Lowrance Elite-5 DSI

As the winner of the 2010 Icast best electronics award, the Lowrance Elite-5 DSI Fishfinder is breaking new ground in fishfinding navigation. Lowrance, a leader in marine electronics, has done it again with this combo unit that allows for simultaneous display of both GPS location and sonar image on its five inch full color LCD screen. The display boasts an impressive 480x480 pixels with 256 colors with an adjustable back-light that allows for comfortable viewing in bright sunlight as well as very low light and even nighttime angling. Additionally, the screen mounts onto a 360 degree swivel base that accommodates virtually every conceivable position.

The built in GPS eliminates the need for an external antenna and adds very valuable functionality most notably being the ability to store up to 3,000 way-points that can be used to mark certain spots that can be returned to at any time. With its proprietary Trackback feature, the unit can even mark these points after the area has been passed by. The unit actually stores sonar images in memory that can be scrolled to and marked with a way-point.

The newly advanced transducer provides the unit with a greater viewing range and depth than ever before. With its dual frequency of 455/800 kHz, the Elite-5 DSI is capable of reaching depths of up to 200 feet even at speeds of up to 40 mph. But the most impressive feature of the Elite- 5 DSI, and what undoubtedly contributed to its distinguished award at Icast, is the integration of the new Downscan Imaging system. Downscan provides picture-like sonar imaging. The superior quality of underwater images using this technology compared to traditional two dimensional sonar images is striking. Items that are typically encountered such as trees, pipes, rock ledges, bridge pilings, and of course fish are now much more easily recognizable.