Lowrance LCX crossover to HDS question

[Bayou Boy]

Last week someone stole a Lowrance LCX 113c HD with Navionics Platinum Plus chip and LCX 38c HD off my bay boat while lit was locked-up behind a fenced-in and well lit area at a dealership awaiting a tune-up and oil change. They hit other boats too. All are insured but it still sucks....

The thief(s) took the time to un-screw all the power and data cables from the units (thank goodness) and to un-screw the RAM and gimbal mounts and even took the stainless steel screws with them...

Finding and replacing the LCX units with other LCX units my take some time, which I am short on as I leave early next week for 2 Redfish tournaments.... now for my question.

If I replace my LCX units with HDS units will the power, data, transducer etc. cables from my LCX units match up and work with the HDS units? My local dealer doesn't know and I've been waiting for 4 days for a response from Lowrance.

[Dynastyworms]

Yes! as log as you have the blue cables(the cap that screws into the unit) they will work. sorry about you units but the HDS units are alot better.

[Ken Sauret]

The HDS units use the same ducer as LCX units. The NMEA network is the same, but the power cable is different in that the LCX units had a three wire power cable and the HDS units use a two wire cable. The reason is that the NMEA backbone was powered through the unit in the LCX system. This is why with the three wire cable on the LCX units the fat one was power for the unit and one of the other two smaller cables had a NMEA 2000 chrome tag on it. That cable was wired to a hot and a ground and this is how the GPS antenna got it's power through the NMEA backbone. In the new HDS system, there is a two wire cable to the power. The fat one still goes to the unit but there is no power to the NMEA backbone through the unit. You will have to get a power node to power the NMEA backbone. This consists of a tee with a hot and a ground wire coming out of the top of the tee which is connected so that the NMEA backbone has power.

[Mike H]

The HDS units use the same ducer as LCX units. The NMEA network is the same, but the power cable is different in that the LCX units had a three wire power cable and the HDS units use a two wire cable. The reason is that the NMEA backbone was powered through the unit in the LCX system. This is why with the three wire cable on the LCX units the fat one was power for the unit and one of the other two smaller cables had a NMEA 2000 chrome tag on it. That cable was wired to a hot and a ground and this is how the GPS antenna got it's power through the NMEA backbone. In the new HDS system, there is a two wire cable to the power. The fat one still goes to the unit but there is no power to the NMEA backbone through the unit. You will have to get a power node to power the NMEA backbone. This consists of a tee with a hot and a ground wire coming out of the top of the tee which is connected so that the NMEA backbone has power.

I just upgraded my LCX-38C HD that would not take a software update for an HDS 8 unit for $200.00 from Lowrance and was told that the existing wiring I had for the LCX unit would work fine with the HDS unit. Was I misinformed? I took the Champion out today and the unit appeared to work fine. Can I damage my HDS unit by using my LCX power cable? Am I missing some features and could you please explain in "Dummies" terminolgy exactly how one would go about performing this fix?

[Ken Sauret]

Hi Mike,

If you go to a system that eventually has two HDS units then you must have the power node so the NMEA backbone has power. If you have one HDS unit that uses it's internal GPS antenna and one LCX or LMS unit with it, then the NMEA backbone can get power if the power cord for the LCX or LMS has the NMEA power cable hooked up. If you plug your new HDS unit using the power cord that happens to be the one that powered the NMEA backbone, then the backbone will not be powered. This means that an LGC 3000 GPS antenna that the LCX or LMS unit uses will not have power and will not respond.

To summarize;

Two HDS units then power node needed.

Two LCX units then backbone gets power if only one NMEA cable is powered.

If one LCX and one HDS unit Then either you need a power node or power the backbone through the LCX power cord by connecting the NMEA cable. If you choose a power node in a mixed system and you use the older 3 wire power cable make sure neither NMEA power cable is hooked up.

If this is still not clear please ask more specific questions and I will do my best to help. Don't be shy.

[Mike H]

Thanks Ken,

Let me be sure I got this straight. I have the HDS-8 up front and an LCX-28C HD on the dash, the NMEA cable is hooked up to both so your saying with my current configuration everything should work fine, correct?

Now if I upgrade the LCX-28C HD to the HDS-10 with Structure Scan on my dash then I would have to do some re-wiring for the power as well as the Structure Scan wires of course.

Thanks again.

[NoCAL]

You basically have the same units I have except my HDS is at the helm. The HDS units cannot power the NMEA network so you must be powering it from the LCX at the bow or you already have a power node installed. With the NMEA network powered, you have the option of getting GPS signals on either unit from either the internal GPS on the HDS or from an external antenna. If you change out the LCX unit for another HDS, you'll have to purchase a power node and T from Lowrance. Then remove the power cord from the LCX unit and put the HDS power cord in it's place. Then add in the power node and wire it to a hot source and ground and your done. The transducer you have for the LCX unit will still work, no need to change it out. I installed all my own graphs in Feb, I have LCX-28HD up front, HDS8 at the console, and Structure Scan. Let me know if you have any more questions about installation.

NoCAL

[Mike H]

You basically have the same units I have except my HDS is at the helm. The HDS units cannot power the NMEA network so you must be powering it from the LCX at the bow or you already have a power node installed. With the NMEA network powered, you have the option of getting GPS signals on either unit from either the internal GPS on the HDS or from an external antenna. If you change out the LCX unit for another HDS, you'll have to purchase a power node and T from Lowrance. Then remove the power cord from the LCX unit and put the HDS power cord in it's place. Then add in the power node and wire it to a hot source and ground and your done. The transducer you have for the LCX unit will still work, no need to change it out. I installed all my own graphs in Feb, I have LCX-28HD up front, HDS8 at the console, and Structure Scan. Let me know if you have any more questions about installation.

NoCAL

Thanks. I'm pretty much "Mechanically Challanged" How difficult was it installing the Structure Scan unit? When I do purchase it should I pay someone to install it for me or is it really simple?

[NoCAL]

Since you already have units installed, it should be no problem. Just hook everything up to the existing power sources. You can utilize the same power source as the HDS unit for the Structure Scan or you can hook it to a switch so you can turn it off when not in use. If you hook the yellow wires from the Structure Scan and the HDS unit together, the SS will go on when the HDS is turned on. That's how I have mine. Some people have had issues with running down batteries when everything is on. I've run my units all day with a livewell running and never had an issue. The toughest part of the whole thing is mounting the SS transducer and routing the cable. That takes some ingenuity. It can go on your jackplate with adaptor brackets you have to purchase seperately or you can mount it to a step on the transom with the enclosed bracket. That's how I did it and it works fine. The angle is pretty important so if you don't feel comfortable with that, do everything else and just have a pro do the transducer. That's what I ended up doing for the transducer. I hooked everything else up myself.

NoCAL

[Mike H]

Thanks again. Maybe when I do get the Structure Scan I'll take it down to Jordan at Anglers Marine so I know everything is installed correctly.