This is probably a stupid question but there are a lot of smart guys on here so hopefully someone can help. I picked up a used boat last spring that had a hds 5 on it. No lss and I'm not sure but I'm guessing a gen 1. I've since purchased an hds 8 gen 2 with lss 2. I moved the 5 up front on the tm.My question is what will be required to get downscan on the 5? Will I have to buy a lss2 transducer or can I purchase a hdi transducer like used on an elite 7 after connecting the 5 to lss box? I'm not interested in si because of the small screen size. Any advice will be greatly appreciated!

Anyone??

I'll shoot at it since you want an answer tonight and I might be the only one up. I have dealt with larger units but I don't see why they would be any different than the 5.

To get downscan on the 5, simply run an Ethernet cable out of your lss2 box to your 5. This should display down and/or side scan if you choose. Of course, it'll be reading from the same transducer as your 8 is.

If you want the 5 to read from a transducer mounted on the TM, then you'll need a whole new lss2 box and transducer. Not the most economical way to go.

Network cable is definitely the least expensive way to go. I have had some ongoing issues regarding networking my 2 HDS 7 gen 1's but usually I can see the downscan on the front with only the LSS on the back. You may have to go in and turn on the network and use the network settings to select which source you want to view from. Other than that it should work ok.

Go with the Ethernet cable. Don't waste $ on another transducer for an older 5. If you want the proximity, buy another combo. But the downscan in the back of the boat is just fine when paired with a front sonar. You can see the differences when you 'straddle' structure.