MNTRAX GPS chip

[Dozer]

Anyone have one of these chips? Looks like it has alot of lakes on it, but only 5' contours. Plus alot of other usefull stuff.

[huntnfish]

I have been looking into getting one for a while but it would be more for the state land info than the lakes.

[Scoot]

I have one and I love it! It basically has all state/private land boundaries and it's awesome. The topo for the lakes is pretty dang good too.

huntnfish, if you want to borrow mine sometime, I'd be happy to give it to you for a weekend to try out. Let me know and I can meet you up at the club if you'd like.

[jparrucci]

Roomate got it and is very disappointed. Did not have nearly the level of detail for even roads the lakemaster does. My mapcreate has more detail as well. I would not recommend this. Although he did say the guy he worked with was great and friendly as can be, the product itself just did not have enought detail.

[CAMAN]

These would be more aimed toward the hiking, hunting and atv/snowmobile market then, correct?

Are the lakemaps just copied from the DNR maps?

[Scoot]

Roomate got it and is very disappointed. Did not have nearly the level of detail for even roads the lakemaster does. My mapcreate has more detail as well. I would not recommend this. Although he did say the guy he worked with was great and friendly as can be, the product itself just did not have enought detail.

Yes, the guy who makes it is a very good guy. If you're looking for detail as far as roads are concerned, I'm sure you're right about that comparison. However, if you want to know boundaries between WMA's, WPA's, state land, federal land, private land, etc. there's nothing out there that compares to this- not even close.

[huntnfish]

I might take you up on that Scoot. Do you have the MN or the ND? I have been hunting more public land lately and it would be nice to have a better idea of the land borders. I will shoot you an email when it looks like I will have time to play with it. Thanks for the offer.

[Scoot]

Sure. I've got both MN and ND.

[Ed Carlson]

DTRAX and MNTRAX has data available now in the converter chips, and the cards include Lake map topo data, PLOTS MAPS, BLM, I have both and they are very good for the multi activity sportsman. I'm very imnpressed with the NDTRAX. I have not had a lot of use with my MNTRAX yet but looking over it, it is a significant upgrade from what I was using.

You will get Forest, WNA's, Grasslands, State Lands, WPA, ACOE and Conservancy, NWR, Parks, Sanctuaries, BIA Trust Lands, and up to date city streets and township roads. For the rounded hunter & fisherman, and outdoors person, this is a hugely useful set of tools in the field for a mapping GPS.

Plus I like that for $20, you can get the newest updates when they come out. So there is no need to buy a new chip all the time.

I'm of the opinion TRAX Data Cards hit a home run with there newly updated 2009 cards.

[Kirsch]

I am the owner of Kirsch's Outdoor Products and soon FishingMinnesota will be advertising and carrying the TRAX maps, so I hope it is OK that I jump in here and answer some questions.

jparrucci, the road data set used for MNTRAX is based off the DOT data, including all govt, county, city, and state maintained roads. NDTRAX used the DOT data to begin with and has switched during the year to include more in-depth road data to include more trails and virtually every gravel road and even private drives. It is the most detailed road database I have ever come across for ND. Changing the road database to this is being considered for MNTRAX 2010 as well.

There is no other mapset in existance with this much detail. There can be a case made there may be a product or products with more roads, but there is no product with all the main hunting, fishing, hiking, biking, and roads in existence today. It is a very unique product. Take it out on a full day of hunting or hiking and biking and see if you feel something else was more effective, and I would love to hear your feedback. If your friend still isn't satisfied I always offer a 100% money back guarantee.

Caman: As far as is it used mainly for hiking and biking, it can be but majority of folks using this are for hunting and fishing currently according to what they tell me when they order. Drill down into a section of land on MNTRAX and all the section lines show up and the Township, Range, and Section number show up as well if you have a PLAT book to verify private land ownership. Is it MN DNR data for lakes, the answer is yes as of mid-Summer. This is the same data used for virtually all other companies with the exception for the bigger bodies of water that may have been privately re-surveyed. There are over 1,000 lakes with contours provided with MNTRAX.

The MNTRAX product is strong and the NDTRAX and MTTRAX products are nothing short of amazing.

[Ed Carlson]

Welcome to FM.com Kirsch!

And that is good news for FM.com and the avid participants on these forums. You produce a first class product and I know your a straight shooter who takes pride in his work.

I think you will quickly find the knowlage bumping around these forums above average in the sporting wourld. A man with your talent and insight should easily be able to see what new features and lines would be usefull for the sportsman and sportswomen in the region.

Again..Welcome!

[harvey lee]

Originally Posted By: jparrucci

Roomate got it and is very disappointed. Did not have nearly the level of detail for even roads the lakemaster does. My mapcreate has more detail as well. I would not recommend this. Although he did say the guy he worked with was great and friendly as can be, the product itself just did not have enought detail.

Yes, the guy who makes it is a very good guy. If you're looking for detail as far as roads are concerned, I'm sure you're right about that comparison. However, if you want to know boundaries between WMA's, WPA's, state land, federal land, private land, etc. there's nothing out there that compares to this- not even close.

I agree 100% Scoot. I used my ND card this weekend looking around another area for bird hunting and I found this card very helpfull.

Thats after just one time using it, very satisfied with it.

[Powerstroke]

I'm hoping you come on board very soon Kirsch cause I am very interested in getting this software for my Ifinder H20.

