Boat Graph Wiring

I have had a lot of problems with my electronics for about a year now in my boat. Hoping to get some advice from some fellow fishermen. My front graph is a Hummingbird 788. The GPS works well but the depth kind of works off and on. My console graph is an older Lowrance LCX 26C. It shows depth just fine but the GPS will not pick up the signal from the module. The boat is in storage right now with a buddy. I am looking for a plan of attack in the next couple weeks to figure out the problems. I am 95 % sure it is wiring problems but wondering what else it could be. Would like to do it myself to save some money. Thanks for any help anyone can give. Crapps

Crapps, I just ran across this post and I'm assuming you've got this figured out by now. But just for future guys who read this post trying to work out some Lowrance issues I thought I'd mention that the LCX series locators all though nice units can be difficult to connect if you're searching for wiring. Only becasue Lowrance has discontinued the "older" connectors. I've got an LCX-20 C with a LGC-2000 puck antenna. The LCX-20 C has the blue connectors which Lowrance has discontinued. The connection point between the LCX and the antenna MUST have a terminator installed. There's two ways to do this. either use Lowrance's "Y extension cable" with a 60 ohm terminator built into it or use the Lowrance "Tee" connector with a 120 ohm terminator on one of the tee outlets. Without a terminator installed, the circuit is never completed and you will get a GPS signal is lost error message. The other thing is, the LGC-2000 and 3000 antennas have had a bad...bunch. Either you get one that works for ever or it won't work at all from the start. There's hundreds of non working units for sale on e-bay. You would think Lowrance would be concerned about taking care of existing customers enough to still make the blue and red connectors available to the public, but that's clearly not the case. When I asked if I could buy one, the only option they gave me was to offer a $100 credit towards a new HDS unit. hmmmmm, let me think about this....I can't buy a $10 part to connect my existing 4 year old $1,000 unit to my new boat but you'll give me back a $100 towards a new $1,800 unit? I'm praying my LCX continues to work fine, but when it quits...I'm done with em.

I had a buddy run the wiring for me and I never specified where to run it. Without knowing off hand, how can I tell if the transducer is universal? That is the first thing I'll do when I get it back from storage this weekend is switch it to the trolling motor. Hopefully that will solve the problem. Thanks for the info!

Mendota, it's possible the two units are conflicting. The LCX26 is a 50/200 kHz transducer and the 788 is a 83/200 kHz transducer. Crapps, why are both transducers running on the back? That makes the info at the bow pretty useless other than just FYI info. Like you and I discussed previously. Consider mounting the transducer on the trolling motor. You'll find that info to be much more valuable. For example on a steep drop the bow can be in 10' of water and 16' away the stern can be in 25' of water.

If both transducers were at the back of the boat, there is pretty much no way that they were not interfering with each other, if both were running. From your comments it sounds like the GPS receiver is talking to the head unit? Or can't find it at all? I trust the GPS puck has a clear view of the sky.

Both transducers are run all the way to the back right now. I had thought about mounting to the trolling motor so I will give that a try. The Lowrance unit puck is brand new. (tried that first) Still saying it is not getting a signal or something like that. I can't believe the unit is shot but I guess it could be. I am still hoping it is the wiring from unit to puck....could that be it? Any other ideas? Thanks for all the help!

Crapps. If your 788 is hooked to the universal transducer on your bow mount that is most assuredly your problem. My advice, mount the high speed transducer that came with the 788 on the trolling motor. You won't regret it. I've seen these types of problems a ton with the US2 transducer on the Minn Kotas. Do you images look like this? You'll see in the 2nd image I've turned the motor on and off. Humminbird has a bunch of band aid fixes but I wasn't impressed with them.

where is the front transducer mounted? It's possible the the sonar pulse from the Lowrance is interfering with the HB. Turn it off and see if the problem disappears.

the depth issue sounds like it could be a transducer issue. probably nothing to do with the power wiring. do you have it hooked up to a universal transduce in a troling motor?? if so then you would have to talk to someone at Minn Kota, if your tranducer is external then you should make sure that your bird is has the most current updates, if not get them and see if that helps, if it doesnt you would have 2 options, 1 - buy a new ducer (about $75) or call hummingbirds customer service. As for the Lowrance, could be the puck is shot that would be the first thing to check out. might be the head unit. If that is the case call Lowrance, but be prepared to sit on hold for a while and also be prepared for them to tell you they wont service that unit any longer .if that is the case buy a new bird to replace that one. and think about a 700 series or higher, then you should be able to Network your new one with the one on the bow.