Thread: Discussion on Lowrance Elite 5 DSI/Chartplotter ....

Well, it is not an exact since, that why they use the word "approximate" and give us a know to twist. ha

Man, am I glad I found this thread!!!!! I just mounted one of these units on my boat (TM mount in the front) last weekend and haven't had a chance to hit the water with it yet. I was wondering about the cone angle too, so this thread answered several questions for me. GREAT job guys!!!!!

Originally Posted by rnvinc

I agree Tom...but at least now we know for sure....

I still don't understand why Lowrance did not make this info readily available....

Rickie

i have an opinion as to why.when people actually see the coverage area they might reconsider if the di is worth the actuall money and time.i no that i have di and i still to date dont believe that i have seen any thing on di that i dont already see on conventual 2d sonar.yes i do agree that get some really kool pictures with di but it doesnt change my fishing in any way at all.if a person is undecided on what kind of new technology would help there crappie fishing.in my opinion if upgrading from the convintional2d sonar i believe that anything less than a unit with si would not be all that much better.i no that the price is a big reason for not buying si but i do believe it is worth it

Big deal about di is you can tell bait fish from structure when referenced to bottom. How many waypoints have you marked of bait fish over the years believing it to be structure? No wonder I "lost" so much structure. Besides, it is cool and I enjoy the gadgets.

I'm taking this DI stuff as just a "upgrade" to the 2d units I've used over the last 40yrs. I'm just wanting to know & understand "what" I'm seeing on the screen, and what piece of real estate area my unit is "looking at" (cone angle & configuration/shape).

My boat has a DSI unit on the bow, w/xducer on TM ... and a 2d unit at the console w/xducer mounted inside the hull (centered & approx 14' back from the TM xducer). While neither of these units will show me what's off at a distance, when I'm casting a jig or shooting a dock, they can & will be used to scout potential areas and help me set up trolling lanes (if & when I use those methods other than casting). I can even see myself having both units running, TM down, & setting in the drivers seat ... idling along with the big motor ... alternately watching the DSI screen, then the 2d screen, and possibly even dropping marker bouys on potential spots. Then I can return to those spots & use the DSI unit to scour the area, see a better picture of what's in that area, & mark it as a waypoint if it proves to be productive, a likely spot to return to, or a area of future interest (another season or under different conditions).

Being mostly a jig slinger by nature (choice) ... I'm mostly "visible cover" oriented. Even so, I've discovered many "unseen" hotspots that have produced big time for me, by simply trolling a jig from tree to tree or dock to dock. In the past, they've been accidental finds, a lot of the time, simply due to the water depth & the minimal coverage area of a 2d unit in that depth (<15fow). With a wider coverage area (DI cone angle) and more precise picture being displayed onscreen ... it's my hope that I will find more of these spots, and get a better idea of what is actually down there that the fish are holding on.

While I'm well aware of the potential of an SI system showing me a lot more of the Crappie's underwater world ... the financial output is currently out of my league. Having spent ~5x as much on the DSI, than I have on previous 2d units ... I can only "hope" to get 5x as much info & use from this unit. With SI units costing 10-20x's as much as my previous 2d units, I'd have to produce 10-20x's as many fish per trip, to consider them cost effective.

Keep up the good work & keep this thread alive ... the more we discuss & share, the better for all those with these units or those considering them. I appreciate it, and I'm sure others will, too.

... cp

I have had mine for about a year now and I am far from being impressed. They say it is good to 250' but mine loses lock on the bottom at about 150' and the depth just flashes and it locks on to a school of bait fish at 20 feet and thinks it is in 20' water. There is no sensitivity control, only contrast. As everyone has said, the information available on the unit such as an owner's manual ect. is non-existant. You would think that for the price of this unit, it would have a good owner's manual. When I get to water less than 10 feet deep, the false returns and noise make it pretty much useless at either frequency. I have tried it with and without the surface clarity function on and off and it makes little difference. I have repeatedly e-miled Lowrance technical people and that process is, too, useless. I have talked to one person on the phone who had some knowledge of the unit. That person told me that they had fired their tech writer and not replaced him so that was why the literatue with the unit was so bad.

You cannot take a screen shot with the unit itself so if you want to show the tech support unit what you see or don't see, you have to take a picture with a digital camera or cell phone and download it and send it to them. I have done this several times but get absolutely no response from them. I doubt they even look at the pictures I send. They once sent me some pictures of what I should see but nothing on my unit resembles the pictures they sent.

I have mine mounted on the trolling motor and the depth of the water shown on the digital display changes when you turn the trolling motor direction so it obviously does not get it's reading directly under the boat but does some sort of averaging of the depth. I have learned that if I am over a sharp drop off, sometimes the depth reading will be 25' but the chart will be displaying a return at 10'. If I get in water much over 30', the definition on the tree returns tend to disappear and they look more like blobs than trees with branches. In depths less than 30' the definition on the trees is pretty good. The next time I go out, I will take some pics with my cell phone and post them here to show what I see.

Dan

Please do that, Dan !! Like I said, I don't expect this unit to produce the same quality images as the simulator/emulator programs show. I can only attest to the images I saw, the one time I had it out on the water. ANY information, good or bad, is still useful information, as it will give some indication of the capabilities or limits of the unit.

I rarely, if ever, fish deeper than 20' ... so my use of the unit will be more or less for GPS, speed, water temp, depth, and finding hidden bottom cover. I'm not even really concerned with seeing fish arches, or picture perfect images of trees, bait schools, etc. If I see something interesting on the screen, I'm going to fish it ... even if I don't know exactly what it is. That's why I'm using weedless jigheads, so I can probe unknown cover and find out whether there's fish in it or not.

We appreciate your candor about the unit, and look forward to seeing pics (from anyone) that show the unit in action.

... cp

I agree with FAADAN, IMHO Lowrance pulled the wool over our eyes on this unit. The manual is garbage, but in reality there are few adjustments so I guess there is no use wasting trees. I messed with mine a lot and NEVER saw images like were used in the advertising and don't think it's capable. The GPS has the same issue as the HB units when slow trolling, the only difference is the Lowrance shows the same icon all the time, no donut. I put a 2d on the bow to go along with the Elite-5 to make sure it din't lie, plus it was something I was familar with. It didn't lie to me. Needless to say I got rid of mine and bought another HDS, If I were looking I'd but a HDS-5 or a 7, then save my pennies for a Structure scan later. You can buy a gen-1 base 7 for about $650 after the rebates and a 5 insight for about $550.