Are there ANY happy Lowrance HDS users out there?

[Grand_Marlin]

I supply and fit all major brands of electronics, including Lowrance.
All brands have their "for" and "against", all brands have their supporters and knockers, and all brands have units that will be returned for warranty repair.
Whilst I could have fitted my own boat with a number of different units, I chose Lowrance.
I firmly believe that the Lowrance HDS units are the best value for money units on the market.
The quality of the broadband sounder, the brightness of the screen in daylight, the ability to add all the extras like fuel flow, structure scan, radar, sonic hub stereo, and being able to network two or more screens is awesome.
They have the same abilities as the Furuno Navnet and the Raymarine E series at 1/4 of the price.
There are two things I have found that are slightly annoying with the HDS units.
1) The response rate from the buttons is sometimes a bit slow, however Version 4 software update has made it heaps better.
2) Calibrating the EP60 fuel flow meters can be painful, although they are quite accurate straight out of the box.

I have now fitted dozens of the HDS units for people.
We had a few returns with the first batch released - one screen came unbonded, one unit continued to freeze, one would not talk to the transducer, but apart from these few, I have not had to return an HDS unit in a long time.

Proceed with confidence, I have no doubt you will be suitably impressed.

Cheers

Pete

[spelchek]

Pete,

Out of interest - have you come across any EP60's failing? Mine has stopped working and I'm stuffed if I know why. Is there anything in the HDS unit that can tell if the issue is in the settings or the EP60 hardware itself?

[Grand_Marlin]

Yes, I have had a few EP60 units give trouble.
If the EP60 is configured and it shows up in the list of devices in the network menu then it is communicating with the HDS head unit.
Check all connections in the NMEA 2000 network and give them a spray with a non conductive spray like INOX.
If this doesn't work you can send the EP60 to Lowrance they can test it on known network.
It is very rare to have a faulty cable or tee connector in the NMEA 2000 network.

Cheers

Pete

[Pelagic 660]

I have had the HDS10 for about 18 months now....not 1 prob...apart from operator at times. Very happy with my unit.
Cheers,
Trev.

[Axl]

Ive had an HDS5 for around 18 months now with no issues very happy with it, however the next one I buy will be a bit bigger.

[Dicko]

Have a HDS 10 since they came out near 2 years ago, then the structure scan added when it came out. Very happy with overall performance and all going well so far.

Had one little hiccup about 6mths ago. It froze once halfway through it's initial start up and I wasn't able to shut it down to reset it down via the buttons. Removed power lead for a bit and it restarted ok.

[four_button_arnie]

I've got a HDS 5 and just installed a HDS 10, 5 for plotter and the 10 as sonar, love them!

Ps The shop that sells boating stuff and camping and fishing stuff price matched the HDS10 for only $2300, gotta love that

Josh

[hyperactive]

I'm on my second HDS 10, first one replaced under warranty no questions asked. I find it a bit slow sounding in 350m compared to the furuno 585 both running at the same time. Broadband radar is great with overlay. Its basically the same units as the Simrad gear we put into 30m commercial ferries at a fraction of the cost.

[Hornet Rider]

USA Lowrance models now 'geofenced'? Heard from an importor that Lowrance & Humminbird sounders & GPS combos are geofenced - ie USA models only & Aust models only so importing a Lowrance or Humminbird from the USA, despite great value of Aust $, would mean the US model wouldn't work 'west of Hawaii' as he put it. This might have been the case for a while, but I've been away & just catching up on sounders.

Anyone able to confirm this please?

cheers Hornet

[trueblue]

you heard right

[No Fear]

I have had a HDS 5 combo for two years now with the structure scan. Its been an awesome unit and the structure scan has been usefull around the islands at 1770. I recently just purchased a HDS 5x to network up so I can view everything without splitting screens. Also just purchased the sonic hub so am interested to see how that goes. Changing songs on a fish finder will be something new. Not sure about other makes and models but the reason I went with lowrance was previous experience with their gear and the possibility to network and easily update systems. I also find lowrance easy to user and navigate around between pages.All my gear (plus a few more for some mates) has been purchased off Pete (aka Grand Marlin) who is sensational. Pete knows his stuff as many would agree with and goes above an beyond answering any user or installation questions. His prices and also spot on and I cant reccommend him enough (if you own a cat you may even get a discount).Im happy with mine but I am sure with the volume they sell there is a couple of lemons out there.