depth in addition to temp).

The weather radar screenshot was just one of the many apps available to display NOAA radar. The problem I see with it is it requires a 'real' internet connection. Once I connect the iPad to the HDS, I lose internet and would lose the ability to pull up a radar map unless I disconnect from the HDS.

I'm so fearful of getting caught offshore in a thunderstorm producing 60mph winds and getting swamped that I am considering adding the Sirius XM module to the HDS. I'm not sure I want to rely on wireless internet for weather anyway. We had a close call last June that cemented in my mind that it's more important to be aware of the weather than any trolling program.

[WI Walleye]

If it is a new boat and new Lowrance HDS units each head unit will have a built-in GPS so if one fails you will still have the second. As mentioned they will also have Wi-Fi, don't worry about moving your bow unit, just get a cheap tablet and mount it in the back of the boat and it will act as a third display.

[dgf2250]

I experimented today with the iPad connectivity

It's possible to connect both the HDS and iPad to a mobile hotspot through my phone. The GoFree app was able to replicate the HDS display and the iPad still had internet. What I found, however, is the GoFree app would lose its ability to maintain a connection after a couple hours, then both the iPad and HDS had to be restarted. I bet this eventually gets fixed through software updates. When the HDS is connected to the hotspot, the GoFree was stable and maintained a connection for several hours without an issue. I'm going to have to come up with a way to get a charger to the iPad. There's no way the iPad can last all day with the display on all the time and turned up enough to be viewable outside in daylight.

I was able to take my kid's iPad minis and also connect them, so yes, more than one iPad can display and control the head unit. I think I'll stick to one iPad and will monitor the weather on or phones or maybe even get the XM/Sirrius module for the HDS.

I think this is a viable solution as long as you can be happy with the display size the iPad offers which is about the equivalent screen size as a HDS-9.

[Smithwarnar]

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[dgf2250]

Since Smithwarnar's spam post brought this to the top, I'll provide an update to using the Ipad as a second display. In the heat of summer, an iPad will overheat if it's encased in a water resistant case. It just shuts itself down. It's good on cloudy days and cool days though!