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Lowrance Elite 5 HDI Downscan Imaging Problem

20K views 13 replies 6 participants last post by  All Eyes 
#1 ·
I have an Elite 5 HDI that I bought and installed. I am pleased with the sonar and GPS but the downscan images are not very clear at all. Definitely not like the pictures Lowrance shows. Is this normal or am I having a problem? Is there something I can do or not? etc. Any help would be appreciated.
 
#4 ·
I have the transducer installed correctly and at the correct angle. I will try the settings recommended by chris1162 and see if that works. What I am getting now is alot of "noise" in the water column area and the bottom structure is "blurry", i.e. not well defined like Lowrances' advertisement pics are. I was wondering if water clarity has any role in the noise I am getting as I have only used this unit in stained water. Chris1162, is the river you use your unit on stained or clear water? I know the noise is NOT caused by electrical items near the transducer or anything like that. One other question.....do the Sonar settings affect the Downscan picture in anyway? For instance, if I have the Sonar Settings adjusted to High and get a good bit of noise on the Sonar as a result, will this effect the Downscan getting alot of noise? Again, any help will be appreciated.
 
#5 ·
The river i fish is not clear. Visibility is usually around 1ft or so. The controls for the ds is different than the sonar. You have to change to di screen to adjust it( possibly another way but i dont remember it). I have to adjust contrast(down imaging) and sensitivity(sonar) almost every time i am out. If in water with alot of current i can pick up alot of noise too on both screens. You can put unit in simulator to watch what changes do what. Simulator is at bottom of main menu i believe.
 
#7 ·
I have the transducer installed on the transom per the installation instructions. It is not near the prop. I went out yesterday and used the settings chris recommended and had much better results. I did have one problem though. When I choose "manual" instead of "auto" for the contrast and try to adjust the contrast manually, I can only get the contrast to go up to about 14%. If I try to go beyond that it immediately goes back to 2%? I imagine that is NOT normal is it?
 
#11 ·
I have been working with it and was able to get the contrast to adjust up to 56%. It has resulted in much better views and I am much happier with it now. Still not as good as what others are posting but much better than what I had. I also purchased mine in the fall but I did not update it as guppygill did. How do I go about finding out if I have the latest update for the unit?
 
#12 · (Edited)
How do I go about finding out if I have the latest update for the unit?
Here are the latest software updates. Whether or not yours is current would depend on the date it was manufactured I guess. The newest updates for the Elite HDI is version 4.0 which was released in Feb. of this year.
http://www.lowrance.com/en-US/Software-Updates/Elite-40/
Regarding the down scan imaging, mine works perfect in auto mode also. I would agree that it sounds like possible interference with the transducer somehow. If there is a support rail or anything in front of it under your boat, they can make air voids or bubbles that can do that. Outside of proper transducer mounting, I would think electronic noise from a bad ground or something???
 
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