If you're going to become a sponsor I can wait, because I want to support our sponsors because they are the ones who help keep this site affordable.

[Mike Stark]

Kirsch,

welcome to FM. good to have you here.

any word on when the MNTRAX 10 will come out? will it have the new road data?

looking at getting one from the Outdoor Pro Store

thanks,

mike

[Kirsch]

Mstark83, I don't have an ETA on this and it will take a lot of analysis to see what data is available and to attempt to merge 2-3 different data sets and not make an absolute mess out of it. ND was a bear to do and with the amount of roads especially with cities like Minneapolis, MN will be a huge challenge too.

I am fairly certain MNTRAX 2010 will have substantially increased road data but ETA is still to be determined. With the current data set, MNTRAX is the only all-around sportsman map, so there is no real advantage to wait. You can use it now and update when the 2010 comes out. The fee to update is only $20. It is highly doubtful any major road changes will take place before Spring either way.

[Kirsch]

Mstark83, I did finish an update to the roads. I started from scratch and didn't use the roads I had so I would end up with a fair comparison. I used 4 different data sets and when it was complete, I overlayed the old roads to see. My estimation is about a 30 - 40% increase in roads. The ares that seems to be the biggest increase are forest roads/trails and other minimum maintenance type roads. I wish I could have just added these without starting over but there would have been no way as so many roads would have been duplicated. It will be included in all new MNTRAX map purchases going forward.

For existing customers who wish to have this new road set, they can simply send me the MNTRAX card with the case to Korey Kirschenmann, 7915 Aquarius Drive, Fargo, ND 58104 in a bubble mailer with their return address and I will update for Free until MNTRAX 2010 releases (Spring).

[Ed Carlson]

SWEET!

That is an awesome perk Kirsch!

[JBL21]

Sorry to jump in late. Do these chips so private land ownership as far as Owner name,address, phone number or just that the land is privately owned and I would need to reference a county plat with sect. info that is on the chip?

[Mike Stark]

great news kirsch! thanks for the update. time to order one.

[nits]

Welcome Kirsch, I have a Lake Trax Northwest MN I bought 2-3 years ago, are updates available for this chip? Thanks.

[Mike Stark]

Scott....welcome to FM.

[Ed Carlson]

Welcome Kirsch, I have a Lake Trax Northwest MN I bought 2-3 years ago, are updates available for this chip? Thanks.

I believe the fee for the full update is $20, and you get the latest version.

For existing customers who wish to have this new road set, they can simply send the MNTRAX card with the case to Korey Kirschenmann, 7915 Aquarius Drive, Fargo, ND 58104 in a bubble mailer with their return address and I will update for Free until MNTRAX 2010 releases (Spring).

If I understand it correctly the MN free roads update applies to ships purchased this year only. After the 1st year the $20 fee applies to all TRAX chips, if I'm wrong, Kirsch please feel free to correct me.

[Kirsch]

JBL21 - MNTRAX currently shows the Township, Range, and Section number and as you said to find ownership, it would be cross-referenced with a PLAT book as you mentioned. My Montana version includes the PLAT information including parcel name and ownership, but Minnesota and North Dakota do not have this in a GIS format, so I can't yet. I would add it tomorrow if it was available.

Scott- The Lake Trax product was a totally different product and would be considered and upgrade not an update. For Upgrades (which this clearly is), the price is $40 and any updates for instance MNTRAX 2009 to MNTRAX 2010, it is $20. However, since Ed was helping out while I was out taking care of some local coyote problems, I will honor the $20 for the upgrade. Follow Ed's instructions on where to send the card and include a check or money orde for $20 or go to my HSOforum and use a Credit Card.

[Ed Carlson]

D'OH!....Sorry I misspoke on the upgrade fee Kirsch, but your a class act to do that for him.

Now I'm wondering if my next order will be $20 more...Eh? LOL!!

[Kirsch]

Fishing Realtor, SD does offer some public land as a free download from their HSOforum available for certain GPS types. It is actually very limited in comparison to the TRAX series of products. However, I agree that it is hard to beat free. In speaking with most of these departments from different states, I get a pretty good impression on what they will or will not be doing. Most states will not go through the process of ever trying to get GPS map files available for direct download or upload as the amount of support and updates is beyond what they wish to do or maintain. There will be other states like SD, I am sure, but I do not anticipate this in mass. Even if they do, there will always be companies such as mine that can deliver a value-add to the maps.

The following is a quote a customer sent me after using the SD free maps and then TRAX (my) maps. I have used similar products for other states and regions, but found them greatly inferior to your system. I can’t wait to get out into the field and use it again. Clay Thompson, Sales Manager - SportDOG

My current feature list for Minnesota includes:

Lake Outlines including Depth Contours: 1100+

Boat Ramps

Scientific and Natural Areas (SNA)

Wildlife Management Areas (WMA)

National Wildlife Refuges (NWR)

Bureau of Land Management (BLM)

Waterfowl Production Areas (WPA)

State Management Program

Tax Forfeit Land

Hunting trails

State Parks

State Forests

National Forests

Big Game Units

Hiking Trails

Cities

US & State Highways

County & City Roads

Forest Roads

PLSS Sections

Township, Range, & Section #

There is no other solution like this. All this plus a money back guarantee, and a low cost update policy.

[Rick]

I used the SD free one and it's very basic. I wish they would let Kirsch do those as well. Then we'd have somethng.