fishfinder /gps

[bigkahuna51]

i have a lowrance 113 color hd and hate it why problems all the time i'd like to know what is a good sonar and gps unit you fishing guides run on the great-lake lowrance support (sucks} hrs on the phone waiting to talk to someone please help me out w/your honest opions on units thank-you

[GLF]

You did not mention what sore of problems you have.

I have a LCX-111C and absolutely love it! Lowrance came out with the 113 last year and it replaced the 111. Have you checked to see if the firmware is up to date? There is an article about it here.

Even though it may new to you, it may have sat on the shelves for many months.

Can you shed some light on your problems?

[tltorrice]

I have a Lowrance 337C and love it. However I know what you mean about being on the phone for support. I had to send mine for repair and they have a swap out program. Send in your unit and $200 and them send you another that works. That took two weeks which is a long time if you spend any time on the water. As far as the performance of my unit I do like it. I also have no other experance with other brands.

[Tad Pole]

we have a Lowrance 5300i global map. also a 525df fish finder also Lowrance. the fish finder is awesome the gps....not so sure about,we have had it back to them 3 times the last time the did a full update on it and it seamed to be all good, this thing is awesome when it is working right i believe it has helped us allot put more fish in the box.but when the thing don't work right it sometimes loses its position with no apparent reason and before the update it would take a long time to reacquire not so much now but the last trip we was out it did lose itself a few times.I'm not so sure i could recommend the Lowrance gps although i highly recommend there fish finder.

[Priority1]

A lot of the problems with the GPS systems is the loss of Sat. signal. The ones with the eternal antenna will be far more reliable than the ones with internal ones. I have an ancient LMS-350 Lowrance Combo Sonar GPS with the antenna on top of the hardtop, that NEVER looses it's signal. The key is a clear path between the antenna and the sat. With the internal antennas it's all about where the unit is mounted. LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION. I'm not saying you can't have problems with a properly mounted GPS, but I have seen some poor installations even by marine dealers. Metal objects like windshield trim and Bimini supports can and will interrupt the signal.

[bigkahuna51]

You did not mention what sore of problems you have.

I have a LCX-111C and absolutely love it! Lowrance came out with the 113 last year and it replaced the 111. Have you checked to see if the firmware is up to date? There is an article about it here.

Even though it may new to you, it may have sat on the shelves for many months.

Can you shed some light on your problems?

the unit won't lock on satilites at all they said it was the gps ant i send it in they sent me a new one same problem i called them again said it was the wirering check all the wireing and fuse nothing called agained send unit back w/all power-cables to lowrance 3 times now in 10 mos also my nav -card show nothing what would you shed on this any helpwould be great ant mount 3 1/2 ft from unit on gunnel unit mount on dash wirers are hooked up to the cranking battery w/fuse's on power cable and gps -cable this has been a problem all yr to me .frank

[1mainiac]

I agrre with Frank GPS is a low orbit satelite (actuall a bunch of them ). However the freq used is highly directional and totally line of sight. This means if the antenna cannot see the satelite it will lose signal depending on the quality of the fix it is often no problem as the new systems can track as many as 12 satelites so losing one only reduces the accuracy slightly. However a fix of 3 satelites which was considered good a few years ago losing one can move you several miles on the chart. As a rule of thumb we use 24deg as a reference on mobile satelites and this should be close for GPS systems as well. How we do it is simple set up a 24 deg angle from the antenna location and rotate it around the antenna anything in or above the 24 deg angle can block your signal. I have a Lowrance 525C DF on the dash with a remote antenna mounted on the roof of the cabin I also have a GPS76 handheld mounted on the dash by the windshield this is wired to my radio and is part of my distress beacon if I ever have to push the red button. The Lowrance is much more accurate and will be wired to my autopilot when and if it ever arrives from Raymarine ( another sore subject ). If you want accurate GPS first get the remote antenna second spend the extra bucks and get the better antenna and finally mount it as high and clear of the boat as possible. Call it whatever you want GPS is a radio receiver this means it has to receive via a antenna. And when it comes to antennas bigger is usually better and height is mite a walkie talkie on top of the sears tower will out preform the biggest cb you can build in a truck on the ground. I am a Extra Class Ham operator I know a little about antennas.

Tight Lines

Jim

[GLF]

the unit won't lock on satilites at all they said it was the gps ant i send it in they sent me a new one same problem i called them again said it was the wirering check all the wireing and fuse nothing called agained send unit back w/all power-cables to lowrance 3 times now in 10 mos also my nav -card show nothing what would you shed on this any helpwould be great ant mount 3 1/2 ft from unit on gunnel unit mount on dash wirers are hooked up to the cranking battery w/fuse's on power cable and gps -cable this has been a problem all yr to me .frank

The LCX-113 is network based. Did you put the resister in the network for the antenna?

nav-card not showing You have to enable the nav card and area for the nav card in order for it to work.

[GLF]

Look on page 160 of this manual for getting your nav card to work.

[Tad Pole]

Ok heres the lattest,we have had so much trouble with this unit and have had it back to the shop so many times that they have now given us a brand new external antenea and prommised that if this didn't work that they would "take care of us" whatever that means? we will find out next time out.

oh btw we had it in less than a mounth ago and they installed all the latest updates,weird part was on the first trip out it worked flawlessly next trip it only lost possition once or twice next trip out was a little worse and now it only works half the time????

i hate to bash any product without having solid proof but that said we will not be buying Lowrance again!

[Toxic]

Here is something to consider. I own a LMS332C. I was having problems with my unit locking on to satellites. On a tip from an electrician I know, I cleaned my GPS external antenna plug with vinegar and it has work flawlessly since. If I would have sent the unit in, they would have never seen the plug.