Lowrance internal gps antenna vs external

[Genofish]

How does the internal gps antenna on the hds units compare to the external LGC 2000 puck gps antenna? Is either one faster or more accurate than the other?

Thanks

[Esox_Magnum]

I prefer the HDS over my old 2000 anyday, rare to have an issue with the HDS. The newer units have a faster processer in them making them better in my opinion...

[PerchJerker]

To get technical, they don't call it an internal antenna, they call it a built-in antenna. It's built into the top front of the casing.

The earliest models with internal antennas (these were way pre-HDS) had some issues - the next version of internal antennas were much better, pretty rare to hear of problems with them - and the HDS with the built-in antenna are really solid.

I have a couple HDS units in my boat, as well as a LGC4000 external puck that's connected on the N2K nmea network. All the gps receivers work great. When I have my network set to use the "best" signal available on the network it periodically pulls from the HDS I have on a RAM mount in my bow .... and that's against a 4000 puck. Even in my garage the HDS units and the puck quickly lock on to the satellite signal.

But one of the best stories I've heard about these is from one of our customers. He mounted an HDS inside the dash inside the cabin of his boat (it was a hardtop cabin). His plan was to try that way first and only add the external puck if it was needed. He called us back a few weeks later to say he wouldn't be ordering the puck, he was getting an awesome signal in his dash mount under a hardtop. That's good performance.

So .... I wouldn't add a puck right away, I'd try it first and only add the puck if it turns out you're not happy with the built-in antenna.

Hope that helps.

[slurpie]

Just installed an hds 8 in my garage first time unit was turned on. Had a signal in less than a minute takes my hand held 5 min or more sometimes.

[Genofish]

I should have mentioned that I have a puck installed for the 332 but am replacing that with a HDS. I think I will keep the puck as is and let the HDS unit pick the best antenna

[NETim]

My LGC 2000 puck crapped out. I replaced it with the 4000 even though the HDS8 was doing wonderfully. Also have an h20c and lots of maps in the boat as well.

I like redundancy. (and I don't want to get lost on LOTW.)

[Superduty]

An LGC-4000 or the new Point-1 antenna will update your position much faster than the HDS unit's internal antenna. They refresh at 5 and 10 times per second compared to once per second on the HDS. Makes for a much smoother display on the screen. If you rely on the HDS for high speed navigation in tight areas you want one of the newer external antenna's for sure. The new Point-1 has a compass like heading sensor built in and it always has the "arrow" on the screen pointing in the direction of the bow of your boat. Great for staying on waypoints while on the trolling motor! Position error is substantially better with the Point-1 vs. the internal HDS as well.