bouttime Posted June 27, 2013 Share Posted June 27, 2013 I have a lowrance LMS-522 on a 22 foot seaswirl with a hardtop .The unit is mounted on my dash and during the day it bounces in and out of reception a lot.Is this due to being under the hard top or needs updating or just junk? Anyone ever have this problem:confused: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FsnMachine Posted June 27, 2013 Share Posted June 27, 2013 I have a newer HDS series but still have my 522. Works great for me but not under a hardtop. You may need the puck or external receiver that you can mount on the hardtop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Line Dancin Posted June 27, 2013 Share Posted June 27, 2013 A friend of mine has a Cherokee hard top and he had to get the external antenna as his wouldn't get the satellites under the hard top. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tad Pole Posted June 27, 2013 Share Posted June 27, 2013 I have a similar problem with my lowrance,I was told that the antenna has to be above any aluminum railing;bow rail,windshield framing,etc.He gave me the numbers on how much signal is lost being below the "rail" but I forgot them.it was significant.I am looking at building some sort of removable short mast that I can attach my external antenna to,and hopefully that will work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bouttime Posted June 28, 2013 Author Share Posted June 28, 2013 Thanks for the input-time to start looking for a new model anyway --- any suggestions or favorites? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HONDAM Posted June 28, 2013 Share Posted June 28, 2013 If you go with a external antenna, do not buy a Lowrance, very unreliable. You can go with any NMEA antenna like Garmin, Maretron, Raymarine, ect. As long as its NMEA it will network.As far as a new one, what kind of budget or screen size are you looking at? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bouttime Posted June 30, 2013 Author Share Posted June 30, 2013 Like to keep it under 1000 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedRider Posted June 30, 2013 Share Posted June 30, 2013 I'm extremely happy with my Garmin 740S from Calumet Marine and it works under an aluminum hard top. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prop nut Posted June 30, 2013 Share Posted June 30, 2013 If you go with a external antenna, do not buy a Lowrance, very unreliable. You can go with any NMEA antenna like Garmin, Maretron, Raymarine, ect. As long as its NMEA it will network.As far as a new one, what kind of budget or screen size are you looking at? just to clarify the Lowrance gps receiver itself is very unreliable not nessesarily the lowrance unit itself if its a NMEA 2000 unit you can use other manufacturers gps receiversI have received a couple calls about this and wanted to post to claify and thank you the guys who called for pricing remember to check our on line store for quarterly specials and sales http://calumetmarine.3dcartstores.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HONDAM Posted June 30, 2013 Share Posted June 30, 2013 I'm extremely happy with my Garmin 740S from Calumet Marine and it works under an aluminum hard top.He's exactly right at under $1000 you can not buy a better unit. 7 inch touchscreen with a 1000watt sonar and the best gps on the market regardless of price, one very strong unit.Just one tip, do not buy the 300 watt transducer get at least the 600 watt p66 to take full advantage of the sonar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HONDAM Posted June 30, 2013 Share Posted June 30, 2013 just to clarify the Lowrance gps receiver itself is very unreliable not nessesarily the lowrance unit itself if its a NMEA 2000 unit you can use other manufacturers gps receiversI have received a couple calls about this and wanted to post to claify and thank you the guys who called for pricing remember to check our on line store for quarterly specials and sales http://calumetmarine.3dcartstores.com/^^^^ What he said is what I meant, just the Lowrance external GPS antennas the HDS units have been pretty good for reliability. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedRider Posted July 1, 2013 Share Posted July 1, 2013 He's exactly right at under $1000 you can not buy a better unit. 7 inch touchscreen with a 1000watt sonar and the best gps on the market regardless of price, one very strong unit.Just one tip, do not buy the 300 watt transducer get at least the 600 watt p66 to take full advantage of the sonar. I did what Ryan suggested with the P66...:thumb::thumb: Unbelievable difference in size of transducers from what I had.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now