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Posts: 58
| Just recieved the official word so here it is. This will be available as an add on to the new HDS system.
Gentlemen,
IT’S OFFICIAL!!!!!
Attached please find the documentation that was sent today to our dealer base regarding Lowrance SIDE-VIEWING.
Please keep the following in mind when you discuss this topic with customers:
1) This is called SIDE-VIEWING…….. they call it side imaging.
2) Side-Viewing is compatible with ALL HDS products.
3) Side-Viewing will be an ADD on to HDS products; black box, transducer and a software update.
4) Side-Viewing will be available some time in 2009; as soon as I receive pricing, part numbers, and available dates I’ll forward this to you!!!
Thank you all for refraining from discussions about this until Navico approved.
The HDS REVOLUTION is here!!!!
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Posts: 2515
Location: Waukesha & Land O Lakes, WI | Only a matter of time before somebody reverse engineered the HumminBird. Looking forward to this technology. |
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| sweet, can't wait to see it...
might have to upgrade if it looks good... |
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| the good thing about real competition is that it forces everyone to get better.
i love my Humminbird units, but i don't have side imaging because it's too expensive for me.
i'll stick with Humminbird, but Lowrance will help me out by creating competition in side-imagery that pushes prices down and will force everyone to improve quality as well.
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Posts: 2323
Location: Stevens Point, WI | Lowrance actually has had this technology for some time, according to one the Lowrance engineers. However, it was Hummingbird that actually stepped up and actually made it available to the consumer. I've heard a little about this, should be pretty awesome from what little inside info I've received.
Edited by TJ DeVoe 2/19/2009 3:14 PM
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| maybe my brain doesn't work right ..but I have never figured out why humminbird couldn't "flip" the image so it's easier to read...
anyway, hope lowrance figures out a way to make it easier to interpret / read...
but i haven't played w/ a humminbird before so maybe on the water i'd figure it out....
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Posts: 2515
Location: Waukesha & Land O Lakes, WI | HumminBird has a pattent on the transducer. I agree with BN, side imaging can give you a headache. |
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| Lowrance actually has had this technology for some time
the U.S. Navy has had it for "some time" as well... 
these things don't do anyone any good sitting on the shelf. when someone figures out a way to bring it to market, people benefit. and when more than one company brings it to market in a competitive way, consumers really start to benefit.
it will be good to have options to help drive that segment of the market into a more widely affordable range.
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Posts: 32886
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | 'These things' also don't do anyone any good when they are not yet ready to launch due to cost effectiveness, needed advances in software and hardware, issues in manufacturing, or any one of a dozen more considerations. Introducing a new product (even one driven by competition) is a process...not an event.
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Posts: 2515
Location: Waukesha & Land O Lakes, WI | As of now, I look at this as a gimmic more than a useful tool. I have a hard time visualizing what's on screen and seriously, it gives me a headache. Every technology has to start somewhere, I like this idea, but I think it needs to be refined. I hope Lowrance carries this to the next level, but from what's been stated here, it sounds like an add on, not an actual unit. |
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Posts: 2691
Location: Pewaukee, Wisconsin | After using the HumminBird 1197SI for a whole season it is easy to read. First few trips out it was very confusing. Think of it like a spotlight shineing a field. Shadows are tall objects. Everything on the floor of the lake shows up. Even hardness is very easy to spot. Like mud to clay to sand to rock. You can see all the transitions. Unbelievable unit. Opens your eyes to stuff you would never know was there. 35 years of hard core fishing on Pewaukee Lake and I found stuff on the bottom I never knew was there. If you don't go directly over it with a regular unit you would never see it. With the Bird you can see everything. Unbelievable unit. I hope Lowrance can keep the push going for better stuff. I would live to see more stuff like this. |
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Posts: 102
| Whether you know this or not, SIMRAD(a lowrance sister company) actually owns the patent to side imaging. Hummingbird has patents on their "transducer" but don't own the rights to "side imaging". They have been field testing it for over a year now and if as good as I've heard everyone will be amazed.
Edited by fireslayer 2/20/2009 1:11 PM
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Posts: 102
| Here is a screenshot
Attachments
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 SI.jpg (193KB - 113 downloads)
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Posts: 1462
Location: Davenport, IA | I'm interested in what it will cost. In non side imaging units, Humminbird is less costly. |
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Posts: 292
Location: SW MI | Hopefully competition will bring the cost down some. I will be in the market for a new boat in the next few years and side imaging is on the list of things I want. This is awesome news! |
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Posts: 244
Location: Mallard Island Lake Vermilion MN | How do ya read the photo?
Never seen one inperson.
Where is ME in photo?
Boat..like that? |
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Posts: 1462
Location: Davenport, IA | KidDerringer - 2/26/2009 10:37 AM
How do ya read the photo?
Never seen one inperson.
Where is ME in photo?
Boat..like that?
Boat is the middle of the screen at the top. to the left of center is the left of the boat. To the right of center is from the right of the boat. The farther you get from the top, the farther back anything is. Think of the bottom as "left" on 2D and the top as "right" on 2D. It really is simple to read when you mess around with it for a little while. |
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Posts: 223
Location: Minn. | The left side is relativly flat . The right side is rising away from the boat. Depth is measured by the width of the darker shadow in the middle, as you look at the picture the depth remains the same until the top where is gets narrow. This indicates that is getting shalow. The wider the center gets, the deeper it is. The trees are coming up from the floor of the lake and cast shadows, the taller the trees,rocks, crib,etc., the longer the shadow. Rocks and boulders can be seen quite well with these units, as well as weed lines and inside turns of the weed lines under water. Once you get use to looking to the side you can set waypoints on the unit without actually going over the spot. It just takes time to understand the technology. |
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Posts: 227
Location: New Brighton, MN | i've never seen one of these in person, and in every demo, it's a sandy bottom with "trees". Can anyone put up a screen shot of a weed bed or rick pile? I would guess that a big cabbage bed would look pretty cool. What about suspended baitfish pods?
Edited by Willis 3/3/2009 9:43 AM
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