Hbird or Lowrance

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

Let's see, we go to the left of the island on the right, then hang a right at the third island on the left... where are we

It's what you get use to. So what works best for you if the correct way. That's why there is a choice.

[CaptainMusky]

Let's see, we go to the left of the island on the right, then hang a right at the third island on the left... where are we

It's what you get use to. So what works best for you if the correct way. That's why there is a choice.

LMAO I know, when using north up I always had to translate what I was seeing to what direction I needed to go. Course up, left is left, right is right, etc.

I dont see how using North Up would cut down on the twisting unless all your contour lines run North/South or East/West it is going to twist as well.

[TruthWalleyes]

I thought all men knew where North was...at all times Isn't that how we keep from getting lost without directions

I can't stand "course up" on any of my other GPS's, so i never even attempted to use it on my hbird.

Here's the main reason i don't use course up:

Lets say i run on 'course up', then i catch a fish, stop the boat, reel that puppy in. (By this time the boat has stopped moving) Now the graph will sit there and rotate in circles because i'm truely not going in any direction...When it comes time to throw that lure back in the water and point the boat in the right direction, its' easier to know where north is in the sky, and north on the map.

When constantly in motion, there's nothing wrong with course up, other than unnecessary rotation of the graph.

I'm still waiting for someone to post screen captures of their lowrance units as a comparison.

[pulleye16]

I don't own but through vigorous research I'm getting Lowrance. I love the fact you can back scroll to the time you started up your unit...not like HB where as soon as it leaves the screen, it's gone. This way, you can cruise through an area and look back at the whole thing looking for structure.

The best thing about Lowrance...is "IF" something new and better comes along, you can always upgrade transduces with the HDS units. HB makes you buy a whole new unit and ducer. This could save you tons of maney yet still being able to have the most up to date sonar. And, if the misses won't let you drop $1500-2000 on a fish finder, you can buy it in steps with HDS.

Last yet most importantly, buy it from a reputable place. Don't find the cheapest one online. Most people that had issues with either unit could have saved huge headaches if they could have just returned the whole unit back from where they purchased it from. The big "C" has a GRAT return police and hardly never ever questions asked.

[WolfpackFishNGuy]

I have an 1197c with 2011 lakemaster chip and I'm wondering if running in North Up if it allows for better zooming in detail.

I currently can only zoom in to 200'

[TruthWalleyes]

I don't own but through vigorous research I'm getting Lowrance. I love the fact you can back scroll to the time you started up your unit...not like HB where as soon as it leaves the screen, it's gone. This way, you can cruise through an area and look back at the whole thing looking for structure.

The best thing about Lowrance...is "IF" something new and better comes along, you can always upgrade transduces with the HDS units. HB makes you buy a whole new unit and ducer. This could save you tons of maney yet still being able to have the most up to date sonar. And, if the misses won't let you drop $1500-2000 on a fish finder, you can buy it in steps with HDS.

Last yet most importantly, buy it from a reputable place. Don't find the cheapest one online. Most people that had issues with either unit could have saved huge headaches if they could have just returned the whole unit back from where they purchased it from. The big "C" has a GRAT return police and hardly never ever questions asked.

You can record video on hummingbird, but i guess my question is why not stare at the screen while your on the structure, why wait till later?.

As you scroll back to the time that your turned on your lowrance and your looking for fish....is there any way to mark where you find those fish? WHat value does this have if you can't?

[nater]

Wolfpack - I can zoom in to 50ft but the contour lines get grainy with north up using the 2011 LM chip.

I done some recording with my HB units and its fun to scan them early in the year and come back up when the weeds are up to compare. Also to review in case I missed something on the smaller 5" screen. Most of the time you need to know right now whats going on.

[kg2]

Something doesn't sound right. I can zoom down to 10' on my 998 and 20' on both my 788 and 798. Have you updated your software at all?

I received an email over the weekend that a new download is now available for my 998.

[CaptainMusky]

I thought all men knew where North was...at all times Isn't that how we keep from getting lost without directions

When constantly in motion, there's nothing wrong with course up, other than unnecessary rotation of the graph.

I'm still waiting for someone to post screen captures of their lowrance units as a comparison.

I always know where North is, so I dont really care if its on the top of my GPS or not, I want to see where I am going, following the contour in the direction I am heading.

I am not buying the "unnecessary rotation" business when using Course up either. When I have used North UP I felt it was the same or even worse than Course up for the reasons I stated, it is contantly putting North at the top, how doesnt this affect screen rotation in your mind unless you are going straight North?

Regarding the issue you mentioned with catching a fish and stopping the boat... I havent noticed that on mine as being a problem. Even so, you can always tell where you were by the length of the track in one direction. If you see a line with a whole bunch of circles at the end, that afforementioned line is where you came from. Since I can zoom in to 20 feet on my HDS this is no problem at all. I really dont see how North Up would help you here either because if you werent moving, it doesnt know where North is in respect to your direction heading so it would do the same thing.

