Lowrance HDS Live 12 packed with features . . . . . . . . . . by Ben Collins

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OATING OATING& marine

Lowrance HDS Live 12 packed with features for fishos

INNOVATION in boating equipment is always exciting and it is great to get your hands on the latest gear.

I recently upgraded my Lowrance HDS Carbon 12 to the Lowrance HDS Live 12 version and, though this unit has been around for a while, I was excited to install it.

As I have two small boats – a 4.5 Polycraft and a 4.1 Ezytopper – I have set both boats up to run the same unit, which is what I did with my older Lowrance.

This only required buying an additional bracket and transducer as the bracket for the Live was a little bigger than that of the Carbon.

Some people may think that running 12” devices on these sized boats is overkill, but being able to see structure, bait and fish clearly definitely improves the chances of hooking and catching fish.

And after I upgraded from a 9” unit to a 12” several years ago, it made it very hard to go back.

Lowrance has made a few design changes including making the unit a true flush mount with the whole component now a little thinner overall.

This was good news for me as it fits better on the small dash of both the Polycraft and Ezytopper.

Four new buttons on the Live are programmable for whatever feature or function you want.

This customisability is great as it means you can easily change to a mix of preset screen setting at the touch of a button.

Another noticeable design change is that the GPS is now located on top of the unit.

For most open boats this gives the unit better access to satellites and enables the component to remain sleek and thin.

Other key features that set this device apart from the rest is its active imaging, which allows you to scan areas to the side of the boat.

It’s worth remembering that in order to get the best images, you need to go very slow and ensure the transducer is set up correctly.

The 800kHz setting also gives the best readout and detail.

If you are using the 3-in-1 transducer – which is a combination of CHIRP, side and down sonars – you can utilise the fish reveal function and you end up with a high-resolution view of fish and structure.

I’m still playing with this feature but will post some pictures on our socials.

And there are additional features such as smartphone notifications – messages pop up on your screen – and LiveCast smartphone integration – for watching videos or viewing things such as Google Maps.

This is next on the list to try though I won’t be showing the kids that feature or I’ll never get them off the Lowrance unit.

Note, these are features of the 12” and 16” models.

Finally, in what could be described as a real game changer for many fishos, another innovation of the Live is the active target live sonar, which can be utilised through an additional transducer.

I currently don’t have this fitted to either boat but it is something I’m considering.

The active target live sonar enables you to see fish in real time – you can even see them chasing and taking a bait or lure.

These are traditionally installed on the front of the boat on a separate transduce pole.

Rob Payne Engineering – on Facebook – make a stylish and functional unit that I’d check out if you are planning on upgrading to the active target live sonar – robpayneengineering. com.au

I’m still playing with and learning about the new unit and will have more updates and videos on social media and in the magazine showing the unit in action, so you can get a practical understanding of the features and how they work or impact your fishing and boating.

A side note – the Lowrance HDS Live does take a little longer to load than the previous model, however once up and running it is very responsive.

This isn’t an issue as I usually turn the unit on when launching the boat, so it’s ready to ‘rock and roll’ as soon as I am.

If you are in the market for a new sounder/GPS or are keen to check them out, there are several retailers who will let you play with them instore.

Fish on! Ben Collins

The Lowrance HDS can be split to show up to six different displays.