Lowrance knocked it out of the park. For someone getting started in electronics, fishes casually or doesn't rely on electronics heavily, or for base model boats, this is an incredible value. I can't think of any reason why anyone would buy a helix 9 / megalive combo when this is available. I'm a full on electronics snob so this isn't for me, but man for the vast majority of the fishing market this makes way more sense than a 3K+ FFS setup.
I bought this unit months ago and it's everything they say it is. I'm using it for live sonar on the bow. The reduced scan does not make much difference. I mounted it along with a Lawrence Elite FS. I run the down and side scan on the FS and live on the Eagle Eye. They work great together. It's definitely worth the money.
This looks really promising for a novice like myself. I already spent the money on the Lowrance hds pro for the console but this will ease me into forward facing sonar without spending lots of money.
Wife got me one for my upcoming birthday I used it for 2 weeks straight on a fishing trip at Mark Twain lake for crappie. I have returned it and am in the process of installing Garmin livescope. I found the forward live scan area to restrictive for the way I fish. It worked great for scanning standing timber for fish from a distance. But once you moved in and adjusted the distance forward and depth, you were looking a very small section of the upper left corner of your screen like 1 square inch . You could play with the settings trying to open the picture up but it would lose some detail. Plus it had trouble tracking my jig or minnow using a slip cork from about 20 feet out. It would track a small crank bait or beetle spin just fine. Live down scan it also had trouble tracking the jig at times that with dropping right beside the transducer. If I turned off the lowrance and flipped on my helix5 it would track as soon as the jig got past the transducer. I was able to go out with a crappie guide earlier in the year with Garmin livescope so i have that to compare it to. Sadly it did not meet my needs I was really hoping that it would.
I got this unit very recently for my Kayak, would love to see a Video on how to read the Live screen , pointing out the bait you throw in vs Fish.... I think that would be very useful... thank you for your Video! :)
For someone on a budget and fishing here and there it is a great deal. Limitations are in not a full spectrum cover like the actual active target but still a great deal.
It looks like a great unit. What puzzles me, why not angle the down view slightly forward, and run them both stitched up? Id rather lose down view and have full screen front view. I feel like that might be an upgrade down the road with a new transducer and software update.
I e got (4) gen 3s on my boat and I plan on putting one of these on the bow and keeping 3 of the gen 3s. I will eventually put another at the console at a later date. I really don’t mind if my fish finding units are not networked as long as I can have my mapping units networked I am good. This is a huge step up for guys on a budget. The only thing I need now is an ultrex but I am waiting for that spot lock tech to trickle down to a cheaper price point as dropping over 1k on anything is tough right now but hopefully the economy gets better. TRUMP 2024 lol.
I have a 14ft Mini Pontoon. I have a Mega 360 mounted using an Icefishing kit, it is mounted in the center of the boat, just in front of the console. I just slide it up, and lock it when running... so my question is, if I did the same thing, basically putting it on a retractable mount (lower it when using it, up out of the water for running) Would that help with that 10ft dead zone if pointing to the front? it would be about 7ft back from the trolling motor.
Did you confirm with Lowrance its a 45 degree FFS cone angle or is that what you think it is? I haven't seen any official Lowrance specs that say what the cone angle is?
Without the use of a “black box” what would be the recommended battery to use with this unit? Would a lithium battery be needed to run the live sonar for a full day?
I don't really mind a more concentrated angle as it genuinely can help you be more accurate when looking for fish, but I really wish it was 60 degrees instead of 45.
Can we make the range show 10' to 70' (instead of starting at 0') so that forward view fills more of the screen? Would be a very simple software feature to maximize the usability of this wonderful unit. Seriously considering one.
Could the tranducer be mounted on the transom to down/forward scan at the console? I already have AT2 at the bow and this would be a budget friendly alternative.
I have Mega Live and it requires a lot of adjusting and still seems to not do all that good. I already had a Humminbird G4N unit so I went with Mega Live. Garmin unit and Livescope Plus just too much money.
@@cmiheatingandcoolingllc5796 same idea however but the lvs12 was never packaged with a head unit from the manufacturer and it the cheapest bundle you could purchase started at $2199.99
LVS12 was a cheap transducer which only worked with very expensive main units, when investing that much in your screens you might as well go all the way.
@@RussellMarineProductsLLC yes, but that was how many years ago? of course the pioneers will be more expensive at the time, electronics have become cheaper and more powerful nowadays.. The Garmin LVS12/Ultra series also allowed split screen forward and down live imaging....
Finally something for the regular fish guy without breaking the bank! Thanks Lowrance
Oh man randy is going to loose his mind with this one.😂
Lowrance knocked it out of the park. For someone getting started in electronics, fishes casually or doesn't rely on electronics heavily, or for base model boats, this is an incredible value. I can't think of any reason why anyone would buy a helix 9 / megalive combo when this is available.
I'm a full on electronics snob so this isn't for me, but man for the vast majority of the fishing market this makes way more sense than a 3K+ FFS setup.
The bad part, they buy it then will want to upgrade 90% of the time and spend even more. Buy once cry once type of thing.
@@JonR35 I hear ya, especially for the avid angler. But for the guy that goes out a couple times a year it is a great buy
I bought this unit months ago and it's everything they say it is. I'm using it for live sonar on the bow. The reduced scan does not make much difference. I mounted it along with a Lawrence Elite FS. I run the down and side scan on the FS and live on the Eagle Eye. They work great together. It's definitely worth the money.
I bought this one yesterday at Bass Pro will install soon and get started learning how to use it. Thanks for the information in this video.
