The ocean is a deep and wide body of water. Its depth makes it difficult to locate fish and other sea creatures underneath. There are also other species of fish that only thrive in certain areas of the ocean. Diving and individually searching for them will be an impractical thing to do.
Fortunately, experts have created fishfinders. This is a type of equipment used to detect fish schools. Depending on what you’re using, it can also provide information on water depth, fish school distribution, and condition of the seabed. Although it sounds like magic, it can do such things by transmitting ultrasonic waves and detecting reflected pulses of sound energy. In other words, through sonar.
In this article, you will get to know one of the most impressive fishfinder called Lowrance Elite-7 CHIRP.
What Makes The Lowrance Elite-7 CHIRP Special?
This fishfinder is an incarnation of the HDI version but with a faster processor. Basic CHIRP capabilities are also exhibited even when using a similar skimmer transducer with the HDI.
With this, clearer views of bottom surfaces, plant structures, and fish are given with greater detail in real time. Thanks to its advanced signal processing, time is also given importance with this equipment. Boatmen now have more time catching fish than waiting for the refined images. The images it can produce are ranging from low, medium and high CHIRP sonar ranges with the ability to let users view one or more ranges at the same time.
A Quick Glance of The Lowrance Elite-7 CHIRP
 | Lowrance Elite FS 7 Fish Finder with Active Imaging 3-in-1 Transducer – Easy-to-use 7″ Fishfinder – Combined power of CHIRP Sonar and Down – Scan Imaging – built-in gps antenna for mapping – TrackBack to review sonar history |
The Key Features
The market has quite a lot of other options for fishfinders. However, not all of them are equally made. In order to see what sets the Lowrance Elite-7 CHIRP apart from others, we must first see its main features.
Display and Screen
Since sunlight is stronger in open places, it sometimes gets difficult to see through screens. Good thing this fishfinder not only has a 7” VGA SolarMax display with a pixel matrix of 800 x 480 and 16-bit color but also an LED backlight allowing users to clearly see readings even when under direct sunlight. It also has a split-screen mode so that different readings can be accessed simultaneously.
Even when there’s not enough data to claim that this is waterproof, this device can definitely handle water to a certain extent. It can withstand rain, accidental splashing, and even up to 30 minutes of submersion to 3.3 ft of water.
Sonar and Transducer
CHIRP sonars are more powerful than regular single-frequency sonars because they have pulse modulation available to a range of frequencies. Meaning that this device can easily distinguish the targets and show them separately. This is better than traditional ones who reflect different targets as one. Its CHIRP modes are also available in three: low (50 kHz), medium (83 kHz), and high (200 kHz).
Aside from that it also has sub-features like:
- Advanced Signal Processing (ASP)
This is used to lessen the clutter and avoid picking up unnecessary signals. Hence, making the images clearer and less noisy.
- DownScan Imaging
Now, photo-like quality to your underwater scans is possible! Confusion will also be prevented as it now separates fish from vegetation. In this way, the contours of specific structures under your vessel are given more attention.
- DownScan Overlay function
This allows you to combine DownScan with CHIRP so that fish positioning in terms of the underwater structures is better understood. While it’s in DownScan mode, a CHIRP sonar is also equipped.
- HDI Skimmer transducer
This is the best one available on the market. It can reach up to 1,000ft and can go up to 3,000ft with a 50 kHz capable transducer. On top of this, a built-in temperature sensor is also added.
Apart from those things, this device also has Fish ID, Flasher mode, Split Zoom, Sonar Recording/TrackBack, and more.
Navigation
Equipped with a 16-channel GPS with EGNOS, WAAS, and MSAS, this device brings the standard for navigation to the next level. It can read up to 3,000 waypoints with 100 routes and 100 retractable plot trails.
In addition, this also has preloaded Insight basemaps that works well with numerous charting options like Navionics Gold, Lake Master, Fishing Hot Spots PRO, and others.
Networking
Maps can now be customized with the help of the online application Insight Genesis. Users can now place fishing spots and points of interest based on your sonar recordings. After that, you can directly save it to the microSD and watch it on another device.
The Two Sides of The Coin
A fair judgment always comes from knowing all sides of the story. In the same way, we can only determine if the Lowrance Elite-7 CHIRP can work well for us if we know all the advantages and disadvantages it has.
Pros
With its features, including ones mentioned before, this device is ideal for boatmen who are looking for a fishfinder with excellent performance. Even when faced with unexpected fishing conditions or weather, this fishfinder is expected to still work. Interpreting the maps and images is also made easier because of how high quality it can produce images.
Cons
However, its high quality images are sometimes left unappreciated. This is due to the fact that the device isn’t beginner friendly. Those who are just starting their journey in this field might have a hard time making this device work.
Is It a Go or a No?
The Lowrance Elite-7 CHIRP is definitely one of the most excellent fish finders or chart plotters. Even with its price, it is able to deliver such high quality performance. The amazing features like the broadband CHIRP sonar with DownScan and recording/TrackBack feature makes it on par with the modern needs of the market. Functionality is even extended to a higher level with the help of the application Insight Genesis.
However, beginners might have difficulties in understanding this. If you only have little to no experience of working with fish finders or sonars in general, you might have to look for devices that are more beginner friendly.
On the other side, if you’re already knowledgeable about these things, you might find the Lowrance Elite-7 CHIRP very helpful. This is especially true for inland and off-shore fishing trips and even during ice-fishing expeditions. Indeed a device with so much more to offer.