i-Pilot Link?

[Kyhl]

Maybe on the lakes you hit. It's relative to where you fish.

LM is low def on Vermilion and a few of the metro lakes. The only lake that I found LM to be better was Mille Lacs. They have either been the same or better using Navionics.

[CaptainMusky]

You guys really got to try using the LakeMaster high def maps instead of whatever you are using. They are really spot-on.

I use lakemaster almost exclusively and I find them to be the most accurate compared to Navionics for where I fish, but "spot on" not by any stretch. They are very accurate though for the most part, but I would never go solely by them, I trust what my sonar tells me more than the chart.

The guys that made those charts do an exceptional job, but to cover every square inch of a lake like vermilion or mille lacs is impossible. They concentrate their time on key areas of significant structure, but there are spots in the middle of nowhere that are completely missing or not at all accurate.

I have had Lakemaster products in my GPS since they came out. I fully know what they are capable of.

[CaptainMusky]

Maybe on the lakes you hit. It's relative to where you fish.

LM is low def on Vermilion and a few of the metro lakes. The only lake that I found LM to be better was Mille Lacs. They have either been the same or better using Navionics.

This is precisely why I have both because on some bodies of water LM is better while other navionics is. The new Lowrance chips are interesting to me because for less money than either Navionics OR LM I have can get MN, SD, ND and beyond with LOW and Rainy on ONE chip and not have to buy another $100 chip for the LOW/Rainy, etc. Granted the total number of HD lakes may not be the same, but thats why I will keep the LM chip for those odd bodies that Lowrance doesnt have.

[SpecialK]

Not to mention that lake levels can and do change all the time. LM and Navionics are not putting out daily, weekly or monthly updates as far as I know.

What would be cool is if they used the gps and current depth reading from the sonar to automatically offset the mapping realtime instead of making the user do it. Then, like I said before, make it so I can tell the sonar that I want to stay at a certain depth and the trolling motor will work to keep me there.

This should all be very doable with todays technology and with as small as microprocessors are.

[delcecchi]

Maybe on the lakes you hit. It's relative to where you fish.

LM is low def on Vermilion and a few of the metro lakes. The only lake that I found LM to be better was Mille Lacs. They have either been the same or better using Navionics.

LM has 3foot contours on Vermilion and is the result of a survey. It works fine. I haven't used the Navionics chip.

[BartmanMN]

Not to mention that lake levels can and do change all the time. LM and Navionics are not putting out daily, weekly or monthly updates as far as I know.

What would be cool is if they used the gps and current depth reading from the sonar to automatically offset the mapping realtime instead of making the user do it. Then, like I said before, make it so I can tell the sonar that I want to stay at a certain depth and the trolling motor will work to keep me there.

This should all be very doable with todays technology and with as small as microprocessors are.

If you have Humminbird and LM, then you just adjust the lake water offset to the water level. One of my favorite features and first thing I adjust when going to a new lake.

[kg2]

Maybe on the lakes you hit. It's relative to where you fish.

LM is low def on Vermilion and a few of the metro lakes. The only lake that I found LM to be better was Mille Lacs. They have either been the same or better using Navionics.

You aren't using a current LM chip... Vermilion is HD Lakemaster mapped! Spot-on.

I don't really see a value of using any map that isn't HD. Yes, I am anal and would rather use my SI and spend the time learning a lake if the map isn't HD.

[kg2]

Also, my understanding is that the i-Pilot link will only work with the 2013 LM chip.

[Kyhl]

You want Navionics on V. I have both and Navionics has 1' contours. Those contours show much more.

The eye opener for me came from using the phone app all winter. I used it for ice fishing in the metro.

Spring came and I hit my ice fishing spot using LM in the boat but had a hard time finding the spot. I ice fished in 1' contours on my phone. Grabbed my phone to find my spot in seconds. I was working a small inside turn that didn't show up on LM.

[Kyhl]

You aren't using a current LM chip... Vermilion is HD Lakemaster mapped! Spot-on.

I don't really see a value of using any map that isn't HD. Yes, I am anal and would rather use my SI and spend the time learning a lake if the map isn't HD.

What year LM? I have the 2011 version and V is not HD on it. Navionics is 1 foot contours.

I just updated my navionics chip online and Mille Lacs looks much better. It also fixed another local lake so that the dock is in the water instead of across the road.

I might be about a week away from selling the LM chip.

[CaptainMusky]

HD is either 1 or 3 foot contours depending on the lake. Not all HD lakes are 1 ft.

[Kyhl]

That explains it.

I guess I don't consider 3' to be HD when you can miss subtle pockets. For example in Big Bay, Navionics shows a break through the east side of the bay that is almost invisible on LM.

Looking at the two shots below, I wouldn't call LM HD.

Navionics

Lakemaster

[CaptainMusky]

I agree just going off what lakemaster considers HD

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

Yeah, but you can't zoom very close on Navionics. Nice to have all options in the arsenal though.

[katoguy]

There are 322 Lakemaster-surveyed HD maps on the current chip for MN. You are showing old information. (The current chip is version 3. I believe version 2 had Vermilion listed as Lakemaster-surveyed, too.)

[Esox_Magnum]

Yeah, but you can't zoom very close on Navionics. Nice to have all options in the arsenal though.

50' isn't zoomed in close enough?

[Kyhl]

Yeah, but you can't zoom very close on Navionics. Nice to have all options in the arsenal though.

What do you mean by can't zoom in very close?

I can zoom in to the same 50' scale on both. I have an 8" screen and can make 50' = 1". Should it go farther?

The Lm is actually zoomed in one notch closer and showing less detail.

Can you explain the zoom comment? I am not following.

[Kyhl]

There are 322 Lakemaster-surveyed HD maps on the current chip for MN. You are showing old information. (The current chip is version 3. I believe version 2 had Vermilion listed as Lakemaster-surveyed, too.)

The LM from that screen grab is version 7.1 from 2011, not that old. Maybe they got it better this year.

[1johnb]

One of the problems with the pinpoint systems was when in the depth contour setting it could not anticipate direction changes. It would constantly seek the set depth. For a unit to follow actual depth it would I think need 3 separate beams left middle and right.

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

One of the problems with the pinpoint systems was when in the depth contour setting it could not anticipate direction changes. It would constantly seek the set depth. For a unit to follow actual depth it would I think need 3 separate beams left middle and right.

I wonder if they still hold the patent and that is why nobody else is doing it? Seems easy enough with the tech available.

[CaptainMusky]

One of the problems with the pinpoint systems was when in the depth contour setting it could not anticipate direction changes. It would constantly seek the set depth. For a unit to follow actual depth it would I think need 3 separate beams left middle and right.

I certainly could be wrong, but I believe the heads had several transducers built into them to do exactly that anticipate depth changes. I remember Bob Mehsikomer (sp?) discussing it and demonstrating how it would go right around in a circle if there was a deep pocket surrounded by shallow water.

I think it was more along the lines of expense to produce and the fact that 20 years ago no one wanted to pay $2000 for a trolling motor when motor guide and Minn Kota had functioning models for 1/4 that price.

[Chode2235]

$2000 for a trolling motor, shows how ahead of their time they were ....

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

$2000 for a trolling motor, shows how ahead of their time they were ....

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