I dont have structure scan myself, but here is a link to some group screenshots.

http://www.lowrance.com/Products/Marine/StructureScan/Display-Viewpoints/

I particularly like the 3 pane view with side imaging, downscan and traditional sonar.

[CaptainMusky]

As you scroll back to the time that your turned on your lowrance and your looking for fish....is there any way to mark where you find those fish? WHat value does this have if you can't?

Yes, you can mark a waypoint at any location in the recording. I have gone over top of structure at a good rate of speed, then slowed the boat down, scrolled the screen back and marked a waypoint. Turned the boat around and went right to what I marked. It works great for covering wide area at high speeds, marking fish or bait and then adding a waypoint. There was a spot I tried just turning around and finding but I couldnt, so I scrolled the screen back and marked what I found then drove right to it.

[pulleye16]

TruthWalleyes-

Yes you can mark fish when back scrolling and save that spot as a way point. Why not stare at the screen? plenty of reason. I could literally cruise the lake, find a good spot and start fishing. If bored or bobber fishing, I can scroll back to find structure or schools of bait fish and move locations. If I'm trolling and reeling in fish, I can scroll back and mark spots. Or if you simple missed something or want to go back and check it out without driving back to the exact spot, you simple can back scroll.

Not the most important feature in the world but any one with Lowrance has it

THE BIGGEST feature is that HDS allows you to add features at a later date!

[TruthWalleyes]

Fair enough, i could see the 'scroll back' feature as very handy! Especially when i'm bored catfishing, might be fun to scroll back through just for the heck of it.

I am kind of laughing though that when i asked for pictures, someone referred me to lowrances HSOforum. I have seen all the humminbird pictures on their HSOforum/manual/etc. I have also seen many humminbird users replicate the same quality of those pictures. I was simply trying to help the origional poster decide on which unit to purchase, you guys certaintly aren't swaying me away from humminbird by posting a link to the manufacturers HSOforum lol. I'm not trying to pick on any individual or on lowrance here, i have just never seen a user's screen capture of their lowrance structure scan, and some folks here are suggesting the OP to get lowrance without them even owing structure scan.

IMO, whether you go lowrance or Hbird, get get the side imaging, or structure scan...This technology blows away any traditional sonar or down imaging!

[CaptainMusky]

I am kind of laughing though that when i asked for pictures, someone referred me to lowrances HSOforum. I have seen all the humminbird pictures on their HSOforum/manual/etc. I have also seen many humminbird users replicate the same quality of those pictures. I was simply trying to help the origional poster decide on which unit to purchase, you guys certaintly aren't swaying me away from humminbird by posting a link to the manufacturers HSOforum lol. I'm not trying to pick on any individual or on lowrance here, i have just never seen a user's screen capture of their lowrance structure scan, and some folks here are suggesting the OP to get lowrance without them even owing structure scan.

IMO, whether you go lowrance or Hbird, get get the side imaging, or structure scan...This technology blows away any traditional sonar or down imaging!

how about this, I got drop $600 bones on structure scan and the I post pics? You asked for pics, no one had any and some people aren't smart enough to look for themself so I sent a link to lowrance site because you kept begging.

The one thing I see bird having an advantage on is price. But flexibility, options, quality of image hands down goes to lowrance. And the networking is unreal. Plug and play.

[jwmiller33]

Ford

[TruthWalleyes]

Doing a little research on humminbird down imaging vs lowrance down imaging i would have to conclude that lowrance has the edge on down imaging for sure. Lot clearer images. I however do not use down imaging- rarely ever, on my humminbird, simply because i have not been impressed.

With that said, down imaging compared to the side imaging is not a chevy/ford debate. Side imaging by far presents more information to the user. I see better images off of humminbird's side imaging than i do with lowrance.

SO it looks like a little consumer competition will work out better for the consumers in the future. Both units stand improvement, and i know that humminbird is sending out updates on a regular basis, adding more features that the cousumer is requesting, as well as removing any bugs found. I'd imagine lowrance is the same in respect to updates.

Nice JW

This has turned into quite the chevy/ford debate...especially when the loudest voice in this thread (Captian) is biased on lowrance, and doesn't even own structure scan.

[TruthWalleyes]

When i think of "Plug and Play"

This isn't what i imagined....

[Nick Kuhn]

I don't think many people will use that elaborate of a structure scan system. It is nice that on the Bird you just need to connect the transducer, power, and GPS and you are all set.

[jwmiller33]

Holy wires Batman! What are all the wires for? I guess I am too used to the simpleness of my unit having 3 wires, one for the battery, one for the ducer, and one for the GPS puck.

