When???

[Paddler]

I have used 3 different Lowrance sonars over the last 18 years.  I am happy with their performance overall, but their customer support leaves much to be desired.  If the unit tells me where I'm at, how deep the water is, and marks fish, I'm happy with it and don't see any reason to replace it.  My needs are simple and I don't need the latest technology to enjoy my fishing.  My success is measured by my enjoyment level, not by how many fish I catch.  I am thinking a new boat for 2025, and I'm going to change to a Garmin sonar for the new ride.  That said, it will be used until it quits, regardless of technological advances after the purchase.  That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.  

Yes, it does.  The problem is prolonged time on hold, I have waited a total of 4 hours on hold over the 3 times I've called them.  I got Fernando in the Phillippines the last couple of times, then asked to elevate my questions since my issue was complicated involving my long ago discontinued LCX 111c HD, which was state-of-the-art in 2005.  I was transferred to Tulsa and spoke with Marie, who thought my unit was failing. 

I asked about it on The Hull Truth, another boating forum, and a guy who goes by abbor answered my questions.  He's an electrical engineer in Norway who is very knowledgable about Navico products and marine electronics in general.  The LCX doesn't have internal GPS, it required a LGC2000 antenna when I bought it.  Looks like that was the problem.  Their new GPS/heading unit is the Point-1, which requires an adapter cable to connect to my old LCX.  Lowrance told me that since the Point-1 is 10Hz, my boat icon may just spin, as the LCX operates at 1Hz.  But it turns out that the Point-1 actually can operate at 1, 5 or 10Hz, so I should be able to make it work.

So, I like my Lowrance and it's now 19 years old with about 2000 hours of use, but support is an issue.  As far as I can tell, wait times are also an issue with Simrad.  But I'm locked into Navico, as nobody else sells a cable steer AP, and I don't really want to to to the trouble and expense of changing to hydraulic.  And I won't have a boat that doesn't have an AP.  With a biminy top, side curtains, radar, a DSC enabled VHF, PLB, an autopilot and my Mercury 115HP engine, I feel comfortable venturing 60 miles off shore.  My longest single day was ~145 miles round trip, no problem.