14 replies to this topic

[Dolphin-Flats-Smitty]

Well;

I researched for almost a year or more wanting a great fish finder. I was torn between; Hummingbird, Lowrance, and Garmin, although there are better ones I here, but these fits my price range and application. I must say, that I will be eating peanut butter n Jelly for a while, LOL. .... I have a Dolphin 17.5 ft Flats boat and this is what I am installing it on.
I spoke with many sales people to understand the the different models on the market,. many stated the lowrance was a great product, but did not understand how to use it, so they swiched to the Garmin or Hummingbird that was more user friendly. So it seems that the Low is the better one of them. Now I need to go to school to learn how to use it!!!! Well ok. ding ding ding that's the class bell , I'm presently in class, so teach me please. 305-5252-8342 or u me call me also

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[Glenn]

Ok, so you want to learn how to use the Gen2 w/sidescan. That's a very, very broad topic (GPS, maps, sidescan, downscan, "regular" sonar, etc). So let's narrow it down a bit. What's the first thing you'd like to learn about?

[South FLA]

John try this DVD heard good things about it:

http://www.hightechf.../store/dvd.html

[Dolphin-Flats-Smitty]

Ok, so you want to learn how to use the Gen2 w/sidescan. That's a very, very broad topic (GPS, maps, sidescan, downscan, "regular" sonar, etc). So let's narrow it down a bit. What's the first thing you'd like to learn about?

Thanks I have not gotten it installed yet, LSS2 comes in today at apx 12 pm. I have been reading the book on installation to make sure that I get the best quality out of it, then next I want to move to getting the basic first. Thanks and keep in touch. I got a horrible reply from someone.

[Dolphin-Flats-Smitty]

John try this DVD heard good things about it:

http://www.hightechf.../store/dvd.html

Thanks will copy and paste

[Dolphin-Flats-Smitty]

<sub>RyneB has just posted a reply to a topic that you have subscribed to titled "Just Bought Lowrance Hds5 Gen 2 W/lss2, Need Help".



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first off, welcome to this site. This site is fully of great anglers and very intelligent people. Second, i dont understand a single thing you said. All i have to say it, you should have bought a Humminbird, problem solved.
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Call me crazy but this message does not seem to be helpful, leaves me with a bad taste. 'This site is fully of great anglers and very intelligent people' Well why you do not understand anything I said. pls keep that to yourself and thank you for the Welcome, that was a nice back woods one.</sub>

[South FLA]

John,

Just ignore those responses, its pretty clear from you message that you bought a Lowrance unit and need help with it, after looking at other products. I have Garmin in the Ranger and Lowrance HDS w/Structure scan on the Bullet, both have advantages and disadvantages. As far as Humminbird vs. Lowrance its a Ford vs. Chevy argument, that can't be won, to each his own. Get the DVD and be done with it!

[nice_Bass]

Focus on getting the settings correct for the type of water/depth you are fishing and you will be very happy with that unit. The quick keys are not critical imo and if you can see alright the 5 screen will be good. Since it sounds like you are doing all the reading you need to do to get the settings right- the most important thing is to spend some time on the water using it, which is hard because you will want to start fishing...

[Todd Driscoll]

Here are some starting points for 2D sonar and StructureScan settings:

2D sonar - First, make sure you have the current Gen2 software (1.1.39.39). Check your version at Menu, Menu, System, About. Sonar Auto mode works very well. Keep the unit in 200 kHz. Under sonar settings, select Shallow Water (for our purposes this is water < 60 feet deep) and set scroll speed to normal. Also, under Installation select your appropriate transducer. Under Sonar Menu, I run Ping Speed at 18-Max. Colorline I like at 85. For shallow water, especially around grass, I prefer color palette 1. For deep water or with lakes void of grass, I like palette 13. This was called bottom color tracking in the older units, helps separate fish from the bottom/cover, and also shows hard bottoms/shell beds better.

