Use Lowrance Elite 7 or buy a new flasher?

[seedman76]

I'm an ice fishing novice and need to purchase my first flasher for ice fishing.  This past summer I bought a new Lowrance Elite 7 Combo HDI for summer fishing in my boat.  This is a sonar/GPS combo.  It does have a flasher mode where you can turn the display into a digital flasher.  I talked to Lowrance Customer Service and can purchase an ice ducer plus a plug in adapter I would need for approx. $100 plus the cost of a battery.  My question is would I be best off to go this route or buy a dedicated flasher like a Marcum or Vexilar???  One advantage I see to the Elite 7 is the GPS and mapping capability but I'm also not sure how this unit would perform in the winter vs. buying a dedicated flasher more designed for ice fishing.  Thanks in advance for any advice you can provide.

[Fishrmn]

Don't buy a flasher, and DON'T turn on the 'flasher' display on your Elite 7.  People have been misinformed about real time and flashers for years.  Marcum has finally entered the 21st century.  That puts them about 13 years behind Lowrance. 

[Purple Floyd]

Get the ducer. Not sure if that fits in the ice pack but if it does then get that too. Just got out the other night with the new elite 5 ice machine and it is great.

[chumster]

I agree with Floyd. Scroll thru your menu and you'll find an ice mode. Then again, i have the elite 5 so not sure you have it on the seven.

[MTangler]

I would use the graph mode with your elite. I have used everything and it is my one and only now.

MTA

[falconcg]

I have an Elite 5 and an Elite 7HDI.  I have the ice kit for my Elite 5.  I don't think that you have the flasher option or ice kit for the Elite 7.

[hays47]

I have the Elite 7 but the X model without the gps.  Set it up for icefishing this year.  The transducer for the elite 5 ice will work no problem.

Only thing is you won't have the DI image. If you want that you are going to have to configure another transducer for it.



Since I prefer the Lakemaster maps  for Ohio I teamed it up with a Humminbird 385. I also use the Elite 7X as a back up for open water fishing.

[Dirty P]

My buddy has a lowrance that an all season but he doesn't like the flasher mode and just uses the trolling mode instead which works great for him

[falconcg]

For my part, I only fish with the flasher mode on my Elite 5.

[Purple Floyd]

I would use the graph mode with your elite. I have used everything and it is my one and only now.

MTA

+1

[evobassfish]

+1

+2

[seedman76]

Everyone thanks much for your information...great help.  After checking my Elite 7 HDI I discovered it does have an "ICE" mode.  This is available under the menu options Sonar-->Fishing Mode-->Ice.  Second I also discovered that there is a "flasher" option.  To get there I navigated to Sonar-->Sonar Options-->Split Flasher.  This puts it in a split screen mode with the flasher on 2/3 of the page and the sonar on the other 1/3.  Not that it's a huge deal but I can't figure out how to get the flasher on the entire screen.  If anyone knows how to do that on the Elite 7HDI let me know???

Also I called Lowrance Customer Service and the rep told me I need to buy an ICE DUCER part # PTI-WSU ($70 from Lowrance).  I also need to purchase some sort of adapter (part #10052-001, $35 from Lowrance).  I wasn't clear what the adapter is for but would guess it allows me to hook up ice ducer to the unit.  Last I would need to buy a battery for my power source.  Stupid question bare with the newbie but can someone give me guidance on what type/kind of battery I should buy???

Last unless I can find an ice pack that fits this unit I would probably rig something up in a 5 gallon bucket.  Any concerns with cold weather issues and sonars if it gets below zero???    Thank you!

[Dirty P]

this is what I used for one of my old flasher you should be able to get one at any battery store

[BentRodUSA]

Lowrance Elite 7 HDI ice fishing conversion:

after looking extensively into this topic I learned with the Elite 7 HDI it does not make sense to purchase the ice pack PPP-18-1 and the adapter for the provided ice ducer PTI-WBL. The ducer isnt blue connector ready and the bag is too small. I made this Youtube video to show you the right supplies to buy and how to properly convert the Elite series.