Lowrance Question

[wishforfish]

Thinking of upgrading this year to a sidescan/structurescan unit. I know some of you (Mike) are up to speed on all of this and I have very little inclination to embark on the educational process to make sure I do this correctly so I will rely on advice.

What is the easiest, least costly, yet effective way to upgrade from my LCX38CHD to a similar sidescan unit?

I currently have both transducers for the 38 mounted on my boat so I can switch when in salt/running to SML finding fish in the trees. Are either of the transducers usable (I suspect not) and what should I ask for the 38 (ebay says 600-800 but that doesn't mean they are selling for that)? I have and need GPS as well so if my current antenna would work, that would be a plus. If not, I have a 38 with 2 transducers and a gps antenna for sale. Thanks for any feedback...

[BentRod]

The transducers should work. At least the old HST-WSBL should work. You'll have to add the LSS transducer though. The new HDS all have internal antennas I believe with the option to add an external, if needed, but I don't have one on mine and it works fine even with a ttop.

[mwardncsu]

Yep - the cheapest way is to buy a used HDS Gen1 or Gen 2 and LSS-1. The easiest way is to get a HDS 9 Touch (or 7 Touch) - integrated SS.

I will say, while you're back there hanging the SS xducer, you may want to consider mounting a new 83/200 - they do "brown out" over time, and depending how old it is, you may want to go ahead and do this while you're running the SS xducer wire..... you can get the HDS without the xducer, but its only another $50 or $60 or so.

Yeah - no need for an external GPS puck - the one in the HDS is likely better than the external one you have now in terms of accuracy, lock acquisition times, refresh rates, etc.

You may want to consider keeping the 38 - run it for sonar, and then run the HDS for full-screen side-scan...... if you can allocate the space on the console....

[wishforfish]

Good point on the tranducer...space is an issue so keeping both probably won't work unless I can go with a very small SS unit. I would love to get rid of the puck so that helps but now I am pretty much in the "remove it all and reinstall completely" category. Is there anyone at the lake worth a damn that will sell and install for me you would trust? Not as worried about getting a "deal" as I am about having it right...may do a stereo system while at it to have some tunes!

[mwardncsu]

So far I've heard good things about Ben at SML Marine Electronics. He's down Burnt Chimney like you're going to the 4H center.