Two Touch HDS-7s or one HDS-9 at console?

[DerHornen]

I got one HDS7 Gen2 Touch a few months ago, and haven't installed it yet since the boat is in storage. There are some really good deals on 7's and 9's now that Lowrance is closing them out. When I looked through some of the other threads I saw a lot of people running two units that are 9" or larger, but it's just not in my budget to do multiples of a larger size.

Is anyone out there running 2 HDS7's side by side at the console, or would I be better off with just one 9? It's too late to return the 7 I already have, so I'm either going to pair it with a second unit or sell it new-in-box and buy a 9.

[Gary Korsgaden]

2- 7's side by side no issues.

Pretty popular to have two units side by side. One for sonar, and the other for map or sonar and down scan for example.

The only draw back I see on the 7 is when using it for side scan gets a bit tight on the screen.

Personal opinion when the unit is close to my face sometimes the screens seem a bit large.

So if your asking me I would go with two 7's and if possible one of the units a Gen 3

[hunterjoe]

Any reason you can't add a 9 since you already have the 7? If you could get a 9 for SI/DI and use the 7 for maps I think that would be ideal. Otherwise, I'd do 2 7s instead of one 9.

[Sub_Elect]

2 units, better than 1!

[Schmelme]

cabelas has 2 hds9 units, lss-2 ducer, nmea starter kit, point one gps puck,
for 2500.00 on sale.

I bought an hds9 for 925.00 from west marine and an hds7 with hdi ducer for 799.00 with 100$ rebate from cabelas
wish I would have seen the dual 9's first.

[DerHornen]

Originally Posted by hunterjoe

Any reason you can't add a 9 since you already have the 7? If you could get a 9 for SI/DI and use the 7 for maps I think that would be ideal. Otherwise, I'd do 2 7s instead of one 9.

The only reason is budget. I can get a 7 for $600 after figuring in the $100 mail in rebate and a $100 Scheels gift card offer. The cheapest deal I found for a 9 is $900. I could go that route if I can manage to avoid trouble with the wife.

[Ltrain]

Yeah, another vote for two screens. Beside the benefit of dedicated screens you also have redundancy, if one unit fails you still have a gps to get you home. The only way I'll have one screen is if it was a Simrad nss evo 16, think I could live with just one of those

[Skeeter20]

I would definitely go with 2 7's. Its really nice having one run on map and other on sonar.

[DerHornen]

So I had an unexpected increase in my budget. I ended up keeping the HDS7 I already had and ordering a 9 to put beside it.

Thanks for the advice everyone. I'm sure I would have been fine with two 7's, but since I had the opportunity I figured why not.

[gregk9]

Originally Posted by Gary Korsgaden

2- 7's side by side no issues.

Pretty popular to have two units side by side. One for sonar, and the other for map or sonar and down scan for example.

How do you do this transducer wise? Do you not mount a transducer for the unit dedicated for mapping? Don't side by side transducers cause interference? For me, mounting one starboard side and one portside isn't an option because of the kicker.