[CaptainMusky]

Nice JW

This has turned into quite the chevy/ford debate...especially when the loudest voice in this thread (Captian) is biased on lowrance, and doesn't even own structure scan.

And which might I ask do you own? I find it interesting that you feel the Bird side imaging is better, when I have read on many accounts by independent people reviewing the products that the Lowrance is crisper, more precise, faster than the Bird. There might be some of your bias coming through there.

I wasnt loud until you called me out. I know people who have used structure scan and have seen it first hand, but like I said, I do not own it personally so I am not able to provide your desired pics from my setup.

If you go back and read through all my posts here you will see that I give accolades to Bird several times, a major piece here is price and Bird has Lowrance beat there hands down because you can get side imaging far less expensive there. BUT, with Lowrance you have much more flexibility and expandability with the networking and how easy it is to use. That is undeniable. Networking two units together is a simple ethernet cord. I know this isnt important to some people, but sharing transducers, waypoints, etc is for many and there isnt an easier way to do it than with Lowrance.

In all honesty either one will get the job done and it really depends what you want your end game to be. If you are looking at a stand alone unit with Side Imaging out of the box, its the Bird. Less initial money. If you are looking for networking, adding features later, better clearer image, Lowrance. There are quirky things with both of them, gremlins on both side which they are both addressing through updates so that is really a wash IMO.

I chose Lowrance and will be adding Structure Scan over the offseason. Truth, if you can wait a few months I can give you pictures. Not sure why anyone on this sites pictures are more important than those that are all over the net. Lots of cool videos too.

[CaptainMusky]

When i think of "Plug and Play"

This isn't what i imagined....

Truth, I have no idea where you got those pictures from, but there is more to this story than you have listed here, which I dont even know the answer, but I know for a fact that is not a typical network install of structurescan.

What is appears is that there are several units being connected here (displays) not two. Hence the t-connectors. A network installation consisting of two units requires just two ethernet cables which are connected from each unit to the LSS-1 box, not this elaborate picture you have here.

Here is a typical diagram: http://www.lowrance.com/en/Products/Marine/StructureScan/System/

In the diagram you see one skimmer transduer, the two HDS units , the LSS-1 module (structure scan) and the structure scan transducer. If hooked up in this fashion, you can share, the skimmer transducer between both units, the structure scan transducer between both units, and have the one unit using a trolling motor transducer and share that between the units as well.

[eagle_3464]

Thanks again for the input guys. Your not making the decision a whole lot easier though.

Lowrance doesn't really require all those wires do they?

My selection will most likely be a stand alone unit so the networking capabilities are not that important to me. Sharing of waypoints with a friend or family may be a plus to the networking. Is there a way to do this easily with HB? I am leaning towards side imaging or structure scan. Not sure that I need it but don't want to regret it later if I choose HB. One thing I really like about HB is the ability to color code a map. I most often will be fishing a large lake with lots of structure. If I find fish at a certain depth it would be nice to highlight that particular depth. Now I can scan the entire lake at the highlighted depth and look for other areas that have similar adjacent structure.

[CaptainMusky]

Thanks again for the input guys. Your not making the decision a whole lot easier though.

Lowrance doesn't really require all those wires do they?

My selection will most likely be a stand alone unit so the networking capabilities are not that important to me. Sharing of waypoints with a friend or family may be a plus to the networking. Is there a way to do this easily with HB? I am leaning towards side imaging or structure scan. Not sure that I need it but don't want to regret it later if I choose HB. One thing I really like about HB is the ability to color code a map. I most often will be fishing a large lake with lots of structure. If I find fish at a certain depth it would be nice to highlight that particular depth. Now I can scan the entire lake at the highlighted depth and look for other areas that have similar adjacent structure.

No lowrance doesnt require all those wires. The only option for lowrance right now in regards to map "highlighting" is shaded relief and insight. Neither do exactly what the bird does in that you can highlight a depth range. They are more or less just shading similar depth with different colors so they stand out, but you cannot highlight a depth contour so you can set up a trolling run like Bird does. Neat feature actually. I was told Lowrnace is adding it at some point as part of a software upgrade, but have not heard a date.

[TruthWalleyes]

Easy way to transfer waypoints to other humminbirds would be to pull the SD card, Put into computer, Dump all info onto another SD card, and put the new SD card into your buddies hbird...Or, take your waypoints and add them on top of what your buddy already has on his hbird.

The map highlighting is one of the coolest features with the GPS on these units. Especially on bigger water...For instance on mille lacs, highlight the 19-23' range and see how many humps are out there. It makes identifying structure easy.

The red in these photos is "shallow water highlight" which is great when running new water, or making big trips across the lake.

[jwmiller33]

Very cool screenshots! I want one!

[pulleye16]

thats is pretty neat there truth, I like!

Is that mapping software or is that hbird software?