My Lowrance HDS-7 Install

bigrig said:

Yeah, I am planning on swapping those wing nuts over for some allen bolts with a button head to clean that up. I originally thought that I would want to be able to easily remove the Lowrance unit for some reason, but no real reason has presented itself yet.

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I agree. I bought the fold down GPS mount from LGE CTS and I have found that I just leave it up all the time anyway.

Raptor Embroidery said:

I agree. I bought the fold down GPS mount from LGE CTS and I have found that I just leave it up all the time anyway.

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I bought the same one and installed it last night. After driving around with the GPS in the up position I doubt I will ever fold mine as well.

I also bought the bright white Lowrance cover. It doesn't go well at all in the interior. Maybe I can have it painted black or I will just have to pay-that-forward to someone who wants it.

Nice write up, install is clean and looks solid.

Now how did you do the antenna?

Looks good I like it. You did a pretty nice job making it and nice write up.

NM156 said:

Nice write up, install is clean and looks solid.

Now how did you do the antenna?

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The antenna is built in on the HDS-7. I haven't yet taken it to the total boonies so I haven't given it the ultimate test yet. I am headed to Ocotillo Wells for TDS in March. That will be where I give it a good workout. I will let you know more then but my understanding is that the internal antenna should hold up.

BigRig,
NICE!!!!!
Eddie

Looks good, a personal preference is it should be painted Matt black, but I get your choice!

Update to Install

Update to my Install

There were a few things that I felt that needed to be changed after living with the Lowrance on the dash for a few weeks. First off I couldn't lock on to any satellites for a while. I was scared that the internal antenna wasn't going to hack it. After some digging around though I found that a soft reset could possibly be the solution.

Here is the link to the Lowrance document that explains how to debug the issue.

Here is the link to the directions on how to Soft/Hard reset the different units.

The soft reset did it for me, I was able to link to 5 satellites right off the bat. I got so excited I made a trail around my block.

I then proceeded to ditch the wing nuts in favor of some pan head hex screws.

New pan head screws to mount the Lowrance bracket:
I think this finishes it off a bit nicer.




Painting the faceplate:
The white faceplate was a little annoying to me so I decided to paint it black. I wanted to try to keep the letters blue though so I employed a technique I used when I was airbrushing stuff back in the 80s. I used liquid frisket to mask the letters, then painted the faceplate with black primer. I removed the frisket after the paint dried and added a final coat of clearcoat. It may not be everyone's cup-o-tea but it was what I was looking for. If I were to do it again, I would be more careful with the frisket and really get the edges right.

Applying the frisket:




Applying the primer:




Final product:




The paint I used:



Hope this helps someone out there!
~bigrig

You're right the faceplate looks way better black. Nice work!

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SHAI HULUD said:

You're right the faceplate looks way better black. Nice work!

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Thanks SHAI HULUD!