humminbird ?????

[stackenem]

OK it seems I am not able to find a used Lowerance GPS unit to link with the one on my boat I have decieded to upgrade to a Humminbird si unit with downscan. The questions I have are:

1. internal attenna or external

2 if external will the one from my lowerance unit work or is there a special one for humminbirds?

3 how many transducers do I have to remount to make this work?

Thanks
Bill

[fasttrack]

Not to side-step your questions, but you might want to look up the Yahoo user-group for HB. Tons of info available there. Others will chime in too, but here's my take:
1) antenna type is based on what unit/model you buy -I got an external.
2)No, you'll need the HB one it comes with.
3) One for sure, but many are going with a two transducer setup with a Y-cable. Again, lots of details/discussion about this on the user-group forum.

[Waterfoul]

Yeah, what Fasttrack said.

[Cy]

Yeah, what Fasttrack said.

Yeah, what Waterfowl said Fasttrack said.

Bill,

I would go with an external antenna, the reason is you can mount it closer to the transducer.  The closer you are the transducer the more accurate your way points will be.

Here is the http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sideimaging/

If you want to talk in more detail let me know.

Cy

[Bass_Cat]

Bill,

It sounds like your going to be mounting this on the dash.

I bought a 798 ci SI (internal antenna) last year and couldn't be happier. No problems whatsoever losing the signal as I've seen many Lowrance units do, including the LCX15mt I used to own. I've also got a Garmin GPSMap 178 Sounder with an internal antenna thats about 5 years old that I've never had a signal problem with.

If you already have a GPS on the boat and don't want to install another external GPS antenna, you can hard wire if from one unit to another. Doesn't have to be the same brand either. It's just looking for the NMEA 0183 signal (I believe those are the right letters and numbers). If you need more info on this, let me know.

The transducer has to be mounted on the outside of the boat for obvious reasons. I would mount it slightly higher than you may think it needs to be since you don't want to be breaking it off, they are somewhat expensive. Most of the guys don't use it for a bottom reading while running on plane. I mounted mine on the bow with a trolling motor adaptor since that is where I spend the most time.

Mark

PS. you won't be sorry you bought it, I love mine.
PPS. Lakemaster Digital Pro mapping is now being supported by the newer (and some older) Humminbird units. Take a look!