Find current software update here:
http://www.lowrance....oftware-Update/

StructureScan - In typical freshwater depths (15-30 feet), your sidescan range will work best set at 2-3X the depth. 60-80 feet is where mine is most of the time. Range can be operated in either Auto or Manual – I prefer Manual. Of course, as you move deeper than 30 feet, increase your side scan range accordingly. In depths less than 100 feet, run frequency at 800 kHz. Contrast is what you will adjust the most as you change water depths. I prefer contrast between 65-80, with less contrast in shallow water and greater contrast in deep water. I also like the default color palette 6.

[Dolphin-Flats-Smitty]

Here are some starting points for 2D sonar and StructureScan settings:

2D sonar - First, make sure you have the current Gen2 software (1.1.39.39). Check your version at Menu, Menu, System, About. Sonar Auto mode works very well. Keep the unit in 200 kHz. Under sonar settings, select Shallow Water (for our purposes this is water < 60 feet deep) and set scroll speed to normal. Also, under Installation select your appropriate transducer. Under Sonar Menu, I run Ping Speed at 18-Max. Colorline I like at 85. For shallow water, especially around grass, I prefer color palette 1. For deep water or with lakes void of grass, I like palette 13. This was called bottom color tracking in the older units, helps separate fish from the bottom/cover, and also shows hard bottoms/shell beds better.

Find current software update here:
http://www.lowrance....oftware-Update/

StructureScan - In typical freshwater depths (15-30 feet), your sidescan range will work best set at 2-3X the depth. 60-80 feet is where mine is most of the time. Range can be operated in either Auto or Manual – I prefer Manual. Of course, as you move deeper than 30 feet, increase your side scan range accordingly. In depths less than 100 feet, run frequency at 800 kHz. Contrast is what you will adjust the most as you change water depths. I prefer contrast between 65-80, with less contrast in shallow water and greater contrast in deep water. I also like the default color palette 6.

Todd thanks that was down the lines that I was looking, 1st make sure that I have it adjusted properly, then take it to a clear water canal and see what it looks like with my eyes and see what it looks like on the screen after the installation n adjustments that the book states I need to do, but it seems that you and I will chat from time to time about this. Once setup and know what I am doing I have invite you up for a fishing trip!! Thanks again I will keep you posted!

[gar-tracker]

John,

Just ignore those responses, its pretty clear from you message that you bought a Lowrance unit and need help with it, after looking at other products. I have Garmin in the Ranger and Lowrance HDS w/Structure scan on the Bullet, both have advantages and disadvantages. As far as Humminbird vs. Lowrance its a Ford vs. Chevy argument, that can't be won, to each his own. Get the DVD and be done with it!

Once again SouthFla speaks words of wisdom. Heres my take.

Garmin extremely user friendly, I have the 5208 touch screen on my consel to get me there with the ease of touching and dragging the screen and tapping the screen to mark a way point. I realize its a top end unit but most Garmins i find easier to use.

Faults. Less detailed maps and use of only Garmin software.

Lowrance allows the use of more detail software and are ten times more detailed, the new Gen 2s are super fast. I keep one in the front for zeroing in on ledges and so forth.

Faults. I find them a little more complected to use, but keep in mind Im 165 years old so you may not find this.

By the way Dolphins are very good boats.

[Dolphin-Flats-Smitty]

Once again SouthFla speaks words of wisdom. Heres my take.

Garmin extremely user friendly, I have the 5208 touch screen on my consel to get me there with the ease of touching and dragging the screen and tapping the screen to mark a way point. I realize its a top end unit but most Garmins i find easier to use.

Faults. Less detailed maps and use of only Garmin software.

Lowrance allows the use of more detail software and are ten times more detailed, the new Gen 2s are super fast. I keep one in the front for zeroing in on ledges and so forth.

Faults. I find them a little more complected to use, but keep in mind Im 165 years old so you may not find this.

By the way Dolphins are very good boats.

Thanks thats something to think about, the way you use two of them to zero in on a spot!! Thanks again!

