Can you run a new HDS Unit along side an older LMS 332 Unit??

[Jack The Ripped]

I have had an older LMS332 for a while now, I would also like to install a new HDS-5 or -7 next to it. I am sure there are not any issues with mounting two units next to each other but my question is:

(1) Can I mount the new tansducer right next to the old tranducer (both will be transom mounted) will this be a problem, can I do this with out interferring with each other??

(2) Would you recommned I network them together?? Or just run as two seperate units? I have the blue connectors?

(3) Would there be a benifit to using or tying into the LGC2000 GPS Puck (or is that even posible??

Thanks for any help and recomendations

Jack

[fishwater]

Jack - you will get interference from the transducers mounted next to each other and they cannot be networked together. The 332 is one generation too old.

[PerchJerker]

Jack - you will get interference from the transducers mounted next to each other and they cannot be networked together. The 332 is one generation too old.

That's partially right and partially wrong.

You will get interference from having 2 transducers mounted next to each other.

The LMS-332c is NMEA compatable so you can network it with the HDS units. In my own boat I have an HDS and 332c on the same network, and an LGC-2000 puck also. The transducer and the power cable for the 332c will work for the HDS too, you could just plug the HDS into the existing cables if you wanted to.

I have the GPS set to automatically use the best signal. About half the time it's using the antenna in the HDS, the other half of the time it's using the 2000 puck.

Jack - why do you want the 2 units side by side, each with their own transducer? Why not use 1 for sonar only (I'd use the HDS for that, the broadband sounder is outstanding) and use the other for a GPS only? Even if you have them both connected to their transducers, you could go into the menus and "stop chart" to turn off one of the sonars and get rid of any interference concerns.

You can check out the HDS units --- plus our low prices and the Lowrance rebate on them --- at Pro Fishing Supply

[fishwater]

Originally Posted By: fishwater

Jack - you will get interference from the transducers mounted next to each other and they cannot be networked together. The 332 is one generation too old.

The LMS-332c is NMEA compatable so you can network it with the HDS units. Pro Fishing Supply

Dave, thanks for picking up my slack. I was confused by the lack of the Ethernet port on that generation of units. That was my primary concern when I upgraded. I was told you can share graphs with the 520 series, but not the older ones.

Can you use the NMEA network to 'share' a transducer hooked to a HDS unit?

[PerchJerker]

The Lowrance terminology gets confusing because they don't include the ethernet in their definition of networking.

332Cs and 520Cs (and HDS) have the 'Network' port that is used for NMEA networking - sharing GPS data from 1 antenna, sharing waypoints, and sharing digital info like water temperature, fuel flow, engine information, and the digital depth reading from a transducer (it will share a number, like 11.6 feet deep). NMEA network does not share sonar displays.

The 520s and HDS have the yellow 'Ethernet' port, the 332s do not (the earliest 520s didn't have it either). The ethernet will share sonar displays, so 2 units can use 1 transducer and they will both have the same picture. The ethernet port is also used for the SIRIUS weather radio and will be used when the Side Imaging module for HDS units is available later this year.

[JIM C]

You could run both at the same time side by side without interference, but only if you had the HDS unit set to 83 kHz. This would give you a wider sonar beam, but return less detail. It will not work if the HDS is running at 200kHz, which is the same frequency as your 332c. I think PJ has the best idea, use the HDS unit for sonar and and the 332C for GPS. Networking them together is not a problem.

Jim Carroll NPAA #13