GPS maps

[otterman]

Just wondering what people think is a better set up for the money. I bought an X 18 and wanted to know if I should buy The Lake Masters lake maps or the Navionics Hot Maps, and which one gives you a better view of the lake structure.
Thanks.

[Note from Rick: You can find the LakeMaster ProMaps, ProMap MMC chips or ProMap Garmin data card/cds at:

http://Minnesota-lake-maps.com ]

[This message has been edited by Rick (edited 04-21-2004).]

[pegleg]

I have the Lake Master chip for mine and the only thing bad about it is it doesn't zoom in far enough like Lake Master maps on your computer. I don't know what Navionics is like compared to Lake Master. The only trouble with not zooming in far enough is on deep drop offs it becomes one big black line instead of giving the 1 or 3 foot increments.

[early007]

The zoom scale is based on the gps unit you run. I also use the lakemaster chips. I think are the best. Last year I ran an x-15 this year a different model and the zoom capabilities are different. My guess is the bigger units have greater zoom capability.

Jason Erlandson

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Dave's Sportland Bait and Tackle
Sportland Guide Service Hwy 371 & Cty Rd 13
Nisswa MN

218-963-2401

[walleyewizard]

early007, how did you like your x15? I can't decide between that one and the lms480.

[otterman]

Just wondering, It may sound stupid but do you have to be on the lake to show the detailed maps or can you do it from anywhere. I am new to this chip thing in the graphs. Any help would be very helpful.
Thanks Otterman

[bassin]

Hey guys.

The Lakemaster chip is made by Navionics. Well, the data is collected differntly but Navionics makes the chip. The Lakemaster chips only offer 4 lakes at the moment. Minnetonka is coming soon as are are couple more that I can't remember at the moment. Yoou can send your lakemaster chip along with $50 back to Navionics when the new lakes come out and they will send an updated one with the added lakes. The Navionics Hot maps offr more lakes but are far less detailed then the Lakemaster. The gold series that is avalable has shaded colors between the contours but only works on colored GPS units. Otterman, to answer your question. YOu do not need to be on the lkae to show the detail, however you will have to scroll to the lake on the screen to see it as it will be showing your current position.

Walleye- consider looking at the lms-330c instead of the 480. If you don't go with the larger screen size of the x-15 then the colored unit of the 330 is so much easier to read the contour lines of the maps opposed to the smaller grey screen of the 480. The 330 has less pixels than the 480 but you make it up in the 256 colors that you have opposed to 16 shades of the color grey.

[Mykal]

Another thing to stay up on is the software version you are running. The older x-15, x15 c, Global Map 3000 need to be running 2.2.0 I believe to run the new MMC chips correctly. Lowrance has the software upgrades but you will need a MMC/SD reader/writer to upload the software to your MMC chip and then load it into your unit. So I would recommend getting an extra blank MMC/SD chip and a reader/writer like the Map Create 6 package to upload the software upgrades from the Lowrance site as they come out. I have a GP4800M which is brand new and it already has a software upgrade available. This will give you the best possible viewing capabilies for your unit.

[Note from Rick: You can find the LakeMaster ProMaps, ProMap MMC chips or ProMap Garmin data card/cds at:

http://Minnesota-lake-maps.com

[This message has been edited by Rick (edited 04-21-2004).]

[Brickhouse]

I have been advised to purchase an SD Memory card from BBuy or CCity for my Lowrance card reader. What size should I get? Any advise? I bought a used boat with a couple of lcx15's on it, but no card.

[Mykal]

Brickhouse. I was at BB yesterday and picked up a 128 meg MMC for 69.99. There's one 128mb SD on sale I think it's scandisk, for 39.99 after rebate.