Elite5 dsi

Im sure this has been gone thru over and over but im going to ask anyway! Cabelas has the elite 5 dsi gps for $379 right now and im really considering this for my PA14. What are the negatives and positives for this unit? How Should I mount it? Thru hull or out?
Im preparing for my first trip in the big pond.... more than likely Ocean Cove.
How deep do you guys usually fish there.
BTW this is an upgrade from a Garmin Fishfinder 140

Rather than rinse & repeat ... check out this thread.  This should give you a fairly good overview of the DSI capabilities & transducer mounting options.  Does your PA have the new "wet" transducer well?  The DSI transducers work best "wet" but I believe it was Al who fishes the Elite 4 DSI as a duct seal & water wet bath in-hull with descent results in salt to about 100 fow.

http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=46571.msg517445#msg517445

If you have any questions, feel free to drop me a PM.

~Bill

2011 model PA...  would have to be scupper transducer I guess, unless I mount it over the side somehow

Although it seemed like a great unit, I was actually pretty disappointed with my DSI-5.

First of all, the GPS buffers very slowly, and by the time the screen says you've hit your waypoint, you're long past it. Additionally, the screen is VERY difficult to see with any kind of glare.

Also, the DSI makes it extremely hard to mark fish, especially baitfish. It also isn't very good at differentiating hard bottoms from soft bottoms compared to a traditional sonar. One thing to note is that the Elite-5 DSI is DSI ONLY, no sonar capabilities. One thing I did like about the Lowrance was the interface, it was very sleek and user-friendly.

Not trying to bash Lowrance here, as they make some solid products that I have enjoyed, however, in my honest opinion, the Elite-5 DSI falls short. I replaced mine with a Hummingbird  597 DI, which has sonar and downscan, along with a much better GPS. I can also go split-screen between sonar and DSI, which is extremely useful.

Hope this helps,
Connor

The GPS Hz refresh rate should be the same in the Lowrance as the H-Bird.  Not sure why you might have encountered that issue.  I believe both have a refresh rate of 1x/second (standard for smaller units).  The larger Lowrance units have 5x/second refresh rate.

The DSI does take some "retraining of the brain" to get acquainted to what you are seeing; bait, fish, structure, bottom, etc...  The Elite 7 has both standard sonar & DSI imaging if you want the best of both worlds.

I think the main reason you would have issues determining bottom "type" is due to the frequency the DSI transducer operates at 455Hz & 800Hz.  They are high frequency for definition, not penetration.

The DSI still has its place and its limitations.  Personally, I have leaned towards their standard sounder vs. the DSI for the smaller units ... esp. if you plan on fishing deeper than about 100 fow in salt.

Just my 2 cents

~Bill

Although it seemed like a great unit, I was actually pretty disappointed with my DSI-5.

First of all, the GPS buffers very slowly, and by the time the screen says you've hit your waypoint, you're long past it. Additionally, the screen is VERY difficult to see with any kind of glare.

Also, the DSI makes it extremely hard to mark fish, especially baitfish. It also isn't very good at differentiating hard bottoms from soft bottoms compared to a traditional sonar. One thing to note is that the Elite-5 DSI is DSI ONLY, no sonar capabilities. One thing I did like about the Lowrance was the interface, it was very sleek and user-friendly.

Not trying to bash Lowrance here, as they make some solid products that I have enjoyed, however, in my honest opinion, the Elite-5 DSI falls short. I replaced mine with a Hummingbird  597 DI, which has sonar and downscan, along with a much better GPS. I can also go split-screen between sonar and DSI, which is extremely useful.

Hope this helps,
Connor

It said sonar... am i reading this wrong?
http://www.cabelas.com/product/Boating/Boating-Electronics/Sonar-and-SonarGPS-Combos%7C/pc/104794380/c/104707080/sc/104588280/Lowrance-Elite-5-DSI-Sonar-with-GPS/1158267.uts?destination=%2Fcatalog%2Fbrowse%2Fsonar-and-sonar-gps-combos%2Flowrance%2F_%2FN-1100517%2B1000003916%2B10000054%2FNe-1000003916%2FNs-HAS_BAZAARVOICE_REVIEW%257C1%257C%257CPRODUCT_BAZAARVOICE_RATING%257C1%257C%257CPRODUCT_BAZAARVOICE_REVIEW_NUM%257C1%3FWTz_l%3DSBC%253BMMcat104794380%253Bcat104707080%26WTz_st%3DGuidedNav%26WTz_stype%3DGNU&WTz_l=SBC%3BMMcat104794380%3Bcat104707080%3Bcat104588280

2011 model PA...  would have to be scupper transducer I guess, unless I mount it over the side somehow

The 2011 model does not have the new "wet" transducer sump.  You could go thru a scupper or, if you go standard fishfinder, do a shoot-thru (duct seal & water) method ... or Goop.

~Bill

DSI is sonar.

DSI= Down Scan Imaging (sonar)

The Same unit as "traditional" (w/o DSI) in a 5" is the Elite 5 or Elite 5 Gold Combo (w Gold cartography chip)

+1 what Ronnokk said. But I will continue using it until it dies. And based on the corrosion issues I am already encountering, won't be more than 1 or 2 seasons. So, it still has plenty of time to redeem itself, in my eyes. But as of right now, I'm super disappointed in my Elite 5 dsi gps. Ask me again in 2014 and maybe I'll have a different opinion...only time will tell. 

I'd do a scupper or the frog leg thingy that some of the members use.atavus has some good pics of his setup maybe look up pa pics

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

As far as the transducer I'd recommend the duct seal method. Costs about $4, takes about 5 minutes to install, is easy to remove, and pretty much impossible to botch the installation.

+1 what Ronnokk said. But I will continue using it until it dies. And based on the corrosion issues I am already encountering, won't be more than 1 or 2 seasons. So, it still has plenty of time to redeem itself, in my eyes. But as of right now, I'm super disappointed in my Elite 5 dsi gps. Ask me again in 2014 and maybe I'll have a different opinion...only time will tell.

If/when it dies, let me know   

~Bill