The issue is the FS power cable. Look at the end of the connector... only two copper connections are made into it- the yellow wire is not making connection here. If you use a power cable from a HDS live or Gen 3, the yellow wire will wake up the AT box as it should.

No, there is nothing wrong with the FS cable; it would be the install that is the issue. I took a power cable out of an Elite FS 9 box today to inspect it. On the cable I looked at, the yellow wire IS there. There is no need to "use a power cable from and HDS Live or Gen 3." The yellow wire is cut off flush with the outer sheath of the cable, but it is there. All one need do is carefully strip enough of that sheath to access the yellow conductor for connection to the Active Target.

Yes, the yellow wire IS there. Do a continuity test from the plug end to the other end of the yellow wire.

Good point. I'll check that today. That would be really weird to have it in the cord but not connected. That's wasted material cost that a factory wouldn't normally toss - they'd use a 2 conductor raw cable.

You didn't say (earlier) that Lowrance confirmed it, I don't believe.

Lol, I didn't believe it either. While on the phone with them I requested they get a FS power cable and inspect it while on the phone. And I told them the EXACT thing... waste of materials and misleading to customer's.

There are only two copper lugs built into the connector plug- one for power and ground- yellow wire has no continuity. Dang shame it took me several installs to figure it out.

I forgot you mentioned there were only two contact pins present. In that case, no meter check needed as you can't connect what doesn't have a contact in the connector housing. I'll bet they had a language goof in getting the FS to market - Mexico and/or China are generally involved, unfortunately.

Bingo. Hope this helps others from pulling any hair out.

They need to replace the inferior cables on demand from a customer. It won't do what it's advertised to do.

100% agree. It seems they prefer to keep telling people to install a switch to feed the yellow wire on the AT and that the next update will fix it- which we know is BS.
We just got our order of HDS live power cables today- calling any of our FS customers to make them aware of the issue.

Of all the units sold in Bass Pro and Cabela's I have heard of no customers with this issue must have be a very small batch that this happened to. While in those stores this weekend I looked at their inventory on the power cords and found nothing that is described on this post.

Larry, I have an Elite FS that I'm sure was "current stock" that definitely only has 2 contacts populated in the connector housing. I can see that this cable will never make an accessory work on the "trigger wire" signal because it will never get onto the cable. I can send you a photo if you need to see to believe.

As to a customer having an issue, that would only happen if the customer has an installation that includes an accessory they expect to be powered on and off by the display unit. Accessories for FS would likely be limited - such as Active Target or SonicHub. Unless they have such a configuration, they won't notice any issue. That could be why you haven't heard of problems.

if you look at the diagraph for wiring in the FS Manual it does not show a yellow wire for the unit power cord, you go to the AT module drawing in the manual and its their. The issue with the yellow wire not working was for the Active Image module and was software, not the FS so when a poster says its BS I looked into it. I have not confirmed with anyone on why the yellow wire does not show up on the drawing but I will.

Larry, it doesn't matter if the yellow wire is shown in a manual illustration or not. What matters is what is delivered in the box. I have all the pieces involved, all purchased in the last few months: Live 12, Elite FS, AND Active Target. I happen to be an actual engineer (not just with a title) with a lifelong career in product design. I'm well aware of the Active Target software issue; I was one of the ones bugging Lowrance to hurry up with the update (that is installed on my Active Target).

Yes, there's a yellow wire in the Elite FS raw cable used for the power cable - just like in the raw cable for the Live 12 power cable. However, on the cable that came with the Elite FS, (now pay attention here), the yellow wire is not connected to a contact in the connector plug that connects with the display unit's receptacle.

There are 10 possible contacts on the plug. The pattern for that plug is the same for both Live units and Elite FS units, but not all contacts are populated. On the power cable for the Live units, 8 of the 10 "pin positions" have contacts in them. Three of those would be +12, GND, and the yellow wire. On the power cable from the Elite FS box, only two "pin positions" are populated with contacts. Those two are required to be +12V and GND, or the unit would not power up. There is no other contact populated in the Elite FS power cable plug; therefore, the power cable as provided will never allow any display unit to turn any accessory on/off. You need at least 3 working contacts in the cable & connector to have power as well as control an accessory.

The attached photo of my Elite FS Power Cable is fuzzy, but it shows my point. In the photo, you can see two reflective gold dots in the connector pin array. Those are populated contacts that would be mandated for +12V and GND. The other eight are empty; there is no possible connection that can be made because no other contact is present (regardless of how many wires may be in the raw cable used) - there are just 8 empty holes that do nothing. THIS is why this cable will never be able to power an accessory on/off as should be possible. Do you understand yet?

Ya I got all that but we are talking about 2 different things so until I find out what its suppost to be this is just a do loop You demonstrate what the manual shows so I need to confirm if the FS is even suppose to have a yellow wire at all on the power cable.