HDS-7 GPS Problem

[PostMan]

I have a Lowrance HDS-7 that is about 6 weeks old. This weekend the GPS side starting going nuts . . . freezing up while the speed indicator showed speeds in excess of 1000 mph (not bad while the boat is at anchor!). The sonar side is fine. You can restart it and it works well for a few minutes, then starts with crazy speeds and freezing up on the chart display.

Has anyone see this behavior before and is there a quick cure? Enabling /disabling WAAS did nto seem to make any difference.

Any and all help greatly appreciated.

[blazinscott&alice]

I have a hds 8, just a few weeks old, started out fine, i had seen all the complants on the web about them,,so i kept mine high and dry,,it shut down and wont start back up,,,i called of course,,lowrance is not what it use to be,,they said send it in and they will look at it,,,of course it needs to be replaced,,they said 6 to 8 weeks before they have a replacment unit,,,,that is crazy,,8 weeks of your warranty also goes away, this is insane,,but normal when a company sends out there work to mexico,,quality tanks and they spend all there time reworking all the units built there,,,happens everytime a company goes for the cheaper way to make products,,,,most allways ends in the end of the company,,so sad the best marine electronics company cutting corners to end up like this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[performancetoon]

All this "poor service" talk concerning Lowrance is making me nervous. I plan to add a Lowrance HDS 7 with Sirius Marine Weather to a boat this spring. There is nothing worse than hearing about poor customer service especially when it pertains to expensive products.

I follow several marine electronic sites and you would think Lowrance would be issuing some comments/press releases about how service will improve, etc. as I never seem to hear a lot of positive about their service. Given the opportunity I would switch to Garmin as they answer my questions within 24 hrs. (hand held GPS) and have phone tech support.

I know some of you are satisfied with Lowrance but this apparent decline in customer service and no words to the contrary by the company are disconcerting for a potential future customer. Hope I'm not just hearing more of the negative and not the silent supporters.

[Arwun]

PostMan... I recommend that you check the cabling on your unit. The HDS power cable has multiple cores with bare ends, and there is a known problem whereby if these bare ends touch each other you can end up with a data loop (NMEA input and NMEA output shorted) that causes the GPS data to go haywire. If you find this to be the case, you should tape over, cut or separately tie down any loose ends. You should also find that the latest HDS software update (v2.5.31.56) avoids this problem without needing to sort out the loose cable ends, but I would still recommend that you do it anyway.

[PostMan]

Thanks Arwun . . . I'll give that a try. Interesting thing on this problem. I have a friend with anothere HSD-7 . . . after a month he had similar issues. Lowrance told him to buy an external antenna. He did and it didn't correct anything. I'll also try the software refresh too.

I tried to call Lowrance but the wait time was unreal. I sent them an email requesting assistance/guidance . . . no response so far.

[HighVoltage]

Originally Posted by PostMan

I have a Lowrance HDS-7 that is about 6 weeks old. This weekend the GPS side starting going nuts . . . freezing up while the speed indicator showed speeds in excess of 1000 mph (not bad while the boat is at anchor!). The sonar side is fine. You can restart it and it works well for a few minutes, then starts with crazy speeds and freezing up on the chart display.

Has anyone see this behavior before and is there a quick cure? Enabling /disabling WAAS did nto seem to make any difference.

Any and all help greatly appreciated.

I had the same problem. It would work some of the time then not work other times. Speed would show 1000 Kts+.

Good news! It is a setup problem!! Follow these instructions:

Push "Menu" button
Select "System" > Satellites > GPS Source (enter) > HDS7 iGPS [This Device] (if you have internal GPS)

Do not select "Auto"

Please reply if this solves the problem It did for me...

[Arwun]

Yes, as HighVoltage says, manually setting GPS source to internal GPS should also do the trick as this will prevent the HDS from using the incoming NMEA0183 GPS data and will therefore "cut" the data loop caused by the bare ends touching.

[PostMan]

HighVoltage and Arwun,

This setup scenario sounds promising . . . I will try this and let you know the results but it will be two weeks before I get back down to the boat to do it. Given that I know of two new HDS-7 units doing this same thing, I am optomistic that this is it. I will give this a go and report back.

Thanks,

PostMan

[PostMan]

HighVoltage and Arwun,

Your were right! The ends of the cable wires were touching and the set up changes did fix the problem. The unit is back to normal operation (with the wires taped up and a little more insulated!).

Thank you both for your time and suggestions. You were right on the money . . . problem solved!!!

[JOEKEN]

I have a HDS-7 on order and will remember this thread. Thanks for taking the time to post this info.