Is Chirp Worth The Extra Money? Lowrance

[Amarley]

I noticed that Cabelas is marking down the Elite series Lowrance units. TW also has a 15% off sale that can apply to Lowrance units until Friday. I like the elite 7 HDI units, and noticed the new CHIRP units. Lowrance claims that the CHIRP sonar is superior because it can send multiple frequencies at once to get a better image.

 

This really makes sense in saltwater applications with water over 300 ft deep, but will it really matter in freshwater lakes where we target bass no deeper than 30 ft? With the discount, I figure the CHIRP unit is about $100 more expensive.

[gulfcaptain]

If you think about it, it sends multipl frequenies, so you can overlay your pictures and have a higher resolution picture which then gives you a cleaner picture.  But word of advice, if you're going to use multiple functions at one time, get the biggest display you can afford.  But it does have it's place.  And deep water like the 300ft you don't get as good a picture with higher frequencies, they have a larger cone coverage, you get a better picture with the lower setting since it has a narrow cone. Normally run a split screen 200/50 and use both to get the best idea of what you're looking at.  Bass fishing, I want to see the branches on the tree in 18ft of water and the bluegill in them and that bass sitting off to the side. The higher resolution will let you do that.

[fishguy613]

you might not find a lot of info because the chirp units were recently released. I own an elite 7 chirp and it's a good unit, the sonar and downscan are very clear when adjusted right, noticeable over the regular elite 7 hdi. one thing I should mention is the gps in the elite units are slow, and the general processor seems to be too. so while it is a great unit if I could do it all again I would get the hds 7, the gps and processor would be faster and It would also have sidescan.

take a look at humminbirds offerings too

[Amarley]

I'm leaning towards the HDS 5 bundle now that you mention that. You can get the bundle with the LSS-2 from TW right now for $849. That's just about $150 more than the Elite 7 HDI and almost the same price at the CHIRP units. Then later on I can get an HDS-7 and move the 5 to the front of the boat.