I didn't think I would find this video. Thanks so much! Switching the yellow wire is exactly what I want to do. I am setting it up in a kayak but want to be sure I can turn it off when not in use. Keeps my from having to have a larger battery in the kayak.
You're welcome. I'm glad that you found the video useful. I just used this same technique in the Elite FS/Active Target 2 video. I installed one of the rocker switches that I showed in the video since it had a LED indicator to let the owner know that it was turned on. Weight savings in a kayak is very important. Let me know how it works out.
Hi Garry, I have the Lowrance 9 Elite FS with active target 2. When i split the yellow wires is where I get confused. Does the yellow and two reds go to the monitor or does it go to the sonar? And what happens to the other yellow wire that goes to the other unit?
If you want to have the Active Target 2 turned on whenever you have the Elite FS turned on then (1) connect the Yellow wire from the AT and Elite FS together; and (2) connect the Red from both power cords with an inline fuse to the positive (+) on the battery; and (3) connect the Black from both power cords to the negative (-) on the battery. With these connections when you turn on the Elite FS then the AT module will be powered up. However, if you want to be able to turn on/off the AT module even when you are using the Elite FS then use the switch method that I show in the video. Some of the reasons that you may want to use the switch is to turn off the AT when you are very shallow and don't want the extra sonar pinging or to conserve battery power. On the video with the 2 Elite FS units with the AT2 installation, I used a switch to turn on/off the AT module. This allows them use conserve power (only 1 battery) and for some tournaments they are not allowed to use live Sonar so they can easily turn it off.
Thanks for the information very much appreciated!! Question: is it necessary to add switches to the HDS-graph separately? So technically 3 switches total ?
That was a good setup at the time. I ran that setup (with 10s) for a couple of years. The LSS-1 transducer is much more compact than the current Lowrance side imaging transducers. Just make sure that the units are updated with the latest update for them.
get a micro SD card with carrier that it 32 GB or less. Go to the Lowrance website on the support page. Then select the updates page. Then in the dropdown box in the left, select your unit. Make sure that they are Gen 1. Follow the instructions to download the update to your SD card. Then put the SD card in a unit and power it on. If it needs the update then it will show a bar on the bottom of the screen. When it is done you can then remove the card and do the second unit. This is the latest update: HDS (Gen1) with GPS Patch
Hi Garry, Thank you for the video. Would you be able to wire an active target with the switch method, but still connect the input of the switch to a HDS Pro unit yellow wire? So that the unit would only be able to be powered up when the HDS PRO is on, but still be able to be turned off when not using the active target?.
Thank you. I'm glad that you like the video. Yes, that would be a good way to use a switch while having the Pro control it. Make sure the Pro has the yellow wire activate (wake up) enabled, it is by default but worth checking. One thing is that if the Pro has a transducer connected to it then you should connect blue sync wire on the AT2 to the Pro yellow wire and turn on sync capability. And then use a switch like in the video. That will give you the clearest AT images.
Ok Thanks Garry@@garrywoodruff960 , Yes I will be using the Pro's included active transducer, although I thought that the blue wire was only if I had 2 AT2'S hooked up. Could I still use the switch by hooking up the AT2 blue wire on one side of the switch and the yellow wire from the pro on the other side of the switch? So that the unit would only be able to be powered up when the HDS PRO is on, but still be able to be turned off when not using the active target?
You're welcome. No, if you use the blue (sync) on the AT2 then you will need to connect the yellow wire to turn on the module. In that case, use a separate switch hooked up the same power source as the AT2 module. The switch will let you turn on/off the module. And on the Pro, make sure that you set the Power Control to sync.
There are several Blue Seas lighted switches as well as a multitude of other brands. All of the SPST (single pole single throw) lighted switches should have (1) power in (2) switched power out and (3) ground. You would wire it the same way that I showed in the video except you would also connect the (3) ground to the battery ground. This will complete the circuit when the switch is in the ON position and will light up the indicator. Let me know if that make sense.
So it's only necessary to connect the ground leg of the switch for the light indicator. In other words the switch will still work just won't illuminate the switch.
I didn't think I would find this video. Thanks so much! Switching the yellow wire is exactly what I want to do. I am setting it up in a kayak but want to be sure I can turn it off when not in use. Keeps my from having to have a larger battery in the kayak.
