HDS Deepish water performance
Submitted by Cruise Control on Mon, 2011-12-19 17:52
The bro-in-law went out behind Rotto today to try out the new electric reels. He was very keen to also test the performance of his HDS7 with the standard transducer. I've uploaded an image that he MMS'd to me from Rotto of 282m with a solid bottom echo showing features that i can only assume to be Coral or other such growth. He hit 400m+ and reckons the picture was as clear as this without noise. Not too bad a performance with a bog standard tranny and straight out of the box. Sure surprised me.
By the way, he managed a couple of smallish Red Snapper but he was as pleased as punch with the HDS.
Image Upload:
Mela_77
Posts: 300
Date Joined: 10/11/11
Well, great to know that, as
Well, great to know that, as ive got the same unit, haven't tried it in that depth, but will do soon ...
PPS, see my other post on hds problem I had.
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Mela_77
Posts: 300
Date Joined: 10/11/11
Donna what's this photo
Donna what's this photo doing here, I didn't even upload a photo!! Sorry to mess up your post mate :s
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snappermiles
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Date Joined: 05/11/10
sounds great but no photo showing
can anyone see the photo
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chris raff
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Date Joined: 09/02/10
I'm in anticipation
as well Snapper...got a HDS5 on my christmas list
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Patto 1
Posts: 371
Date Joined: 02/12/10
Na cant see photo either
Na cant see photo either
null
Cruise Control
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Date Joined: 03/11/10
have uploaded again. Let me
have uploaded again. Let me know if you still cant see it
till
Posts: 9358
Date Joined: 21/02/08
Still broken.
Still broken.
Cruise Control
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Date Joined: 03/11/10
This is starting to p*ss me
This is starting to p*ss me off now. Last try.
till
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Ahh you got it!
Ahh you got it!
Mela_77
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....
.... Sorted Adam, cheers
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strike_zone
Posts: 403
Date Joined: 09/09/10
works mint
just shows all those lowrance knockers there is no problem with there performance
Adam Gallash
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Date Joined: 29/11/05
forums fine
Forums fine, not sure what is going on, all I can see is a picture from cruise control??
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Dizzy
Posts: 753
Date Joined: 21/02/11
That's some good depth for a
That's some good depth for a 600W'er.
Would have been good to see the bottom lock zoomed 0-30 to see how much resolution & detail it made of those lumps.
When you say 'standard' transducer, I assume you mean the HST-DFSBL 50/200 ?
(they come in a couple of different packages, eg 83/200, 50/200)
NOHA
Posts: 914
Date Joined: 24/06/07
was he moving
or just on the drift
Heres an pic of a Furuno 582L which is now a 10 year old unit in 500 meters. Could only make out bottom on the drift, nothing once moving
http://fishwrecked.com/forum/furuno-582l
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snappermiles
Posts: 2100
Date Joined: 05/11/10
set your range from 50 metres above the bottom
to the bottom and you will get alot better reading!
ALL FISHERMEN ARE LIARS EXCEPT YOU AND ME! AND IM NOT SO SURE ABOUT YOU!
dkonig82
Posts: 2091
Date Joined: 06/07/10
Yep that is definitely
Yep that is definitely impressive for a standard 600watter
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quindieselbrad
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hmmm
i knew it wasnt a myth :)
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Cruise Control
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Dizzy - the tranny is the
Dizzy - the tranny is the standard 50/200 and yep I agree, I would like to see the resolution if he set the range to the bottom 30-50m
NOHA - I understand that he was on the drift. Its a CC boat so he might have striggled getting a clear shot underway. However he did say that the picture underway was very clear with no problems reading. Mind you I dont know how fast that actually was.
Snappermiles - as per response to Dizzy above.
In any event its not too shabby an image for a standard unit especially if it can read 400m+ as he mentioned. I have the HDS8 so am reasonably keen to give it a go out deep as soon as we get some steady weather. I can then form my own opinions.
cheers
scottnofish
Posts: 1621
Date Joined: 28/08/07
how do you call that a clear reading
1/3 of the screen is full of clutter 0 to 100m is crap
till
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Haha, that doesn't matter if
Haha, that doesn't matter if you're a fan mate!
Bodie
Posts: 3758
Date Joined: 05/11/07
sweet, have been looking at
sweet, have been looking at upgrading myt sounder to a HDS7 for a while (Ive already got one HDS combo unit which is dedicated to being GPS only). So going to have twin HDS 7 Units, and this was my biggest concern.