This looks really promising for a novice like myself. I already spent the money on the Lowrance hds pro for the console but this will ease me into forward facing sonar without spending lots of money.
Wife got me one for my upcoming birthday I used it for 2 weeks straight on a fishing trip at Mark Twain lake for crappie. I have returned it and am in the process of installing Garmin livescope. I found the forward live scan area to restrictive for the way I fish. It worked great for scanning standing timber for fish from a distance. But once you moved in and adjusted the distance forward and depth, you were looking a very small section of the upper left corner of your screen like 1 square inch . You could play with the settings trying to open the picture up but it would lose some detail. Plus it had trouble tracking my jig or minnow using a slip cork from about 20 feet out. It would track a small crank bait or beetle spin just fine. Live down scan it also had trouble tracking the jig at times that with dropping right beside the transducer. If I turned off the lowrance and flipped on my helix5 it would track as soon as the jig got past the transducer. I was able to go out with a crappie guide earlier in the year with Garmin livescope so i have that to compare it to. Sadly it did not meet my needs I was really hoping that it would.
I got this unit very recently for my Kayak, would love to see a Video on how to read the Live screen , pointing out the bait you throw in vs Fish.... I think that would be very useful... thank you for your Video! :)
For someone on a budget and fishing here and there it is a great deal. Limitations are in not a full spectrum cover like the actual active target but still a great deal.
Definitely thinking about getting this for crappie
It looks like a great unit. What puzzles me, why not angle the down view slightly forward, and run them both stitched up? Id rather lose down view and have full screen front view. I feel like that might be an upgrade down the road with a new transducer and software update.
I’m not a scoper fan, but damn I’d love to easily find offshore sneaky cover. I have a smaller rig and will consider!
I’m buying one!! There just not in stores yet in Ontario…
can you compare the image returns with with a Garmin LVS12? Is it identical?
I e got (4) gen 3s on my boat and I plan on putting one of these on the bow and keeping 3 of the gen 3s. I will eventually put another at the console at a later date. I really don’t mind if my fish finding units are not networked as long as I can have my mapping units networked I am good. This is a huge step up for guys on a budget. The only thing I need now is an ultrex but I am waiting for that spot lock tech to trickle down to a cheaper price point as dropping over 1k on anything is tough right now but hopefully the economy gets better. TRUMP 2024 lol.
I have a 14ft Mini Pontoon. I have a Mega 360 mounted using an Icefishing kit, it is mounted in the center of the boat, just in front of the console. I just slide it up, and lock it when running... so my question is, if I did the same thing, basically putting it on a retractable mount (lower it when using it, up out of the water for running) Would that help with that 10ft dead zone if pointing to the front? it would be about 7ft back from the trolling motor.
Did you confirm with Lowrance its a 45 degree FFS cone angle or is that what you think it is? I haven't seen any official Lowrance specs that say what the cone angle is?
Since the detail on maps is good but not great does the unit except a Navionics chip so the mappings better? Tia
Without the use of a “black box” what would be the recommended battery to use with this unit? Would a lithium battery be needed to run the live sonar for a full day?
How do you think the live sonar would work for trolling with a transom mount.
Wonder if I could fabricate something to where I could extend transducer out from the boat and just use my live down. I only fish in 5-6 ft of water.
I don't really mind a more concentrated angle as it genuinely can help you be more accurate when looking for fish, but I really wish it was 60 degrees instead of 45.
Are you able to put this on a pole instead of trolling motor
This looks like something designed for the cat fisherman for netting bait. Graphics should be good enough for that I hope.
Do you have to have a lithium battery for this?
can you mount this on a pole?
Do you have to have a lithium battery for this
Can we make the range show 10' to 70' (instead of starting at 0') so that forward view fills more of the screen? Would be a very simple software feature to maximize the usability of this wonderful unit. Seriously considering one.
I would think with the beam angle of the transducer it wouldn't really fill the gap.
@@KendallArnoldFishing Indeed, it obviously wouldn’t. But it would fill more. Make it 15’ if you want.
Could the tranducer be mounted on the transom to down/forward scan at the console? I already have AT2 at the bow and this would be a budget friendly alternative.
@@edseegert71 yes it can be, you will need a transom mount but yes it can be.
@@RussellMarineProductsLLC thanks
It looks like a $1000 picture to me, under the boat is the most important range when drop-shot
I’m getting lots of clutter on my Lowrance Active Target 2 HDS live 9”. Does anyone have any tips?
What is the size of this transducer?
They should make a version of it that shows the bottom under the boat out to about 25 ft for the guys who are jigging for crappie.
lvs 12 no box needed and a 93 was 1100 but no one wanted it
I have Mega Live and it requires a lot of adjusting and still seems to not do all that good. I already had a Humminbird G4N unit so I went with Mega Live. Garmin unit and Livescope Plus just too much money.
Have you heard any bad reviews so far??
Too new to know I believe I just got mine installed today and received my lithium testing here in about 5 hours if I can sleep 😅
Ummm it’s the same as the LVS12 and the EchoUltra Map system that Garmin discontinued! Hmmmm????
@@cmiheatingandcoolingllc5796 same idea however but the lvs12 was never packaged with a head unit from the manufacturer and it the cheapest bundle you could purchase started at $2199.99
LVS12 was a cheap transducer which only worked with very expensive main units, when investing that much in your screens you might as well go all the way.
@@RussellMarineProductsLLC yes, but that was how many years ago? of course the pioneers will be more expensive at the time, electronics have become cheaper and more powerful nowadays.. The Garmin LVS12/Ultra series also allowed split screen forward and down live imaging....
What a waste of usable screen space. Good intro unit but hate the wasted space.