You're welcome. I'm glad that you found the video useful. I just used this same technique in the Elite FS/Active Target 2 video. I installed one of the rocker switches that I showed in the video since it had a LED indicator to let the owner know that it was turned on. Weight savings in a kayak is very important.
Let me know how it works out.
Keep ‘em coming very informative
That's the plan. I try to make sure that each video contains a few nuggets of useful information.
And thanks for watching!
Hi Garry, I have the Lowrance 9 Elite FS with active target 2. When i split the yellow wires is where I get confused. Does the yellow and two reds go to the monitor or does it go to the sonar? And what happens to the other yellow wire that goes to the other unit?
If you want to have the Active Target 2 turned on whenever you have the Elite FS turned on then (1) connect the Yellow wire from the AT and Elite FS together; and (2) connect the Red from both power cords with an inline fuse to the positive (+) on the battery; and (3) connect the Black from both power cords to the negative (-) on the battery. With these connections when you turn on the Elite FS then the AT module will be powered up.
However, if you want to be able to turn on/off the AT module even when you are using the Elite FS then use the switch method that I show in the video. Some of the reasons that you may want to use the switch is to turn off the AT when you are very shallow and don't want the extra sonar pinging or to conserve battery power.
On the video with the 2 Elite FS units with the AT2 installation, I used a switch to turn on/off the AT module. This allows them use conserve power (only 1 battery) and for some tournaments they are not allowed to use live Sonar so they can easily turn it off.
Thanks for the information very much appreciated!!
Question: is it necessary to add switches to the HDS-graph separately? So technically 3 switches total ?
I’ve recently purchased an LSS-1 module with side and down imaging, and also 2, 1st gen HDS-7s
Thank you. I glad that you found the video to be useful.
No, the switch is only needed for the module. The units have easily accessible power buttons.
That was a good setup at the time. I ran that setup (with 10s) for a couple of years. The LSS-1 transducer is much more compact than the current Lowrance side imaging transducers. Just make sure that the units are updated with the latest update for them.
How would I go about updating the units?
get a micro SD card with carrier that it 32 GB or less. Go to the Lowrance website on the support page. Then select the updates page. Then in the dropdown box in the left, select your unit. Make sure that they are Gen 1. Follow the instructions to download the update to your SD card. Then put the SD card in a unit and power it on. If it needs the update then it will show a bar on the bottom of the screen. When it is done you can then remove the card and do the second unit.
This is the latest update: HDS (Gen1) with GPS Patch
Hi Garry, Thank you for the video. Would you be able to wire an active target with the switch method, but still connect the input of the switch to a HDS Pro unit yellow wire? So that the unit would only be able to be powered up when the HDS PRO is on, but still be able to be turned off when not using the active target?.
Thank you. I'm glad that you like the video. Yes, that would be a good way to use a switch while having the Pro control it. Make sure the Pro has the yellow wire activate (wake up) enabled, it is by default but worth checking. One thing is that if the Pro has a transducer connected to it then you should connect blue sync wire on the AT2 to the Pro yellow wire and turn on sync capability. And then use a switch like in the video. That will give you the clearest AT images.
Ok Thanks Garry@@garrywoodruff960 , Yes I will be using the Pro's included active transducer, although I thought that the blue wire was only if I had 2 AT2'S hooked up. Could I still use the switch by hooking up the AT2 blue wire on one side of the switch and the yellow wire from the pro on the other side of the switch? So that the unit would only be able to be powered up when the HDS PRO is on, but still be able to be turned off when not using the active target?
You're welcome.
No, if you use the blue (sync) on the AT2 then you will need to connect the yellow wire to turn on the module. In that case, use a separate switch hooked up the same power source as the AT2 module. The switch will let you turn on/off the module. And on the Pro, make sure that you set the Power Control to sync.
Thanks for your advice Garry
You're welcom.
How about the switch from blue sea switch which has light when it’s on.How to wire that button up?
There are several Blue Seas lighted switches as well as a multitude of other brands. All of the SPST (single pole single throw) lighted switches should have (1) power in (2) switched power out and (3) ground. You would wire it the same way that I showed in the video except you would also connect the (3) ground to the battery ground. This will complete the circuit when the switch is in the ON position and will light up the indicator.
Let me know if that make sense.
So it's only necessary to connect the ground leg of the switch for the light indicator. In other words the switch will still work just won't illuminate the switch.
Yes that is correct. The ground used just used for the light to indicate that the switch is turned on.