Hook 7 mid/high down scan finder/gps combo .. good/bad ?
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Hook 7 mid/high down scan finder/gps combo .. good/bad ?
Don't know yet, just bought mine during the Cyberweek sale at my local Cabela's.Quote:
Originally Posted by shutupandfish
I looked at some reviews, and the most often complained about thing was the weak processor ... or what they perceived as "weak" because it wouldn't update the map (boat position/direction) very fast. I'm replacing a Elite 5DSI with this Hook 7 ... so I'm already familiar with the slow motion update, and it's not that big a factor to me since I don't use the mapping system all that much (yet).
For what I paid for it ($300 otd) it will be fine as a replacement for the E5DSI unit .... since it IS basically a 7" screen model of the E5DSI unit, with the 2d broadband sonar added back in. I'm not real happy about the huge transducer, compared to the "fountain pen" sized transducer for the DSI unit ... since it's going on the trolling motor ... but, another quick trip to Cabela's and pick up the $20 plastic cup mounting bracket, and I'll deal with it.
Thanks Pap, other than playing with mapping I don't use it myself. does the tm suction cup mount work well ?
Mine came with a transom bracket mount. And I haven't mounted mine yet, since I haven't yet purchased the tm mount. The one I'm looking at is a simple plastic covering with slits for band clamps or cable ties. I wasn't aware of any suction cup mount. I really don't trust suction cups, as I've had several incidents with them on my black lights. They lose suction sometimes ... and I've even had one light do that and take a dip in the lake when we were running down the lake in calm water. I'd trust wrapping the transducer to the tm with electric tape, or even duct tape, before I'd trust a suction cup. If the plastic cover mount doesn't interfere with the signals, then tape surely wouldn't. I've even read reviews on that cover mount that were less than positive ... most complaints were that the plastic was thin and very much in the way of impact would likely break the slits, so taping over the whole setup was their backup insurance.Quote:
Originally Posted by shutupandfish
Here's what I'm talking about : http://www.cabelas.com/product/Lowra...E&gclsrc=aw.ds
All versions of a tm mount for this transducer are all within the same price range ($15-$20) so I'm going with the one that holds it as close to the bottom of the tm as possible. The one I have for the DSI unit seemed to take a pretty good beating over the years, and it held up OK. Probably because it's such a small transducer that it fits close to the bottom of the tm, as you can see in this pic :
Attachment 282856
Once you figure out the interface, I think you'll love it. As already said, navigation is a little slow but I dont consider it a big problem. DI, once dialed in to your liking, IMO is pretty good. One of my favorite features is logging sonar and building my own maps using Insight Genesis. Much more detailed than any maps you can buy.
good unit
Went to Cabela's the other day and got the tm cup to mount the transdx to the tm. Had a little trouble finding it, as I was looking for "just" the cup itself in a pkg. When I did find it, I was surprised to see that it was a "kit" that contained the cup, a band clamp, and two zip ties. It's marketed as a HDI TM Adapter, so I checked with the floor manager and he assured me that my tdx would fit. I bought it, brought it home and checked for myself, and indeed it does fit my tdx.
I also thought, from looking at the online sales pictures of the adapter, that it was a "shell" that would cover the whole tdx ... yet allow the signal to be sent/received with no interference. What it actually is ... is a plastic "rim" with an open "bottom".
The kit contains these items, and the adapter is shown better in this pic :
https://www.lowrance.com/globalasset...=both&mode=max
Now I'll just have to wait for early Spring season to begin, get my buddy to come over and install the electrical hookups, and then I'll be good to go !! In the meantime, I will be manually adding the 200+ GPS coordinates I have written down from when I manually entered them into my DSI unit. :Doh: I've already entered the ones I had for one lake I fish, using a online GPS converter website. ( GPS Coordinate Converter, Maps and Info ) Since I only have the one power cable and haven't mounted the unit, yet, I will need to do these manual entries before I do mount the unit ... so I can do them sitting in my living room, next to the computer, where it's warm & comfy. :biggrin
I put the walkthru steps for manually entering GPS coords into the Hook 7, on the Test Forum. (just to save them for future use)
I'm using these steps because I have the unit off the boat & not yet hooked up ... running the unit via one of my boat batteries. Just like my E5DSI, the Hook 7 will only take the GPS coords that have 7 numbers for Longitude & 7 for Latitude - as shown by "x" in my explanation. (N xx xx.xxx W xx xx.xxx)
If your coords are not in this format, then you may need to use a GPS Converter website like the one I posted the link to in a previous reply.