You'll find a Lowrance chartplotter on more than just bass boats today. Since becoming a member of the Navico family, Lowrance marine GPS gear has made a big splash in the saltwater arena while maintaining a very strong position on the freshwater tournament circuit.The HDS-5 package ships with the display unit, mounting bracket, dual-frequency transom-mount transducer, operations manual, installation manual, quick start guide, and a combination NMEA0183 data/power cable.
Alternatively, the HDS-5 can be purchased as a standalone chartplotter or standalone fishfinder. The chartplotter version is designated the HDS-5m and the fishfinder as the HDS-5x.
Cartography options include Nautic Insight (coastal), Lake Insight (inland lakes), or a Navionics world base map. The Lowrance HDS-5 has a single chart-card slot and can use Navionics Platinum and Platinum+ charts as well as any Navionics inland lakes cards.
We measured the Lowrance HDS-5 case at 5.8-inches high by 7.1-inches wide and just under 3.3-inches deep.
Lowrance HDS-5
We used the accompanying gimbal bracket to mount the Lowrance HDS-5 to our test rig.
A removable front bezel makes for easy panel mounting without any additional hardware other than the appropriate mounting screws.
Connectivity
When connected to these optional devices, the Lowrance HDS-5 can display Sirius weather and radio, or even engine gauges. A single cable that fastens to the case back with a twist-lock connector supplies power and NMEA0183 data through individual legs.
The display contains an internal GPS sensor, but the unit can still use an optional external GPS sensor if needed or desired. We used the internal antenna for this review.
The onboard NMEA 0183 interface supports data transfer rates of up to 38,400 baud. This unit can also interface with a NMEA 2000 or Navico Ethernet network.
Screen Size and Viewability
The night palette had little effect on the chart page, but did invert the colors on the sonar.
The Lowrance HDS-5 is display screen is bright, sharp, and generally easy to read.
Sometimes however, especially on the chart page where there is lots of information displayed, you’ll need to get up close and personal to view all the detail that appears onscreen.
When viewed straight-on the screen maintains its brightness whether or not the user is wearing polarized sunglasses. Even at steep side angles I noted no darkening or reduction in readability.
Excellent for daylight viewability. No screen fogging was apparent in the display at anytime.
The Lowrance HDS-5 has both a day and night color palette. The night palette changes numbers and letters shown onscreen to a darker color for easier night viewing. On the sounder page, the colors invert for enhanced low-light viewing.
Daylight brightness can be set to one of ten levels using the keypad and switched to one of four levels using the light/power button. Even with the brightness set to minimum the screen maintains an intensity level, which in my opinion, is too bright for a dark night and/or dark cockpit.
Operation
Page screens and page combinations are set using the page key, keypad, and enter key. The user can select from one of five main pages, Chart, Sonar, Steer, Waypoints, and Info.
Combined pages can be shown in two windows. Control is switched from one window to the next by holding the page key.
I liked the slick appearance of the page menu interface; it was fun and easy to use.
Page specific menus are available for a number of pages including the chart and sonar pages.
When the menu button is pressed once, the corresponding operations menu for that page will appear onscreen and give the user a number of common used options. A second press of the menu button brings the main menu onscreen.
Final Thoughts
The HDS-5 package can be purchased in a number of configurations and with a variety of cartography and transducer options, make the right choice before you buy.
Visit Millennium Marine for more info on this product.
