Thread: Battle of the HF Down Sonars

By the way, am I the only guy that thinks 455 kHz is better than 800?
In every way? Seems to always be better on Hds 9

You will get a wider coverage area, with 455khz.on did and si

Originally Posted by brettw

By the way, am I the only guy that thinks 455 kHz is better than 800?
In every way? Seems to always be better on Hds 9

You might be, Brett

Here's what I see on a split screen 455/800:



I'll take the 800 kHz image, any day of the week !!

(FYI ... this image was taken a long time ago, before I was really dialed in on how to get better images. These images are of a rock bottom on a rocky ledge bank, and was done simply for my own purpose of learning the unit and how to take screenshots. There was no particular cover or fish being looked for, when the image was taken. It was done solely for comparison of the images from 455 & 800 kHz)

... cp

Hey, Fishton thanks for posting the above comparison screen shots, Its great to see the different brands side by side of same subject, especially by somebody who knows what they are doing.

John, when will book #2 be out. I have thoroughly enjoyed book #1.

Thanks for the image comparison.

I'm special ordering crappy.com decals with "455khz is best " on it.

Originally Posted by brettw

I'm special ordering crappy.com decals with "455khz is best " on it.

On the unit that I'm using, I prefer 800 kHz if we're just wanting to pick out the fish in and around the structure because with the 800 kHz the fish show up brighter and sharper.on the other hand 455 kHz does a lot better of showing the structure , but fish kind of have a dulled look, that blends in with the structure.for me, finding the structure is most important (but that's getting into the next battle so I'll stop)

Thanks for all the great replies chaps, and sorry for taking so long to reply.

Rickie -
Horizontal Resolution - HR
The thing that changes this resolution is Scroll Speed - the slower the scroll the lower the HR, the faster the scroll the higher the HR. Common sense tells me it should be the other way round, but it is what it is.
1. On the LSS-1 the scroll speed has always been pretty close to your typical trolling speed on a dead idle, meaning that if you idle over a round tyre it would look like a round tyre, not a oblong shape. Sure, if you increased your boat speed, then the tyre would also look oblong.
2. With LSS-2 (box) and HDS Touch the scroll speed is very slow in comparison. There is no scroll speed adjustment for the Lowrance, but there are a few things that do effect it:-
a. If the unit has too many waypoints and the memory has not been purged the unit slows down, resulting in a slow scroll speed.
b. You can increase or decrease DownScan scroll speed by changing the SideScan range - less it goes faster and more it goes slower.
c. Changing the traditional sonar frequency from 83kHz to 200kHz will also speed it up.
3. As far as the ONIX goes - I forgot that it has a chart speed setting, and I should have turned it down to look like this -
That in the 25-30ft range is a thermocline.

Cane Pole - see if you can spot the good fish (tip - they are just in the thermocline)


CrappiePappy -
Only my second time out with the ONIX proved that I was a bit rusty on the Bird settings, I should have set it a little 'hotter'. Having said that, I do like the StructureScan brightness and contrast, it really pops with little to no settings required.

brettw -
Yes, the Garmin GCV10 SideVú range is just something out of this world, I just hope they will incorporate it into something like Lowrance has done with StructureMap.
The traditional 2D CHIRP sonar on the new 'x' units is also a work of art, and works very well straight out the box, no matter how high you set the gain - Best affordable CHIRP sonar quality right now in my opinion.

kosmo -
I don't have a photo of the ONIX transducer in this shot, but on the day of the test a swapped it out with the TM150.
Yes, the Garmin requires both (GCV10 and TM150)


jimp -
I have kept the same vertical size to keep the resolution fair, but the LSS-1 I had to stitch together because it was wider than a single screenshot.

Don G -
The new Fisherman's Guide to Sonar will only be available 2015 now as I have decided to widen the scope of readers by including all the big brands, not only Lowrance.

brettw -
I also only use 455kHz on my Touch / LSS-2 and Garmin GCV10 for both Side and Down.
For The Humminbird and LSS-1 I prefer the 800kHz for Down and 455kHz for Side.