Lowrance HDS-5X testing

[LWinches]

Today was my second day on the water with the HDS-5X. Tested on Fontana Lake, NC. Too early for any final determinations. But I have learned a little. I have also mounted a Vexilar Edge3, Humminbird 777C2, Matrix 37 and Matrix 47 to compare with.

My purposes these two days were to check out the 83 Khz. Does it really have a 120 degree cone? And the 200 Khz, does it really do a better job looking deep? I feel like I have answered these two questions to my satisfaction. Both are a qualified yes.

The 83Khz works very well down to 35 feet. I couldn't accurately measure the cone angle but compared to Humminbird's 83Khz with 60 degree cone, it was definitely a bigger cone; 120 degrees? Probably not. In deeper water, 65 feet and more, the 83 Khz is not reliable, both on the Lowrance and Humminbirds. One way I tested this was to take a #9 Rapala Balanced Jig tied with 65' measured line on a floating bottle and then use the trolling motor to approach from a distance and compare.

In deeper water, 60-100 feet the 200 Khz worked well and the Lowrance was slightly a cleaner display than the Humminbirds. The way I tested this was to sit in 100' of water and drop the jig to the bottom. Slowly lifting it until it was detected on the display. The Lowrance showed it before the Humminbirds. The Vexilar 400 Khz 10 degree cone was better then either the Lowrance or Humminbirds. But obviously pitting a 10 degree cone of one brand against 20 degree cones of other brands is not a fair comparison. Lowrance has both 10 and 8 degree cone transducers. A better comparison would have been to use transducers that all had the same cone angle, but I don't have them. In 100 feet of water all of them had a dead area. They do not show fish flat on the bottom.

It's worth noting that when the Lowrance was set to "General" mode there was no interference from the Vexilar, but there was from the Hbird 777C2 operating at 200 Khz. Changing the noise filter on the Lowrance did clean up the display. I was surprised. It's difficult to operate two fish finders using the same frequency in deep water. When the Lowrance was set to "Freshwater" mode the Vexilar interferred with it. I was very surprised at this. It must be super sensitive.

I like the option of being able to adjust the ping speed. This has been notably absent on Humminbirds and is a shortcoming.

The biggest shortcoming of the Lowrance was how small (thickness) the fish arch lines were. I had to wear my glasses to use the Lowrance. I do not have to for the Humminbirds or the Vexilar. For you young guns that probably won't matter. For me, it may be decisive.

I do not like these menu systems. The higher end units have programmable buttons that will make you life more enjoyable than having to navigate menus for fequently used functions.

Well, that's it for now. I reserve the right to revise and extend my remarks as I learn more. I fish most days (200-250 per year) so in a week or so maybe I'll know some more. Sometimes I'm a slow learner.

L.Winchester

[Dave in Walker]

Thanks for the report, finally some info! keep it coming! as I sit here looking out at the frozen landscape it will be some time before any open water time arrives. I am looking at getting a different unit, but as expensive as things are it pays to do your homework first.

[Backwater Eddy]

In your test did you try cycling the IR on the Vex to see if the cross talk would go away?

Thanks,

[LWinches]

As much as I hate to admit it, I don't know what "IR" on the Vexilar is. The HDS did not cause any interference problems on the Vexilar so I didn't change any Vexilar settings. The interference was on the HDS, but changing the filter cleaned it up.

L.Winchester