[Mumpy]

Ken Sturdivant sent me this via Email.

http://www.lowrance....the website.pdf
PRESS ADJUST AND PRESS ENTER and then:
SENSITIVITY: Set the amount of power 70% in deep water and 60% in shallow water.
AUTO SENSITIVITY: This setting works well in all water depths. If desired, turnoff and use the sensitivity settings above if desire.
RANGE: set to your choice so you can SEE the bottom on a FULL screen
AUTO DEPTH RANGE: This locks the unit so the bottom is always on the screen. Leave this feature off, unless you want to “scout” an area of varying depths. FREQUENCY: 200 kHz in fresh water. Use 83 kHz a larger cone in fresh water and use 50 kHz for deep salt water fishing past 400 feet.
PING SPEED: 16 on the console and 18 on the bow.
SONAR OPTIONS: 1. Split screens as needed. 2. Palette sets colors of screens 14 colors to choose from. 3. Temperature graph turn on. 4. Depths line off. 5. Amplitude Code leave off. 6. Zoom Bars off. 7. FISH ID OFF!
STOP SONAR: This will “STOP” the pings and freeze the current screen for review.
LOG SONAR: This will start up a Log Sonar Screen. This feature allows anglers to record screens currently running for review later. Be sure to STOP LOGGING or the machine will log all it sees.

REMINDER! ALWAYS PRESS ”ENTER” TO SET YOUR PREFERENCES.

SONAR: Press side arrow: This brings all the main SETTINGS screens.
NETWORK SONAR: Leave off until adding another feature: i.e. “SIDE VIEWING”. NOISE REJECT: Leave off, press enter.
SURFACE CLARITY: Leave off, press enter.
SCROLL SPEED: Set at 8 or desired speed
MANUAL MODE: Use this to always “see” the bottom. This overlays previous depth settings and is helpful in “searching” all depths.
FISHING MODE: Shallow Water if fishing 80 feet deep or LESS.
RESET FISHING MODE: This resets the sonar to default factory settings.
VIEW SONAR LOG: Record the current live screens.
SONAR INSTALLATION: Set Keel offset leave at 0.0, Water calibration leave at 100%, Water Speed averaging 1 sec, temperature calibration +0.0, Temperature averaging 1 sec, reset water distance, select transducer, pick the one you are using on the boat. PRESS OK TO BE SURE ALL SETTING ARE IN PLACE! PRESS EXIT TO GO TO ACTIVE SCREEN.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION. Look on the end of your sonar’s TRANSDUCER. See the silver tag? Now tell the HDS machine that this is the transducer you want to use. The default is UNKNOWN. The most common transducer is HS-WSBL. This transducer choice is SONAR INSTALLATION.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Go to pages and you will see on the top of the screen: “Press menu for data overlay and panel resizing”. “Show” will show the overlay data on the screen. Adjust Panel Sizes will make the “split screens different sizes. “Edit data overlay” will allow anglers to add, move resize and select the data on any screen, sonar or GPS. To toggle from one spilt screen to the other to add, edit or resize any Overlay Data, press the “pages” button twice. Notice the “frame” around the screen turns orange. This tells you that you are now on the “active” screen. Now you can Zoom and adjust each screen on the screen’s menus. On the HDS 8 and HDS 10 Lowrance machines, there are 6 “Quick Buttons” on the bottom of the machine. These “Quick Buttons” on the sonar screen are Sensitivity, Colorline, Range, Frequency, Split/No split and Stop Sonar. On the GPS screens, there are New Waypoint, Go to Cursor, Info, Overlay, Chart Options and Imagery. These “Quick Buttons” allow fast access to the most commonly used menu items. See the links below for information about the NMEA 2000 Networking.
http://www.bassfishe...ng_Overview.pdf http://www.bassfishe...Starter_Kit.pdf
http://www.bassfishe...g_Functions.pdf

