opinions on lowrance "DSI" any good?
Submitted by stevebw23 on Thu, 2012-08-02 22:45
G'day everyone,
looking at getting a sounder/fish finder for my tinny and need advice/opinions on the DSI model lowrance are selling. I looked at the lowrance website and the screenshots of the underwater trees look awsum but i'm more interested to know how well it shows up reef/rocky structure. keen to hear opinions from people who have used dsi and what they think/how well does it show reef/rocky ground/fish etc? the boatshop my mate works for sells them but i'd like to hear what you guys think 1st
Cheers,
Steve
____________________________________________________________________________
Symes Plumbing & Gas. No job too small, servicing all northern suburbs
Sandgroper-WA
Posts: 125
Date Joined: 27/02/11
http://fishwrecked.com/forum/
http://fishwrecked.com/forum/understand-side-scan-sort-0
http://fishwrecked.com/forum/hds-side-scan-0
http://fishwrecked.com/forum/hummingbird-side-imaging
Nice for spotting structure (more of a diver here) also allows you to scan a larger area in one sweep, however they tend to cut out at faster speeds.
hlokk
Posts: 4293
Date Joined: 04/04/08
I think the DSI doesnt do
I think the DSI doesnt do side imaging but only downimaging. It is kinda like a narrow sideimaging with the two sides overlaid and presented like a normal sounder.
I have a humminbird with side scan and I find it really useful (especially for diving, but good for fishing too). The downscan on the humminbirds uses parts of the side scan beam, while the lowrance uses a dedicated beam (which should be a little better).
I find the downscan quite useful for discerning bottom though. On a regular 2D sounder, you need to know what weed, reef, sand and gravel look like (i.e. the thickness of the red line). However, with downscan you basically get the texture of the ground, so you can see the ripples in the sand and the texture of the reef which is quite cool, and I find it useful for distinguishing things. It was more designed for freshwater fishing with underwater trees and stuff which is where it really shines, but still useful in the salt.
It only works so deep though. I dont know what the dedicated downscan transducer does, but sidescan only goes to about 30m (if you travel reallllly slow on a calm day)