Every fisherman with a smartphone or electronic tablet knew that touchscreen sonar/GPS navigation was bound to arrive soon—and it finally did. Lowrance just announced that it has expanded its HDS Gen2 lineup with three models (7-, 9- and 12-inch) that feature a wide touchscreen multi-function display.
A while back, a number of fishing media representatives were invited to an unveiling of the
HDS Gen2 Touch units—sort of a pre-release showcase where we got to see, and touch, them in action on a Florida lake.
It was quite impressive. First off, the units have built-in Broadband Sounder, StructureScan HD and Side- and DownScan capabilities, and switching from sonar to scan to chart mode was clean and quick. You can split-screen several modes at once, too, of course.
They’re also pre-loaded with Insight USA inland and coastal cartography, and come with an SD card slot for HotMaps or Navionics chips if you prefer them.
Modern electronic charts of any kind are amazingly detailed; the only drawback is that I often fish waters that haven’t been mapped. Enter Insight Genesis—a web-based feature that allows anglers to generate their own HD contour maps from personal sonar recordings. We first reported on
this technology in the April issue of North American Fisherman, and explained how anglers can finally get accurate mapping of their favorite uncharted lakes and/or saturate honey holes to create highly-detailed contour maps of their secret hotspots. All the HDS Gen2 Touch units are capable of working with Insight Genesis.
The HDS-7 and HDS-9 Gen2 Touch units are available from authorized dealers right now. Lowrance says the HDS-12 version will be out in December. It’s impossible to describe in writing everything there is to like about touchscreen interfacing. My advice: Even if you’re not planning to replace your electronics soon, head for the nearest spot where you can find a demo model on display. It’s pretty amazing.