Tomcat
Posts: 614
Date Joined: 24/02/11
Hds
Must admit not a fan had two never again but those shot are really good and you should do well Maybe mine were made at 4 o'clock on a friday
shabba
Posts: 484
Date Joined: 26/02/08
sounder showing
a solid bottom echo showing features that i can only assume to be Coral or other such growth. He hit 400m+ and reckons the picture was as clear as this without noise. Not too bad a performance with a bog standard tranny and straight out of the box. Sure surprised me.
thats showing bottom for sure but no fish or structure definition realy u know what i mean. ive been out on boats where the soundr shows definition to the point of seeing individual fish and we get puka & bass that was a Furuno sounder
Alan James
Posts: 2243
Date Joined: 30/06/09
Screen shot
Are you saying that the blue and red showing above 0 on the bottom lock screen is something other than fish? I'm confused?
shabba
Posts: 484
Date Joined: 26/02/08
was sayin no fish or
was sayin no fish or structure definition thats all.......that botom lock is showin up to 20m high of fish
grayzeee
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he probably wouldn't see
he probably wouldn't see individual fish zoomed that far out but you can certainly see structure/lumps
have these units got a tvg setting?? bumping that up might help clear the top clutter
what do you think the light blue return is on bottom?
If I spent half as long fishing , as I do reading this bloody forum , I'd be twice the fisherman I am.
mako magic
Posts: 5785
Date Joined: 03/08/05
funny how no one has
funny how no one has mentioned the water temp, nice n warm !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! pelagics !!!!!!!
Ryan Thipthorp (not verified)
Posts: 16
Date Joined: 01/01/70
sounder pic!
600w units will read the bottom, the issue is when you put your motor into gear finding fish and boat movement where units struggle!
Theres a bit of fish & ground but very hard to see ie clear definition. You need to zoom your main screen in so you can see fish & edges better. Keep in mind that zooming in may cause alot of screen/echo noise with your unit & likewise boat movement!
Mako I was out that day and my Furuno water temp sensor said 21.6 degrees
Bodie
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i would have thought the
i would have thought the colour showing up as red could / would be fish?? (not sure tho i dont have a HDS sounder as yet)
The red flares that is
Lucky Tim
Posts: 2536
Date Joined: 28/11/07
A feature I didn't like with
A feature I didn't like with the Lowrance HDS was that the bottom lock range was determined as a scale of the range you had set on the normal side ie. if you had the range set to 400m the bottom lock range would not let you go smaller than 40m. Hopefully they change this along with the lack of ability to select a small depth range and "shift" the screen down so the bottom is in the picture. They are 2 big features that I like on the Furuno's that the Lowrance lacks (at least last time I looked).
Also my HDS occasionally read the bottom in 300m on the drift but engage the motor and like magic the screen fills with clutter yet the Furuno works fine so it is not a transducer placement issue.
Bodie in my opinion it would be a shame to chuck a HDS on your rig as a sounder, at least go the FCV620 as a minimum.
Tomcat
Posts: 614
Date Joined: 24/02/11
Missing
Maybe were missing the point as I said I wouldn't buy another lowrance for the price the picture is good In that depth but every time this comes up it turns into furuno vie lowrance
Cruise Control
Posts: 973
Date Joined: 03/11/10
From what I have read (in
From what I have read (in Rick Huskstepps book on sounder secrets) the unit is doing what it is supposed to do. The bottom lock is on so it is adjusting the sensitivity up to get a clear picture of the bottom. What this does is create a lot of clutter from the surface downwards. The clutter then clears up as you get to the column of water that you want to look at. In this case the bottom. This indicates that the unit has dialled up the correct sensitivity for the water depth that you want. If you crank the sensitivity even more the clutter should come down further on the screen and the clarity and definition should improve (in theory anyway).
If you want to chase pelagics in the top 50 meters then back off the sensitivity until the clutter is at the very top of the depth range. You wont be able to see diddly squat on the bottom then.
I reckon if he manually set the range it might be a whole different kettle of fish (if you will excuse the pun !). I think I might spend a little time talking to Luke at Chivers to get some tips on getting the best out of the units in deep water before I go out and have a crack with mine. As many have commented, one of the main considerations will be what happens to the picture underway. Unfortunately I have only managed to get out to 80m with mine but it had no trouble tracking a clear clean picture, picking up structure at 20 kts.
I'll post again on this thread when I've given mine a go. As an aside, I also have a Raymarine sounder fitted and it runs out of puff at about 120m hence the HDS
cheers