Structure Scan/Down Scan Set UP

Lowrance HDS5 and HDS7 machines allow a two way split on the Structure Scan/Down Scan. Lowrance HDS8 and HDS10 machines allow up to a 4 way split screen on the Structure Scan/Down Scan. These pages are also adjustable by pressing pages and the Menu and then adjust the screen as desired. Be sure to press ENTER to accept. Press PAGES and hold this down, and the machine will change to another screen.
Press menu to go to Structure Scan. Set CONTRAST SO THE SCREEN IS NOT TOO BRIGHT.
Set RANGE at three times the depth, not AUTO.
Set Frequency to 800kHz. Set VIEW to 1. DOWN 2. RIGHT 3. LEFT 4. LEFT AND RIGHT. PALETTE: There are 8 palettes available. Pick the palette and press enter. STRUCTURE OPTIONS: Structure surface clarity to off, Structure noise reject off, Flip/Left/Right. Change this for trolling motor mount. Range lines off. Measure distance off. Stop Sonar off. Log sonar off, but if you add this, every time you press the POWER button, you will take a screen shot of the current screen.
Structure scan frequencies are 455kHz and 800 kHz. Use 455 kHz to scan out as far as 250 feet each way or one way. Set the unit to 800 kHz when you want to see items in more detail. In most cases, scan on 800 kHz at distances of 100 feet or less. When the screens are split, you can use either frequency on either screen.
One thing we have learned using this technology is to pick different palettes and different contrasts. Each palette has advantages and it is best to experiment with each palette and set the contrast up and down to find the best screen.
Press PAGES and then MENU and a small screen will pop up that has SHOW, ADJUST PANEL SIZES and Edit Data Overlay. There are many items you can add to each separate screen and they all have advantages. Once you have this open, there will be blue boxes around an item. Press the up or down ARROW and the pages box will move. Now you can edit this item, move it and change the size or bezel. Add what items you want to EACH screen and be SURE TO PRESS ENTER.

THIS IS A WEB PAGE THAT HAS LOTS OF EASY TO USE

TIPS ON THE MOST COMMON LOWRANCE SET UP PAGES.

http://bassfisher1.zoomshare.com/

[Jig Man]

You can see lots of pics of unit installs and xducer installs as well as get a lot of good info on the Lowrance forum at Bass Boat Central.

[Dolphin-Flats-Smitty]

Ken Sturdivant sent me this via Email.

http://www.lowrance....the website.pdf
PRESS ADJUST AND PRESS ENTER and then:
SENSITIVITY: Set the amount of power 70% in deep water and 60% in shallow water.
AUTO SENSITIVITY: This setting works well in all water depths. If desired, turnoff and use the sensitivity settings above if desire.
RANGE: set to your choice so you can SEE the bottom on a FULL screen
AUTO DEPTH RANGE: This locks the unit so the bottom is always on the screen. Leave this feature off, unless you want to “scout” an area of varying depths. FREQUENCY: 200 kHz in fresh water. Use 83 kHz a larger cone in fresh water and use 50 kHz for deep salt water fishing past 400 feet.
PING SPEED: 16 on the console and 18 on the bow.
SONAR OPTIONS: 1. Split screens as needed. 2. Palette sets colors of screens 14 colors to choose from. 3. Temperature graph turn on. 4. Depths line off. 5. Amplitude Code leave off. 6. Zoom Bars off. 7. FISH ID OFF!
STOP SONAR: This will “STOP” the pings and freeze the current screen for review.
LOG SONAR: This will start up a Log Sonar Screen. This feature allows anglers to record screens currently running for review later. Be sure to STOP LOGGING or the machine will log all it sees.

REMINDER! ALWAYS PRESS ”ENTER” TO SET YOUR PREFERENCES.

