Lowrance Elite 7- hdi

[PSU]

Hello Friends:

 

What a beautiful day to start to cabin season on the lake. I have two Elite 7's HDI (I think Cliff has the same) and when I was home I upgraded to the October 2016 upgrade that Lowrance had online before I came up. According to the instruction videos they have online, it indicated I should have received a "software update" notice upon turning them on. I did not receive such notice.

 

The upgrade, according to Lowrance, was supposed to help with fast speed recognition (mine always and still reads 0.0 feet with no bottom visible appearance on my mail unit). In addition, I lost all of my GPS hazard markers, buoys, and a very significant amount of depth detail on my charts, i.e. holes, reefs, etc.

 

I cross checked my computer zip file that I downloaded online with what that settings for files indicate are on my units (Elite 7-6.0-7.0.10 Standard-1.upd) and they are the same.

 

Any suggestions for help?

 

Andy

 

 

 

 

[Cliff Wagenbach]

I can not help you there Andy. Sorry!

Cliff

[PSU]

Did you download the new update Cliff?

 

http://www.lowrance.com/en-US/Software-Updates/Elite-60/

[Cliff Wagenbach]

No I did not download the up date.

I do not need it as far as I can tell. My sonar works fine.

Cliff

[PSU]

Never mind friends, I think I royally screwed up....I mistakenly downloaded the new Lowrance update to my Navionics chips....this 52 year old brain wasn't thinking properly and will probably cost me a bundle for new chips.... 

[PSU]

Final thought, but does everyone still recommend Navionics for my new ones or is there another brand to check out?

[delcecchi]

I am using the Lowrance insight.  Might not be quite as good, but they threw it in when I bought the unit...

 

Thanks for the notice about the upgrade.  

[PSU]

Cliff, or any others with a Lowrance Elite HDI unit, does anyone have challenges marking the bottom and having a accurate depth with travelling across the water. We continue to have challenges (even with the supposed update) on my console unit every time we start moving on the water my depth turns to 0.0 feet and we lose clarity on the bottom.

[delcecchi]

Mine works up to maybe 30 mph, but will lose it at speed when I am over very soft bottom.  

 

What kind of transducer do you have?   I have, in the past, had transducer problems with Lowrance units.   The HST skimmer with the blue connector was bad for me.   I replaced several of them.   Since my theory was that they got water in them and broke when they froze, I now take transducers home and keep them inside for the winter.  

 

No problems since.  I don't know whether it is due to my diligence and precautions or Lowrance making better transducers. 

 

Is this a new unit?  Did it ever work?   How fast are you moving?   Can you post a picture of the transducer mounted on your boat? 

 

Problems I have had in the past were due to either mounting issues or bad transducers is why I am asking these things.   A transducer that is going bad can still sort of work sitting still or over hard bottom and quit as soon as you start moving or get out over deeper soft bottom.     

 

 

[Hoey]

In the setup are you using the correct option for the sonar?  There are specific models listed as well as universal options, maybe try a few of these.

 

[PSU]

Not sure on the transducer, but I will check when back up there in a week

[Skibo]

If any of you who are having issues with a sonar unit live in the Twin Cities, I highly recommend that you drive up to Thorne Brothers in Blaine.  They have some of the most knowledgeable people for Lowrance and Humminbird that I've ever met.  They don't care where you bought the unit, they will help you regardless.  The best part is that they will sell you the same products for the same price as the big-box stores, but with a very personal experience.

[delcecchi]

Maybe you can find someone who has the same unit, and you can try their head with your transducer and your head with their transducer.    I'd do it if I was going to be up there in the next couple weeks... but it will be too late probably.   But there has to be someone who could help you out.   

 

My money is on the transducer.  

[jparrucci]

I have a Elite 7 and am in Frazer Bay. I'll be up next Thursday to next Monday.  We can do a head unit swap and see what the issue is, whether transducer or head unit.

[BulldogInTC]

Not an Elite 7 specific question, but more general.  My FIL just upgraded last year from his old black and white Lowrance unit to a new Hook 7 model and we've been trying to "tune" it in specifically for Vermilion (boat never leaves).  With being the "techy" person in the family, they've designated me to figure the new unit out.  Any help/suggestions for starting out?  I've never used depth finders until recently, but have a general idea of how they work, plus from using my Vexilar in the winter.  I guess I have 2 immediate questions I am curious about.  There are different general settings I noticed, should we be running this on fresh water/shallow water setting?  We typically have been marking an absurd number of fish usually, most of the time it seems during mayfly hatch it seems.  Does this sound like the pulse/signal is too strong (I think it is set to High CHIRP)?

 

Sorry, I tend to ramble when I don't really know how/what to ask.  Thanks anyone that took the adventure in reading my lengthy & rambling questions.

[Musky hunter 82]

BulldogInTC, I have the hook 7 with DSI and GPS for a year now and this is what I have my settings set at the seem to work for me. 

1) Menu page (menu shows: system, Navigation, Chart, Sonar, etc.)

      under sonar I have the Downscan overlay box checked (this will overlay your Downscan reading over your regular sonar), fishing mode set to shallow water (I fish lakes mostly less then 60' deep)

2)  Under Sonar menu (menu shows: New waypoint, adjust, Auto Sensitivity, etc.)

      Auto sensitivity check box unchecked, Adjust sensitivity set around 80%, Range auto, frequency, medium chirp, Ping speed fastest, Sonar options (Noise rejection - low, Surface clarity - High, color - green), Downscan options (Frequency - 800khz, Noise rejection - low, Surface clarity - high, color - Blue)

     

This should get you close, if you're finding too much clutter on the screen try increasing the Noise rejection and/or reduce the sensitivity. 

 

[BulldogInTC]

Musky, thanks for the help!  I'll give these a try next time I'm at the cabin.  Unfortunately, that won't be until the 4th of July, but luckily it will be weekend to weekend so I should get plenty of usage time to play around with it.

[PSU]

Really good information Musky, I think many of these settings would probably transfer over to my Elite 7 HDI as well...

 

Thanks

[BulldogInTC]

Musky,

 

Thanks for the help on settings!  Got it all set-up for my father-in-law and he likes it.  Man were we marking fishing, now onto the next challenge...getting them in the boat.

[Musky hunter 82]

No problem, if you have any other questions feel free to ask