Lowrance second plotter setup

bpsuls

Active Member
I am going to reach out to one of you Lowrance wiring experts out there. i have an older HDS that i want to hook up as a secondary on the fish deck to a HDS-9 in the cabin. My plan was to hook the two together using the yellow Ethernet cable. Now, the HDS-9 inside will also have access to the NMEA2k network which has for example my fuel meter on it. Will the HDS on the fish deck have access to the NMEA network through the HDS-9 or do i need a NMEA2K connection directly to that unit as well separate from the Ethernet? Thanks!
 
I believe ethernet will only sync waypoints routes and tracks. I know for sure depth and fuel info doesn't transfer. If you already have nmea 2000 then I would stick with that.
 
If your HDS9 happens to be a Gen3, I wouldn’t bother with wiring up the older HDS at all. Use the wifi hotspot feature of the Gen3 and link your iPad or tablet to it wirelessly. I installed a few RAM ball mounts around the boat, and with my iPad in a RAM holder, I have several convenient places to mount the iPad.

With the iPad or tablet connected to the HDS, you control the entire HDS system from wherever you’re sitting with your iPad/tablet. What you see on your iPad/tablet is exactly what’s on the screen of the HDS, and vice versa. Really convenient! So your fuel meters or whatever options that you have already set up on your HDS are all displayed- and controllable from anywhere on your boat.
 
Can you run charts on hds and then sonar on tablet? Or split screen on hds then sonar only on the tablet?
 
Depth will transfer with a nema cable. I know because I run 2 screens of 1 ducer sharing info with the nema.
 
Can you run charts on hds and then sonar on tablet? Or split screen on hds then sonar only on the tablet?
As far as I know, your iPad/tablet only mirrors what’s on the screen of your HDS. I haven’t yet tried to do what you queried, so I don’t have an answer to that....yet!! Cheers
 
There's another possible approach which is a redundant system that includes a transducer.

Several times one spring my transom mounted transducer was knocked loose or broken by small chunks of woody debris when I was running down the Fraser. I had a shoot through Airmar transducer mounted (fibreglass hull) and connected to my in dash GPS /Sonar. Of course it hasn't happened since.

FWIW, another possible approach. Provides some peace of mind in case the big system goes down. Redundancy can be a good thing, as in having two VHF radios.
 
Thanks for the input guys. I think i will hook up both the e-net and the NMEA 2k. the mirroring on a tablet is a nice idea but i want it on the fish deck where there is salty water and the screen brightness on tablets is terrible in the sun. Anyone found a tablet that has good visibility in the sun?
 
Back
Top