Thread: Discussion on Lowrance Elite 5 DSI/Chartplotter ....

Probably not using a deep cycle battery in a kayak. That's one reason. I have a deep cycle battery and I can run a live well aerator, lights, 2 other sonar units, aerator on a timer switch (on 1min. every 7mins) and I can charge my phone off of that one battery over a 6-8hr period and my battery may have 80% charge remaining.

Its a heavy battery weight wise because its a deep cycle marine battery.

These units were not designed for kayaks although they can be applied to one.

Originally Posted by kcbrown

I can tell you that the Elite 5 dsi/gps burns more battery by a long shot than the Elite 4 dsi and they both are battery hogs compared to the Lowrance X4 Pro I running. I've left the X4 on for days when I've forgot to turn it off. Battery was barely under full charge. The Elite 4 ran down that same battery in less than a day. The Elite 5 kills it in less than six hours. Smaller battery used for kayaking.

As well they should ... considering that an X4 has way less processing going on !! An X4 draws between 170-240mA, while an E5DSI draws ~630mA and an Elite 4DSI draws ~250mA !!

... cp

Yep, I was using a 7ah 12v battery that is about 8" long, 3" wide, 5" tall. About as heavy as I will go on a kayak. That will work fine for a short day of fishing, but for a 88 hour race down the river, NOT GOOD ENOUGH!

You used a battery from a remote control car basically. I think you got A LOT of hours out of that little thing.

That's like taking a pocket knife to a gun fight! Lol!

I understand the need for light with a kayak as I was wondering how you put a 12v battery in a kayak and managed the weight.

Originally Posted by crappiepappy

Here's how I did mine ... sitting on my couch, with the unit connected to a 12V portable jumper battery via an extra power/tdx cable (but, you can still use the same method sitting in the boat) :

(copied from a previous post in this thread)
"As an additional note, in case one of you E5DSI owners gets someone to give up some of their super secret GPS coordinates, and you want to manually put them into your unit (before you even go to the lake) ... here's how :

Click Menu button
Arrow down to New Waypoint
Click Enter button
Use Up arrow to highlight Lat/Long numbers line
Click Enter button
Use up/down arrows to change coord numbers - R/L arrows to move to next number & from Latitude to Longitude box
Click Enter button when correct Lat/Long numbers are entered
Use Down Arrow to highlight SAVE
Click Enter button
************************************************** *

I did close to 100 waypoints using this method. BUT, I first had to write down all of them, on paper, as I converted them online using the converter link. I probably have a couple of hours of actual "manual work" involved in converting & putting the 100 waypoints into my unit ... but, that's a far cry from the time & expense that would have been involved in doing so "on the water".

Also, as I wrote down the GPS coords from the converter ... I grouped them into areas of the lake & type of cover (brush, pallets, stakebed). So, not only do I have written backup, in case I should lose my coords from my unit (for whatever reason), but I also know what type of cover is present at each coord. Should I want to do so, or the need arises, I could change the coordinate "names" from 001, 002, etc ... to Brush 1, Stakebed 3, Pallet stack 14, or whatever.

... cp

Which mapping system did you use..... there are several to choose from ?

Originally Posted by JarnJackJackson

Which mapping system did you use..... there are several to choose from ?

The coordinates had to be converted from Decimal Degrees to "GPS" ... before the unit placed them on the map correctly. I'm just using the base map of the unit.

... cp

Originally Posted by crappiepappy

The coordinates had to be converted from Decimal Degrees to "GPS" ... before the unit placed them on the map correctly. I'm just using the base map of the unit.

... cp

So... you are putting your coordinates into you computer - then saving them to the micro disc - then putting the micro disc in the e5dsi - and these points show up as..... a symbol or text on your screen? I put the Fishing Hot Spots in and went to my nearest lake that was recently updated -Berlin- and using the information from this site, found all kinds of info..... but you cant have two disc in at the same time... and the FHS disc cant be written on.... really like the unit and am really looking forward to using it on Berlin... 180 bass boats trying to launch on Sunday sent us to another favorite lake.... but if I want to keep any information - eg screen saves - I have to keep changing disc's..... I can see me dropping the micro disc into the lake!!!! LOL...... Ah - fishing in the 22nd century!! Thanks for the feedback!!!

Originally Posted by JarnJackJackson

So... you are putting your coordinates into you computer - then saving them to the micro disc - then putting the micro disc in the e5dsi - and these points show up as..... a symbol or text on your screen?

No ... the GPS coord's I was referring to, were manually taken off a website that showed where the KDFWR had placed brush piles & pallet stacks. Unfortunately, the website showed them in Decimal Degrees ... so I wrote them down & used the converter site to change them all over to GPS. Then I manually entered them, one at a time, while sitting on the couch. The 2G micro sd card did not enter into the equation ... I only use it for screenshots to post on here. I'm not into trolling or spider-rigging methods enough to need to follow contours, so a map card isn't a pressing necessity at this time. I just use the unit base map.

... cp

And, yeah ... like you, I can see myself dropping the map card overboard ... which is why I don't relish the idea of having one.