Lowrance HDS slow gps fix

[scugpg]

Saw this on another board might be worth a try it came from a lowrance staffer.

 

" The GPS refresh rates on Lowrance HDS units come from the factory with a default “auto” setting. This auto setting adjusts the GPS refresh rate based on your speed. Some settings work pretty well from the factory, but this is not one of them. If you’re speeding down the lake, the refresh rate is fast. If you’re idling slowly down a ledge, the refresh rate is very slow and does not update the micro movements. This causes serious update delays… causing your unit to live in the past. If precise boat positioning is important to you — and it should be — you want real time updates.

 

The best way to get around these slow refresh rates is by going into the “Waypoints, Routes, and Trails menu.

 

1) Press “Page”

 

2) Press the right arrow on the cursor pad to scroll over to “Waypoints, Routes and Trails”

 

3) Use the arrows to select “trails” and hit the “menu” button.

 

4) Use the cursor pad to highlight settings, then press the enter button

 

5) Change the “logging type” to “Time”

 

6) Finally, set the time to “1 sec”. Press close and exit out."

 

From thread http://texasfishingforum.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/6833192/Re_lowrance_hds_10_not_as_smoo

Edited November 14, 2011 by scugog

[Dan668]

Thx ill try it out. always wondered why I'd slowly turn and move away, yet the cursor would stand still, this might fix it

[Dabluz]

Does the refresh rate return to it's original setting when the unit is turned off and then on again?

 

Yes....refresh rate is important. You also have to look at the specs in the manual to find out how many tracks are recorded. If the maximum number of tracks is 10,000 per trail, and the refresh rate is 1 per second this means that your trail cannot be any longer than 10,000 seconds or 2.7 hours. Any longer than that and you have to initiate a new trail. If you increase the refresh rate, you also decrease the time alotted to record your trail.

Edited November 14, 2011 by Dabluz

[scugpg]

Does the refresh rate return to it's original setting when the unit is turned off and then on again?

 

Yes....refresh rate is important. You also have to look at the specs in the manual to find out how many tracks are recorded. If the maximum number of tracks is 10,000 per trail, and the refresh rate is 1 per second this means that your trail cannot be any longer than 10,000 seconds or 2.7 hours. Any longer than that and you have to initiate a new trail. If you increase the refresh rate, you also decrease the time alotted to record your trail.

 

Very good points! I wonder if it would auto-add another trail. Pretty sure the setting would hold I'll have to try it.

 

Its 9999 according to the manual

 

You can save up to 10 trails with up to 9,999

points per trail. If a trail exceeds 9,999 points,

each new point will overwrite a point at the

beginning of the trail.

 

So its something to experiment with if you're concerned with the trails overwriting. If you use waypoints it won't be such a concern but again worth experimenting.

[Dabluz]

Very good points! I wonder if it would auto-add another trail. Pretty sure the setting would hold I'll have to try it.

 

Its 9999 according to the manual

 

 

 

So its something to experiment with if you're concerned with the trails overwriting. If you use waypoints it won't be such a concern but again worth experimenting.

 

 

No....it does not auto-add another trail. It just erases the first track of the existing trail. Well, on my old IFinderPro....that's how it works.

 

Since my old GPS is a handheld device, I check the refresh rate according to my speed. If I'm walking in the bush, I use a slower refresh rate....a track every second means about a track for every 12 inches. I put the rate to once every 4 seconds if there is no visible trail for me to follow in the bush. Great for snaring hares. I also add a waypoint for every snare and I use the "averaging" function to make sure that my waypoint is as accurate as possible. Averaging is done by initiating a waypoint, setting the GPS immobile on the ground and letting the GPS register a bunch of tracks over a period of time. Then I press "create waypoint" and a waypoint is registered using the average of all the tracks that the GPS has accumulated.

[scugpg]

The unit does retain the setting after power on/off. I noticed in the trails that I had 1 trail and 23000 points on it.

 

FYI the Manual seems outdated - as this is on their site under the specs:

 

Waypoint Storage 5000

Routes 200

Plot Trails Up to 10 trails - up to 12,000 points/trail

 

So it must be based on memory limit, not actual points/trail.