lowrance sidescan

[SkipperJohn]

Anyone check this out yet? I was watching ESPN outdoors and they advertised this. It's been a long time since a piece of boat electronics caught my eye. Assuming the transducers dont stick out too much and it has the power and water penetration for the canyons, (and it doesn't cost an arm and a leg) I may be looking for one of these.
http://www.lowrance.com/StructureScan/
check out the video.

 

[Wil]

John,

I saw the ads as well and they look good. They mention the width of the scan at 480ft but they don't specify its operating depth. The sidescans they show in their ads appear to be freshwater lakes (shallow, calm waters). Lowrance makes good stuff, would like to know more about what it can do.

I currently have the Humminbird sidescan unit and can comment on how it works. I like it...lots. Finding the exact point on a wreck you want to hook is easy with these sidescans. It provides 720ft side-to-side coverage (total) with an operating depth of 150ft (for sidescan). I've not pushed it past 150ft to see how it operates deeper (ads say 150ft max). The challenge using transom mounted sidescans, especially in saltwater, is boat motion. With the unit fixed to the hull any rocking of the boat will interfere with a clear sidescan image. You'll get a wavy image on the screen because the sidescan beam is very narrow and continually records images as you move forward. If that aperature is swinging with the roll of the boat, well, you'll not get a good image. You'll get image, just not clear. Heading changes have the same effect.
While using the sidescan speed is also a factor. Max speed to get reading from the sidescan is about 5mph. Anything faster will create too much hull turbulence and "snowout" your image. I've got some images on my photo gallery.

These sidescans are great. I've used them for fishing, diving, and looking for lost "stuff". The resolution with a calm seas state can be fantastic.

Safe Diving,
Wil

 

[Sean222]

I also own the Humminbird unit and will second everything Wil has just said.
You don't mention what kind of boat you have but the transom mount is only going to work on an outboard. The transducer needs to be forward of any prop turbulence. I made a towfish for mine.

 

[Wil]

Sean,

I've got a Parker28. I was able to mount it a few feet in front of the props and low enough to read both sides. I spoke with Humminbird about the mounting and a towfish and their only comment was that you've got 40ft of cable on the transducer to play with and they didn't recommend going deeper... I also attached the extension cable (50ft) so as to get it into my pilot house. There's no loss in performance.

I'd like to know more about your towfish (Photos?), I had the same idea but haven't given it a try.

Wil

 

[boydski]

They mention the width of the scan at 480ft but they don't specify its operating depth. The sidescans they show in their ads appear to be freshwater lakes (shallow, calm waters). Lowrance makes good stuff, would like to know more about what it can do.

I spoke with the Lowrance/Navico reps at the Seattle Boat show last week, and the Lowrance Side Scan is rated for 200' of depth. I haven't actually seen one operating at that depth yet.

Like Wil, I also have a Huminbird unit that is transom mounted. I have been able to see larger objects as deep as 200' in fresh water, but salt water is pretty much limited to 150'. I also built a couple of towfish using a spare transducer and found that long cable lengths just will not work with the Humminbird system. Even using the low-impudence cable recommended by Humminbird engineering I found that you'll get no usable signal at 200+ feet of cable. At 50' it is perfect and at 100 - 150' of cable is generally the maximum usable cable length, depending on the cable.

A few examples:

A wood hulled Minesweeper located in 200' of water is very feint but easy to see.

or a PB4Y navy bomber is 160' of water, which is very easy to locate.

I do have a Lowrance GPS/Chartplotter in my boat, next to the Humminbird Side Scan unit, and find that the Humminbird unit is far easier to operate, especially if the boat is running. My particular Lowrance unit just seems to have those cursor buttons that require you to "mash" the button three times to get the cursor to move. Both units are approaching 3 years of age.

YMMV,

 

[Sean222]

Sean,

I've got a Parker28. I was able to mount it a few feet in front of the props and low enough to read both sides. I spoke with Humminbird about the mounting and a towfish and their only comment was that you've got 40ft of cable on the transducer to play with and they didn't recommend going deeper... I also attached the extension cable (50ft) so as to get it into my pilot house. There's no loss in performance.

I'd like to know more about your towfish (Photos?), I had the same idea but haven't given it a try.

Wil

Send me a private email and I can discuss it and send you pictures.

 

[SkipperJohn]

Any unit I get would have to work at 2,000 feet as I do venture off the edge from time to time (I've been in 1,600 feet and my current unit was up to just under 1/3rd power for a clear echo). I'm not saying as a side scan, but at least as a simple video sonar unit.
Also, the size of the transducer alarms me. I have dual inboards so I have a ton of room for any transducer but boating on the north-east means hitting buckets, trees, logs and the occasional truck container. Seriously I worry about sheering something like that off then having to replace it or losing the boat because of the hole it left.