Lowrance Elite 4X DSI Questions

[fe1]

Just got a Lowrance Elite 4XDSI installed on trolling motor and was wondering what to expect.
Does one need to be moving for it to work properly (I meaning fish images)?
How well does it work in 10' or shallowre water?

[CatFan]

Yes, you need to be moving to get good images. It will work well in shallow water, though the area it covers is smaller than it would be in deep water.

[CrappiePappy]

You might have to play with the settings, color palette, and zoom features to "see" fish images. And like CatFan says, you will have to be moving to get clear images on the screen. I have the Elite 5 DSI and can get decent images at 0.3mph. Clearer/sharper images occur at speeds greater than 0.5mph. My tdx is mounted on the trolling motor, and ~2mph is my top speed.

It should work OK in 10' of water ... but the swath of bottom coverage will be something like this, depending on whether you have the 455kHz or 800kHz beam chosen :



As you can see by the chart ... at 10' your 455 setting is about 1.5 times the depth of water & the 800 setting is about equal to the depth of water. That means the fan shaped sonar beam is showing a bottom path of about 5' to either side of the transducer when using 800kHz ... and about 7' to either side when using 455kHz.

If you were using conventional 2d broadband sonar ... in 10' of water your 20deg cone would only be showing a circle of about 3' wide. You'd have to have 60deg cone angle capabilities to get a circle 10' wide in 10' of water. And your images would be "blobs" rather than picture images.

... cp

[fe1]

Thanks to both.CP thats some good info right there, just what I was looking for as the beam width would have been my next question. Thats more width than I'm used to with my Cuda.

[SilverBack4Jack]

Just curious if the OP has any feedback on this unit. I am trying to decide on a fish finder and liked some of the options with the price of this unit.

[CrappiePappy]

Just curious if the OP has any feedback on this unit. I am trying to decide on a fish finder and liked some of the options with the price of this unit.

The post is a couple of weeks old .... so I'd PM him and ask. Or post a new thread, asking for feedback from anyone that owns a Elite 4X DSI.

... cp

[fe1]

SB4J, I've only used it in shallow water 10' and less. The only thing I dont like is NO fish symbols or arches only blobs which may or may not be fish as there is alot of water lilly spoilage floating around from last years plants. No way to distinguish plant matter from fish. It does however show better bottom detail. Another thing , when waves are created from boats etc. the bottom detail goes up and down like waves. I never had this on my other finders. Maybe someone else with better knowledge on these units will chime in.

[CrappiePappy]

SB4J, I've only used it in shallow water 10' and less. The only thing I dont like is NO fish symbols or arches only blobs which may or may not be fish as there is alot of water lilly spoilage floating around from last years plants. No way to distinguish plant matter from fish. It does however show better bottom detail. Another thing , when waves are created from boats etc. the bottom detail goes up and down like waves. I never had this on my other finders. Maybe someone else with better knowledge on these units will chime in.

FE1 is correct .... DSI will not show fish symbols/arches. Fish will show up as small dots/blotches, but can be made bigger with 455 kHz setting & zoom. The small screen of the Elite 4X DSI will make it even harder to see those "fish" (marks).

As I understand it :
The Elite 4 has 2d sonar & GPS (no DSI)
The Elite 4X has 2d broadband sonar in color (no DSI, no GPS)
The Elite 4X DSI has DSI (no GPS, no 2d sonar)

DSI creates a picture quality image on the screen, in finer detail & smaller pixels than traditional 2d sonar ... so, yes, if the boat is bouncing up & down in the waves, the screen image will show the bottom contour in a wavy pattern, since it's greater detail will pick up the slight difference in depth. It will look something like this :


This screenshot was taken of a brushpile when boat wakes were bouncing my boat ... transducer is trolling motor mounted. (note: my unit is a Elite 5DSI)

... cp

[SilverBack4Jack]

Well I appreciate all the info. I didn't mean to hijack the post. I had thought about going with dsi since the ones on sale were close to the same as without. However. I am more of a stationary fisher. Mainly catfish, and panfish. Everything I'm reading says dsi needs to have movement and I'm sure that's sorta the same on others however I guess I mainly need depth of the area and to see the contours. Also the fish symbols would prolly be a plus. Maybe dsi isn't for me. It will save me money but the picture quality on the screen had lured me in. Just never set the hook. Lol

[fe1]

I'm glad you ask. I dont consider it hijacking.
It reads the depth accurately in 1/10ths of a foot ie. 9.1 ft. moving or not.
C.P. thats exactly what it looks like when the boats a bouncin.