LAST Friday Fisho got a previewof Lowrance’s innovative new StructureMap feature – a programthat allows you to view and record bottom images overlaid onto a map.
This technology is unique to Lowrance’snew HDS Gen2 series of sounders, which will soon be available at yourlocal marine electronics dealer.
StructureMap uses Lowrance’sStructureScan side and bottom imaging technology to allow you tocreate a full picture of the terrain you’re fishing. Linking theStructureScan images to chart displays allows you to find and recordfish-holding habitat. The HDS Gen2 units allow you to record up tonine minutes of data via internal memory. Using a SD cardsignificantly enhances your ability to store info and also save it toyour home computer for future reference and analysis.
On-water demonstrations by Lowrance’sNick Hamilton-Smith revealed that StructureMap would be useful whensounding out new areas – for example, you can assess likely spotsvia your charts and then “draw” a picture of how surfacetopography links in with underwater structure with StructureMap whileout on the water. This would be particularly useful when fishinguncharted areas as you can basically create your own maps.
PIC: Scott Thomas
The StructureMap feature works best atfairly slow speeds – about 3-4 knots produced the best imagesduring our demo – and is limited to waters up to about 50-70m.Anglers fishing large impoundments, rivers and inshore reefs willfind StructureMap to be of most interest. I can see it being veryuseful when checking out bommies and shoals in search of snapper.Accurately pin-pointing the ledges and drop-offs in relation tocontours and reef areas on a decent chart (StructureMap works withLowrance’s built-in charts as well as Navionics products) would bereally useful, especially as you can use the BackTrack feature tomark waypoints and more closely analyse sonar data.
I can see really serious anglers usingStructureMap to do some pretty interesting DIY marine cartography ontheir home computers, perhaps also using online sites such as GoogleEarth?
StructureMap is standard on all ofLowrance’s HDS Gen2 units, comprising five, seven, eight and10-inch models. The optional StructureScan side imaging module andtransducer are required to operate StructureMap.
The addition of StructureMap is themain feature of the new HDS Gen2 units, which supersede the currentHDS series. One of the benefits of StructureMap is that because itsoperation requires significant computing grunt, HDS Gen2 units comewith significantly more processing power than the previous models.This results in marked increase in speed and efficiency. The new HDSGen2 units we tested late last week boasted screen performancerivalling that of high-end sounders like Simrad’s NSE series. Soeven if you didn’t want to use StructureMap, the HDS Gen2 unitswill give you top shelf performance without the top shelf pricepoint. This is well worth considering as the Gen2 units will retailat exactly the same price point as the now superseded HDS models. Youdefinitely get more bang for your buck!
Check out full details of HDS Gen2 andStructureMap at lowrance.com.au. A video filmed by Fisho’sScott Thomas showing how StructureMap works is available below. We’llhave a full rundown of StructureMap in the April edition of the mag.Check it out!
