Lowrance Elite 4 series

Author: josh

Category: Kayak fishing accessories

Created on Sunday, 22 January 2012 09:49

Written by Josh

Lowrance are set to release their latest series of sounder/chartplotters that will hit the market under the Elite 4 series banner. Much like most of their sounders, Lowrance has labelled the Elite 4 series as being 'kayak compatible' but after having watched their brief promo video that introduces the range, I'd say that not only are they compatible, but probably also the most suitable as well. Smaller, lighter and more compact than the Elite 5 series (but seemingly equally capable) and certainly much smaller than the chunky HDS5 that I was using for a while. 

Lowrance describe the Elite 4 series as being the best value for money and most affordable in their class and there is no reason to think that these won't be just as reliable as any of their other current models, fully waterproof to an IPX7 rating. Because of this, coupled with their compact form factor and affordable pricing, there is every reason to think that they will take the kayak fishing industry by storm when they are released soon.

I've been rolling without a sounder for the past 8 months or so, having removed my old HDS5 after becoming discouraged by it's weight and bulk (especially the battery used to power it). Whilst my fishing results have been just fine without it, for sure there have been times that I have missed it. There is every possibility I will equipping my kayak with one of these though, for all of the reasons mentioned above. Not sure yet if I'll run with the Elite 4 or the Elite 4 DSI. Here's how Lowrance describe it's features:

Elite-4 is much more than a compact product, with all the proven Lowrance® features you could want, plus the brightest LED backlit displays--providing clear viewing in any boating condition. The 300W RMS sounder reaches to depths of 800 ft/243 m with its dual-frequency 83/200 kHz Skimmer® transom-mount transducer including internal water-temp sensor and up to 120° of wider sonar coverage- at 83 kHz operation. And the exclusive TrackBack™ feature lets you scroll back through four pages of sonar-display history to review targets in closer detail and save waypoints. Built-in memory allows for up to 3,000 waypoints, 100 routes/100 waypoints per route and 100 retraceable plot trails/up to 10,000 points per trail.