Lowrance Elite-4 Owners/Gurus

Having just bought the Lowrance Elite-4, I know I didn't get the best fish finder/sonar/gps, but got the one that seems good for me. I also assume there's a few of you out there who have the same ff. So, are there any cool settings or tricks,  I should know, or you want to share with me/the forum, other than from the haters and, "Keep your receipt"    As always, thanks to all! Oh and FTR, it's going on a 2007 Hobie Revo...peace

Dave,

Congrats on the new FF.  I have had my Elite 4 for over a year now and love it.  Compact, waterproof, and a great all around FF for a kayak.  I have found that the manual is horrible, and have figured mine out through trial and error.

One thing that I really like about Lowrance is their customer service.   I have had their techs on the line with me, while on the water, and they have been able to fine tune my FF for the conditions.

An item they suggested was to turn down the sensitivity from 99% which is on the auto settings, to 85% under advanced settings, and it cleared up a lot of the garbage that was showing up on the screen.

Also, turn off the Fish ID that puts fish shapes on the screen instead of arches, as this mode thinks everything is a fish.

Other that that, ff works great.

I second what Cosmo said.  Also play with the frequency to see what gives you the best display for the given water given conditions.  I set a low water alarm on my Elite-4 so I know when I am in water less than 2 ft.  This has kept me from bashing my fins more than a few times. 

I was originally disappointed with the battery life I was getting but learned that by turning the brightness down it makes it last a lot longer. I played with the different 83 and 200 frequency settings and found it helped when using a downrigger in deeper water for Kokes. the 200 would lose sight of the ball while the 83 would pick it up. I also put some electric grease in that extra port and capped it using a rubber cap from Lowes.

I have never messed with the frequency.  I've always left it on the 83/200 setting, as I didn't really know what the different frequencies were for, other than if you were running more than one FF on a boat?  When would you want to use 83 vs 200 and what do you notice?

All things that should be in an owners manual, but aren't!

Cosmo--how do you find the size of the screen for viewing? I am in
the market for a new finder/plotter and I'm trying to decide between the 4 and the 5.
T2

I have my FF mounted at my side on a Ram arm just in front of the built in, waterproof housing on my outback, so it's pretty close.  The size is fine when I'm using one screen, but a bit small if I'm using a split screen with mapping/sonar, so I usually use one or the other.

I think the size of the screen is fine for where I have it mounted.  If you are going to mount it any further away from you, it may be a bit small.

I like the compact size, as it's never in the way, and if I'm not using it, or paddling out in the surf, I can fold it down flush with the top of my kayak and it's completely out of the way.

My only mistake when I bought this ff a year ago was not getting the Navionics chip.  Now, they are bundling the Gold chip with the FF at the same price I paid for just the FF.

Overall, a great FF.

Thanks for the info, Cosmo. The price on this stuff doesn't ever go up after you buy, does it. I managed to revive my old Garmin 178c plotter/sounder tonight after I thought it was kaput so I'll stagger along with it until it totally goes bust. I did a bit of shopping around tho, and was amazed at the features you can get for a decent price now.
T2

I have never messed with the frequency.  I've always left it on the 83/200 setting, as I didn't really know what the different frequencies were for, other than if you were running more than one FF on a boat?  When would you want to use 83 vs 200 and what do you notice?

All things that should be in an owners manual, but aren't!

Lower frequency = deeper penetration, but wider beam so often less information

Higher frequency = shallow penetration, narrower beam, more detail

The top end units the bass boats use have 400 and higher frequencies as they mostly fish less than 20'