LCG 4000 ???

[Kenny Webb]

Getting ready to purchase the HDS 8...I was told to get the LCG 4000 puck to help with better pinpointing on waypoints and the LCG 4000 will also help with any delay on GPS.

Anyone else using the LCG 4000 and is it worth the money to put one on ?

Does the unit work fine without the LCG 4000 ?

I'm hearing different things from people.

Thanks

Kenny Webb

[Rod Wynn]

Sup Kenny!
I actually want to know the answer to this as well..
If you don't get any answers on here you might want to ask this on the Lowrance Facebook page.. They usually answer pretty quick on there..

[cLanderman]

The HDS has the antenna built in... Unless there is an option to add an external antenna and disable the internal one, Im not sure what you are asking here.

[Robert F]

The satellite update rate for the LGC-4000 is 5 times per second versus one per second on the internal. I have only used systems with the LGC-4000. Are you using one unit on the boat? Probably OK with the internal. To network an HDS and an LCX (older unit) you will need the 4000. Beyond that it is a cost versus features deal.

[Kenny Webb]

Great info from Ken Sauret

The LGC 4000 is worth adding to any HDS system. This antenna will update your position 5 times a second, compared to once a second with the internal antenna. This will help you stay on a waypoint if wind is blowing you around in the middle of the lake while you are trying to stay on a waypoint. As far as pinpointing your position it is better. But what most people don't think about is that a waypoint is a longitude and latitude at the location of the GPS antenna. I say this so you will think about where your antenna is located in relation to where the transducer is located. We set waypoints on things we see on our sonar screen, right? If you have your antenna at the console next to the unit you are looking at while you are idling around and you see a stump for example and hit waypoint (WPT) twice you are looking at the stump that is under the transducer, and since you are idling probably just behind the boat by now, your waypoint is at least 10 feet off if you are in a 20 foot boat. This will not matter if you approach the stump from exactly the same direction every time. Let's say you approach the stump from the opposite direction. When your GPS antenna is at the same point where the waypoint was set, the transducer is 10 feet behind you and 20 feet away from the stump. The only way to "pinpoint" a waypoint on something you see on your sonar is to install the GPS antenna as close to the location of the transducer as possible.

If you are really interested in getting all your waypoints as precise as possible you can do what I did on my boat. Install an LGC 4000 on the back deck close to the transducer that is glassed into the bilge and install a second LGC 4000 up on the bow as close to the trolling motor as possible. This way when I set a waypoint up front the long and lat for that waypoint is within a foot of the transducer that located that spot. The same goes for the waypoints I set at the console, the GPS antenna is within a couple feet of that transducer so I get an accurate long and lat for every waypoint. I also have my units sending and receiving waypoints so a waypoint is set on each unit at the same time.

[Norcalbasspro]

Nice setup. They read excellent.

[N.A.R]

All that is fine and dandy ... ...
But since you say your using hds units why wouldn't you just use the cursor , scroll to your stump mark it see it pop up on your gps and be done with it?

[ACRon]

Because it is still all relative to the distance difference of the HD unit and the GPS Antenna If the transducer is at the back of the boat and the Antenna at the front you are adding another 15-20 feet of error to the intrinsic error of GPS technology.

[619]

Hey robert I was surprissed when I put an LCX 13 on my boat with an HDS 8 at console and with ethernet and Neama I can get GPS on bow LCX 13 with the HDS 8 on.

[lobinaloca]

What N.A.R. said, I'm thiking the same thing if you use the cursor.

[Robert F]

Hey robert I was surprissed when I put an LCX 13 on my boat with an HDS 8 at console and with ethernet and Neama I can get GPS on bow LCX 13 with the HDS 8 on.

That's cool. I was told that the internal antenna only works for each individual unit. The GPS doesn't show up as a network device right? Does it affect any of the waypoint functions? The thirteen is an awesome unit for the front. Not sure why Lowrance tells people the internal doesn't network. Also not sure why Lowrance didn't keep the same mounting bracket from the LCX units for the HDS. Would be nice to be able to throw your LCX up as a back-up if your console HDS goes down.