Thinking of using Lowrance for ice fishing

[Cicada]

I am thinking of getting an power cable and ice-ducer for my LMS-522c iGPS.  I have a couple of questions.  1.  Will this type of unit pick up interference from nearby sonars and/or flashers?  B.  How much of a battery hog will they be.  I plan on using the GPS to locate my spot, then switching over to the flasher feature to fish with.  Also, can you connect two little gel cell batteries in series or anything to get longer life?

[Cicada]

I think my original question about connecting batteries in series for longer life should have been whether or not you can connect them in parallel to get a longer life.

[Mike Stark]

On 11/27/2015, 7:25:58, Cicada said:

I am thinking of getting an power cable and ice-ducer for my LMS-522c iGPS.  I have a couple of questions.  1.  Will this type of unit pick up interference from nearby sonars and/or flashers?  B.  How much of a battery hog will they be.  I plan on using the GPS to locate my spot, then switching over to the flasher feature to fish with.  Also, can you connect two little gel cell batteries in series or anything to get longer life?

That unit will pick up and give off plenty interference.  If you keep the battery warm I would think it would last most of the day.  One thing you could do to save battery while fishing is to turn off the gps.  I have an Elite 5 CHIRP that I use in the BWCA in the summer.  I can run all day(8hrs) on one 9ah gel cell with the gps on.  Not sure about running them in parallel.  

[kenlaker]

Rather than connecting them, I would just bring the other battery along as a spare and change it when you need to. It's a couple of wire clips... takes just a moment and then you're running again.

[peerchking]

Cicada I have two the 522c and HDS5 and like Mike said if you have a good 9ah battery it will last all day. as far as interference with other units you can adjust them to work with other units. both mine are charged and ready to go, happy fishing !!!!

[Naturboy]

Yep been using my LMS unit for years and works good, but it doesn't seem to like really cold weather so below zero its used mainly in the shelter.

[Zelmsdawg]

We used to do this too. Still do at times and it works fine. Keep the battery up off the ice and you should get more than enough for an evening of fishing.

For what its worth, I started with the flasher option too but ended up preferring the regular sonar screen. The far side had a vertical flasher of sorts for real time but being able to see the history of how a fast or far a fish came up or what type of jigging scared it away or triggered it was really useful.

Zelmsdawg

[walleye44]

Wouldn't freeze would be my question? Not sure on the 67 model lowarance had, if that had a heater or not?? Maybe an LX6 or LX7. they have an internal heater in them.