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

Originally Posted by smally

Just registered to Crappie.com today. Love the site for all the great info. i just recently purchased this unit, and love it so far. I am more than a little disappointed that it did not come with a hard plastic cover like all of my other Lowarance units did. What's up with that. Did others' come with a cover?

No, Smally ... far as I know, there was never a face plate cover with any E5DSI unit.

I don't trailer my boat with my E5DSI unit mounted. It doesn't go on the boat until I'm ready to launch. The rest of the time it's inside a cotton bag, and either sitting in the house with my other gear or riding in the backseat of the truck when I'm on my way to/from the lake.

... cp

Originally Posted by Knot2Bad

If this unit is mounted on the TM then when you maneuver the TM on its axis you would be sending this vertical slice beam in a 180 arc left and right of the TM shaft. This would show you fish all around your boat wouldn't it? If so when you're moving your TM around you need to keep this in minds as to what direction you're looking at. Am I correct in this thinking? Has anyone considered this or tried it with their unit.

Yes, TM mounted tdx will send the fan shaped beam in accordance with & at right angles to the direction of the nose of the TM. The problem with any fast turning of the TM, is that it distorts the screen image, momentarily (as witnessed on the screenshot of the big cedar tree).
Yes, one does have to keep in mind what direction the trolling motor is pointing, especially when boat is moving/drifting but TM is not engaged. You want the fan shaped beam to be spread out across your forward motion, so that it sweeps the area you're heading into. If the TM is slightly angled off from dead straight ahead, and the boat is moving/drifting straight ahead, you're shortening the angle of the beam. (by "shortening" I mean instead of the beam being a _ it's a / ... and therefore the beam spread is not extending out to the R/L at the degree of angle associated with the 455 or 800kHz ping)

I don't think it would work very well, trying to make it act like a 360 HB unit, though. But, yeah ... you "could" turn the TM nose to the right or left & "sweep" the area in front of you ... you'd just have to keep changing your L/R direction, and have some other force pushing the boat forward (big motor/wind/waves/momentum from TM). You'd just have momentary "garbage" on your screen, during the direction change of the TM.

(from what I understand .... )
Lowrance DI units have a "dedicated DI crystal" ... which is probably why their HD units have such large transducers (to contain the DI, 2d, and their version of SI crystals). HB's use the SI crystal for the DI image, and the processor/software makes the image calculations. The dedicated DI crystal of the E5DSI is the reason it does not have 2d capabilities. (I think that's how it all works out, anyway.)

... cp

Thanks Pappy, I cant wait till my unit gets here so I can start learning its abilities and play a little with it but before that happens I have to play with this!!!!!!!

Thanks for the info Pappy. At least now I know that i didn't get screwed out of the cover.

Originally Posted by Knot2Bad

Thanks Pappy, I cant wait till my unit gets here so I can start learning its abilities and play a little with it but before that happens I have to play with this!!!!!!!

Well, look on the bright side : it didn't fall on the truck/boat ... and you've got lots of firewood for use or sale !!

... cp

Well my unit arrive yesterday and I was like a kid at Christmas opening a present. Once I hoped the box I was a little surprised at the small size of the complete unit. I heard others make similar statements but seeing is believing. I also wanted to confirm my ELite 5 DSI did come with a Trolling motor mount. Glad I didn't purchase on earlier as I was not sure if it was included in the box. I am still waiting for my Ram Mount to arrive. The frustrations of a online buyer. lol
One thing I notice with my TM mount was that the clamp that attaches it to the TM in my case looks like a Heavy Duty Ziptye. I am sure its adequate but long term I am not sure. It also may be harder to get tight. It also does not lend itself to removal and reconnecting. The one that CrappiePappy showed pictures of appeared to be a SS one similar to those used for Radiator Hose Clamps. I am thinking of going to Auto Zone or some other parts house and getting me one of those.

Yeah ... the unit is small, overall ... but, perched on a Ram Mount it will look a bit bigger to you (being closer). I wish they'd measure screens by "width/height" rather than diagonal length, then you'd have a better idea of how "big" a 5" screen really is

I've put puck transducers on with zip tyes, before, and they held OK ... but, yeah, they do tend to allow the transducer to slip off center pretty easily. A band clamp works much better, but don't get froggy with the tightening, or you could break the bracket.

... cp

Look at Lowe's for the clamp, it will be in the plumbing section, I doubt you will find one large enough at an auto parts store.