Lowrance HDS Gen 3 & SonarChart Live

[Bobberdoggin]

FYI, lowrance update 4.5 came out 2/14/17 and added sonarchart live capability directly to the HDS unit instead of having to run that on a separate tablet or phone. This will be awesome for recording ling spots while running, pinpointing halibut structure, or picking apart that Blackmouth troll. It always seems like the stock charts are not really accurate. Anyway I just updated this on my unit and can't wait to start using it to see how useful and practical it actually is.

[Nelly]

Hey BD,
SonarCharts Live works on the Navionics ap installed on your mobile device -preferably a tablet in a Ram Mount at the helm- via your vessels WiFi.

To allow your system to produce the WiFi network, you'll need to add a GoFree WiFi-1 module:
http://www.lowrance.com/en-US/Products/Wireless/GoFree-WIFI-1-Module-en-us.aspx

Once your tablet is networked to the system, a tremendous amount of data, system control and increased screen area is available for your use including real-time depth soundings that can be utilized by the SonarCharts Live function of your Navionics ap.

I have used this system with mixed results in part due to the fact that the iPad I was using at the time was an older, slower model and my vessel speed was fairly fast...not a great combination...

Remember that with your Lowrance or Simrad gear that you can also utilize Insight Genesis:
http://www.lowrance.com/en-US/blog/How-To-Download-Insight-Genesis-Maps/

Once uploaded onto the parent website, Insight Genesis takes your depth sounder recordings and incorporates them into existing cartography which is now more precise and accurate due to your personal recordings!

[Bobberdoggin]

I've tried it with the navionics app on my phone and tablet but I wasn't too impressed. The new software update integrates it now within the lowrance head unit. So it looks like you no longer need to run it via attached tablet. Hopefully the gen 3 processor is fast enough to keep up with a moving boat.

Take a look at the update release notes: [url]http://www.lowrance.com/en-US/Software-Updates/HDS-Gen3-Software-Upgrade-v-45/[url]

Here are the instructions: http://www.lowrance.com/PageFiles/148223/HDS%20GEN3%204.5%20RELEASE%20NOTES%20v3.PDF

[Nelly]

Hey BD,
Sorry I didn't read the first portion of your post a little closer!
Let us know how the SCL live works directly into your unit!
I'm very interested in hearing your take on that!

[Bobberdoggin]

No worries, looks like simrad just put out the same capability on their recent software update too.

[Bobberdoggin]

Well, I had a chance to give it a shot at mid channel last weekend & I was surprised how much the Navionics charts are off. After a few trips trolling it started getting better. The function seems to work much better when part of the chart plotter instead of running it on a tablet connected to the wifi. Anyway I'll probably upload my soundings to Navionics as long as I can limit it from taking my waypoints and sharing them with the world.

[Nelly]

Thanks for the update!
You can absolutely restrict your privacy settings when uploading to Insight Genesis. With Navionics your data is automatically "crowd sourced".
I too have struggled with the accuracy of Navionics particularly near shore but as long as you're running a sonar/plotter split screen, you'll be fine.

Remember that we never navigate using a single source of information anyway... right???