SONAR: Press side arrow: This brings all the main SETTINGS screens.
NETWORK SONAR: Leave off until adding another feature: i.e. “SIDE VIEWING”. NOISE REJECT: Leave off, press enter.
SURFACE CLARITY: Leave off, press enter.
SCROLL SPEED: Set at 8 or desired speed
MANUAL MODE: Use this to always “see” the bottom. This overlays previous depth settings and is helpful in “searching” all depths.
FISHING MODE: Shallow Water if fishing 80 feet deep or LESS.
RESET FISHING MODE: This resets the sonar to default factory settings.
VIEW SONAR LOG: Record the current live screens.
SONAR INSTALLATION: Set Keel offset leave at 0.0, Water calibration leave at 100%, Water Speed averaging 1 sec, temperature calibration +0.0, Temperature averaging 1 sec, reset water distance, select transducer, pick the one you are using on the boat. PRESS OK TO BE SURE ALL SETTING ARE IN PLACE! PRESS EXIT TO GO TO ACTIVE SCREEN.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION. Look on the end of your sonar’s TRANSDUCER. See the silver tag? Now tell the HDS machine that this is the transducer you want to use. The default is UNKNOWN. The most common transducer is HS-WSBL. This transducer choice is SONAR INSTALLATION.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Go to pages and you will see on the top of the screen: “Press menu for data overlay and panel resizing”. “Show” will show the overlay data on the screen. Adjust Panel Sizes will make the “split screens different sizes. “Edit data overlay” will allow anglers to add, move resize and select the data on any screen, sonar or GPS. To toggle from one spilt screen to the other to add, edit or resize any Overlay Data, press the “pages” button twice. Notice the “frame” around the screen turns orange. This tells you that you are now on the “active” screen. Now you can Zoom and adjust each screen on the screen’s menus. On the HDS 8 and HDS 10 Lowrance machines, there are 6 “Quick Buttons” on the bottom of the machine. These “Quick Buttons” on the sonar screen are Sensitivity, Colorline, Range, Frequency, Split/No split and Stop Sonar. On the GPS screens, there are New Waypoint, Go to Cursor, Info, Overlay, Chart Options and Imagery. These “Quick Buttons” allow fast access to the most commonly used menu items. See the links below for information about the NMEA 2000 Networking.
http://www.bassfishe...ng_Overview.pdf http://www.bassfishe...Starter_Kit.pdf
http://www.bassfishe...g_Functions.pdf

Structure Scan/Down Scan Set UP

Lowrance HDS5 and HDS7 machines allow a two way split on the Structure Scan/Down Scan. Lowrance HDS8 and HDS10 machines allow up to a 4 way split screen on the Structure Scan/Down Scan. These pages are also adjustable by pressing pages and the Menu and then adjust the screen as desired. Be sure to press ENTER to accept. Press PAGES and hold this down, and the machine will change to another screen.
Press menu to go to Structure Scan. Set CONTRAST SO THE SCREEN IS NOT TOO BRIGHT.
Set RANGE at three times the depth, not AUTO.
Set Frequency to 800kHz. Set VIEW to 1. DOWN 2. RIGHT 3. LEFT 4. LEFT AND RIGHT. PALETTE: There are 8 palettes available. Pick the palette and press enter. STRUCTURE OPTIONS: Structure surface clarity to off, Structure noise reject off, Flip/Left/Right. Change this for trolling motor mount. Range lines off. Measure distance off. Stop Sonar off. Log sonar off, but if you add this, every time you press the POWER button, you will take a screen shot of the current screen.
Structure scan frequencies are 455kHz and 800 kHz. Use 455 kHz to scan out as far as 250 feet each way or one way. Set the unit to 800 kHz when you want to see items in more detail. In most cases, scan on 800 kHz at distances of 100 feet or less. When the screens are split, you can use either frequency on either screen.
One thing we have learned using this technology is to pick different palettes and different contrasts. Each palette has advantages and it is best to experiment with each palette and set the contrast up and down to find the best screen.
Press PAGES and then MENU and a small screen will pop up that has SHOW, ADJUST PANEL SIZES and Edit Data Overlay. There are many items you can add to each separate screen and they all have advantages. Once you have this open, there will be blue boxes around an item. Press the up or down ARROW and the pages box will move. Now you can edit this item, move it and change the size or bezel. Add what items you want to EACH screen and be SURE TO PRESS ENTER.

THIS IS A WEB PAGE THAT HAS LOTS OF EASY TO USE

TIPS ON THE MOST COMMON LOWRANCE SET UP PAGES.

http://bassfisher1.zoomshare.com/

Thanks I am saving the information that I have been getting, and to my partner that sent me to bass resource THANKS A 1000% NOTHING BUT MOSTLY GREAT INFORMATION!!!