Mains adapter for chart plotter/sounder

[kiwicraig]

I recently bought a new sounder combo unit, opting for the Lowrance Elite 7 ti.  It comes with a cable that just does power, but I opted get the optional one that also has a NMEA 0183 serial interface well.  This left me with a spare power cable.  I had a small battery so I thought I might rig that up so I could fire the sounder up inside, apply all the updates etc on my nice fast NBN rather than tethered to my mobile.  Unfortunately when I went to charge the battery it came up as faulty.  

I still liked the idea of being able to do this inside though so I started digging around in the shed. I found a power supply for an old external hard drive that put out either 5v or 12V at the right amperage, so I cut the plug off and used a multi meter to figure out which of the 4 non-standard coloured cables actually carried the 12V current.  I then hooked these up to the sounder (including a 3A inline fuse just in case) and switched it on.  Sure enough I can now power up the sounder inside.  Has been really good being able to get used to the interface while I have had the boat in at the mechanic for a tune up and to replace the steering and control cables.  Can't wait to get it on the water for a test drive.

[yella king]

Hi Kiwicraig

I hope you have a lot of  fun and good fishing when you get to try your new finder out.

I have the Elite 7 Ti Total Scan and these units are just terrific.

Make sure you add the fish reveal update as this feature is unreal.

Hope you catch heaps

regards yella king

[kiwicraig]

2 hours ago, yella king said:

Hi Kiwicraig

I hope you have a lot of  fun and good fishing when you get to try your new finder out.

I have the Elite 7 Ti Total Scan and these units are just terrific.

Make sure you add the fish reveal update as this feature is unreal.

Hope you catch heaps

regards yella king

Great, thanks for the tip.  It applied an update when I connected to the internet. I'll check the version numbers to make sure I have the latest.

[antonywardle]

Flathead grounds again @kiwicraig  ?

 

 

 

Edited June 30, 2018 by antonywardle

[Berleyguts]

Innovative. ?? But doesn’t the unit have a removable SD or Micro SD card for doing updates on your computer? My Humminbird does but I didn’t think it was anything special.

[kiwicraig]

On 6/30/2018 at 5:23 PM, antonywardle said:

Flathead grounds again @kiwicraig  ?

 

 

 

Lets do it!  When are you thinking?  

[kiwicraig]

On 6/30/2018 at 5:29 PM, Berleyguts said:

Innovative. ?? But doesn’t the unit have a removable SD or Micro SD card for doing updates on your computer? My Humminbird does but I didn’t think it was anything special.

Hi Baz - yeah it does but it is not the most elegant process if I am honest.  On Wi-Fi it is as simple as a prompt that says "there is an update - do you want to apply it now?"

Also while I wait for the boat I have been able to put it in demo mode and learn my way around the menus, adjust colours, create custom dashboards and basically get about 70% of the setup done.  My old unit was a different brand so building some familiarity with this one before I hit the water should help me get up and running quickly.

[Guest Guest123456789]

Congratulations Craig - great sounder and the same one as me.

the menu auto hide is great, I sometimes have 4 screens at once (chart, sounder, structurescan (down) and structure scan(side).  I can still make out the detail. It helps if the structurescan(side and down) are different colours. I have the side scan default blue and the downscan red.

the side scan auto depth has never worked for me (stays at 200 metres) so I have to manually set depth (normally 5 metres or so greater than the current depth).

you can also add custom fields by hitting the power button then hitting overlay and choosing a field. I like to add water temperature and time and position them in the corner of a chart or map.

if you sound up some great marks you can get a screenshot by pressing the menu and power buttons at the same time. The image will be saved to your memory card.

[Berleyguts]

1 hour ago, kiwicraig said:

Hi Baz - yeah it does but it is not the most elegant process if I am honest.  On Wi-Fi it is as simple as a prompt that says "there is an update - do you want to apply it now?"

Also while I wait for the boat I have been able to put it in demo mode and learn my way around the menus, adjust colours, create custom dashboards and basically get about 70% of the setup done.  My old unit was a different brand so building some familiarity with this one before I hit the water should help me get up and running quickly.

Yes, a good option to learn the sounder while the boat’s in getting a service. I must admit, I sometimes just sit in the boat in my boatport with a beer while I explore the sounder and listen to the marine radio. Am I the only one? ?

[Guest Guest123456789]

1 minute ago, Berleyguts said:

Yes, a good option to learn the sounder while the boat’s in getting a service. I must admit, I sometimes just sit in the boat in my boatport with a beer while I explore the sounder and listen to the marine radio. Am I the only one? ?

Nope - I love doing this while the kids do power bombs off the casting deck onto the bean bag 

[Berleyguts]

1 hour ago, flatheadluke said:

Nope - I love doing this while the kids do power bombs off the casting deck onto the bean bag 

That’s funny! My son’s dog, the big boof American Staffy jumps straight up into the boat and stands on the casting deck, lord and commander of all he purveys! ?

[Guest Guest123456789]

25 minutes ago, Berleyguts said:

That’s funny! My son’s dog, the big boof American Staffy jumps straight up into the boat and stands on the casting deck, lord and commander of all he purveys! ?

My son sits at the ‘captains helm’ and gives me orders like ‘get me a marshmellow’ 

Edited July 2, 2018 by Guest123456789
Typo

[antonywardle]

@kiwicraig I have a spare power cable for my Elite 9 ti, so I thought that it would be easier to bring the unit inside (better wifi too)  and have a play, although sitting in the boat with a beer like @Berleyguts and @flatheadluke do sounds a very good idea too.  I hooked the sounder up to my jumpstarter and turned it on, but no matter what I tried, I could get the touch screen to work, so I was a bit disappointed and I wondered if I got a lemon.

I did a bit of research, and the answer is that the sound needs to be well grounded. There is a lowrance YouTube that explains it, but the easiest thing to so, was to put my finger on the negative terminal and the touch screen started working.

Next thing to do is figure out getting my markers from my phone/tablet, on to this unit.

It also came with a CMAP card. Anyone use this map?