Lowrance Ifinder Explorer question

[jigeye]

I have a question regarding the electronic compass on my Explorer. First off I have calibrated it according to the manual but when I am holding it in front of me the compass does not read right. When I set it down on a flat surface it reads right. Is this the way it is supposed be? I can't get through to Lowrance so thought I would ask it here.

[Deitz Dittrich]

I dont have this unit.. But I would assume that it would have to be held flat to work a compas.

[jigeye]

I was thinking that the electronic version did not need to be held flat. Could someone with a unit that has the electronic version verify this please. I just want to make sure my Explorer is working properly and if not send it in while it's still under warranty.

[Deitz Dittrich]

Does it say anything in the manual?

[jigeye]

Doesn't mention anything about unit orientation anywhere.

[jigeye]

When you are navigating there is another pick under the "map orientation" menu called "heading track" which uses the compass to orient your heading. This is handy when you are sitting still or vertical jigging where a standard gps will loose it's heading. I will just have to position the ifinder horizontally on the ram mount when using it that way.

[Heartman]

Unit needs to be held flat while calibrating compass. Follow directions.

[jigeye]

Unit was held horizontal when calibrating. I just thought maybe since it was an electronic compass the unit wouldn't care what position it was in but I must have been wrong.

Thanks for your help.

[schweady]

I just had my ExpeditionC out on the deck to check that one out and yes, the unit has to be held horizontal for the electronic compass to work its magic. Tilt it up just a little bit and it goes kaflooey on you. I don't really use the electronic compass as much as I thought I would but this new nugget of info seemed strange to me especially since I have always had it up at an angle in my RAM mount and with the Map Orientation set at 'Track Up' the map seemed to spin very reliably to orient itself to my route heading...

[TrophyEyes]

I have an iFinder Pro from a little over a year ago. On mine, it will orientate itself if you are moving just a little bit (held vertically or in your RAM mount) otherwise it won't work that well. It was the same on my Garmin.

[Orlip]

All Gps units (with electronic compass) need to be held horizontal for the compass to work and should be held that way when calibrating.

For those of you who have them in a ram mount mounted vertically I would suggest turning the electronic compass off as the unit will switch to that after sitting still for a bit and then orientation is off and it uses a lot of battery power.

For instance when mine is on it switches to the electronic compass after being below 5 mph for 90 sec

[fishorgolf]

Think about this. Of course it has to be held flat IT'S A FLAT SCREEN!!

[MikeYager - Suzuki]

Yes, it must be flat for the compass to work. A bummer when you have it mounted vertical to read as you drive.

[Orlip]

Quote:

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A bummer when you have it mounted vertical to read as you drive.

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I know on my GPS when I am moving it uses information from the satellites to work the compass. The only time the electronic compass kicks in is when you have went below what ever values you have set to activate it.

On mine I have it set to kick in when I am below 5 mph for 90 seconds. This way it will stay on electronic compass while I am walking in the woods.

As I stated before if you are going to be in your boat or on an atv I would switch the electronic compass off. This way you will be able to use the compass that reads off of satellites and not have a problem if you are anchored or on the ice drilling holes to check depth.

Hope I explained this okay.