How do you like your Lowrance H2O Color Handheld GPS?

[LetThemGo]

Anyone willing to share his/her experience with the H20 color unit? Specifically, is the screen on the H20 too small to do the LakeMaster chip justice? For example, when you zoom out to see a section of a lake can you see small points and inside turns, or is it impossible to see these small structures without zooming way in?

Any other Pros/Cons on this unit would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!!

[Bulldoggr]

Thats the whole purpose of being hand held. I love mine. i use it every day. if nothing else just something to play with. If i am not trying to get a certain spot on part of a lake. i have it plugged into my trucks cig lighter. I use it in my truck. i plug it into my cig lighter. then set the gps zoom in at .5 to 1 miles. I can see all the streets and POI around me as I drive.

As far as doing the chip justice i think it does. Sure you will see more on a larger screen. You can always get a bigger unit and use the chip in there. But really over all it is a great GPS system

[KidWalleye]

Got mine at the show, and I dig it. I came off Mille at night and having the map was so easy to get back to the landing. The only thing was I hadn't set the light ot stay on continuously. When I got home I figured out how to do that. I have only used it once on the ice and I did think it would be more accurate, as far as where it says you are in relation to a break or point. It got me close enough to use my Lx-i and I got right on the spot. But like I said I had only used it that once so maybe next time it will work better. As far as the map chip "awesome". Hope this helps Kid

[Captain B.R.K]

LetThemGo- I'm glad you posted this question. I have an older Garmin that does the trick for me, but I would love to have the new Lowrance H20c unit so I'm trying to justify why I would vs. why I wouldn't need it.

I bought the Lowrance LMS 332c this summer with the MN Lakemaster chip and what a piece of equipment!

I'd have a split screen (gps on one and graph on the other) and it was dead on.I couldn't believe how accurate it was!!

It'd be nice to be able to use my chip during the winter as well......I think I'm talking myself into a real easy buy

[AQUAJOE]

I think it is the slowest aquiring GPS I have ever used for the price.

I think I am going to take mine back and look for a different unit.

[TurnUpTheFishing]

No kidding. I missed this thread and just made my own to see if it was just my unit.

[Paul Waldowski]

Captain,

I'll give you something else to ponder.... Order the optional power cord and an LCG2000 antannae, wire the power cord to a 12 volt plug and viola..You now have the 332C with chip in your truck

[AQUAJOE]

Quote:

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No kidding. I missed this thread and just made my own to see if it was just my unit.

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Where you agreeing with my as to slowness of the Unit??

I think it would be ridiculous to have to buy an additional antenna and then have to have another power source to get the speed of acquisition of lower priced units.

[TurnUpTheFishing]

I agree with it being slow. I shouldnt have to walk around my block to get a signal.

I havnt used it on the water yet. Is it much faster in the open?

[AQUAJOE]

I went out on Medicine with it. It is slow. I am very unsatisfied with that.

I have units that were 4 and 5 old just recently and tey were much faster.

[AQUAJOE]

I went out on Medicine with it. It is slow. I am very unsatisfied with that.

I have used units that were 4 and 5 old just recently and they were much faster.

[Bulldoggr]

My H2Oc acquires a postion pretty quickly IMo. in Fact it is twice as fast as my old garmin I have.

[Random guy]

Love my H20! Fast, accurate, and the funtions are super easy to use. The only thing I don't like about it is the buttons don't light up like garmin. I have hit the wrong button in the dark a couple of times already. Other then that I want my H20 in the coffin with me so I can find my way to heaven.(big musky lake in the sky)

[Gissert]

I have been using mine the last several days on Ottertail Lake. I have not noticed any problems with slow aquisition. The way this things works with the Lakemaster chip, I don't mind waiting another 20-30 seconds before navigating. Once it starts navigating on the WAAS channels, the EPE was dowe to 20 feet or less in most cases. I navigated right back to my old holes on Sunday from the prior week.

When I first got it, and turned it on inside my house, it was slow. Once I got outside, it locked up on in short order.

[TurnUpTheFishing]

ATTN: AQUAJOE and others with slow units,

I think I figured out how to speed up the unit by turning of the 'DGPS', Still trying to figure out what it is but it sure helps to have it off.

menu > menu > GPS setup > uncheck 'require DGPS'

[AQUAJOE]

I will try that when I get home. Thanks for the update I will let you know how it goes.

[Random guy]

Quote:

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A'DGPS', Still trying to figure out what it is but it sure helps to have it off.

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Copied from a GPS how to site;

Q: What is DGPS?

A: DGPS is a method of improving the accuracy of your receiver by adding a local reference station to augment the information available from the satellites. It also improves the integrity of the whole GPS system by identifying certain errors.

I always thought it stood for- Dumb GPS Pretty Slow

[ozzie]

i believe when you purchase them they are set at a slower position retrieving mode to save on battery life. Read the manual they talk a little about it i think. I am still learning how to use the device but if i plug it in my car and start driving, it aquires position pretty quick and stays on track exactly to the road i am on or area i am driving to.....like the poster stated before used to get on and off the lake a few times and it does the job perfectly. Punched in cords to spot i wanted to go and it showed me a direct route from point A to B. So far the only thing i am having difficulty with is setting cords and then naming them so i can remember them and return to them... I will continue to read and experiemnet but if anyone can speed the process up that would be sweet.. Good Luck and Good Times............

[AQUAJOE]

DGPS is not an option on my IH2O C in the location you said.

[Captain B.R.K]

Paul, I'm going to send you an e-mail regarding how to do this!!

[TurnUpTheFishing]

Thats weird, are you running your GPS in advanced mode or the easy mode? You would need it to be in advanced mode if it is not already.

Jon P, or anyone else, do you run your unit with the DGPS on or off?

Hoping to get on the ice tomorow to really give it a good test, maybe even purchasing the lakemaster chip.

[AQUAJOE]

I am in advanced mode. There is not an option DGPS.

Options are as follows in that Menu:

Initialize GPS

Coordinate System

Datum selection

GPS Auto Search

Satillites...

Use WAAS/EGNOS

Track Smoothing

Require WAAS

Ext Passive Ant

Show WAAS Alarm

Use Indoors

GPS Simulator...

[TurnUpTheFishing]

The selection 'require WAAS' has a box you can check/uncheck? If thats checked, uncheck it. With this unchecked you should still get WAAS signals when your in a clearing but it will not be required to get a fix on your location.

[Random guy]

I turned my DGPS off some how. I remember doing when I first got it and was playing with it in my house I came across "require DGPS" and I unchecked the box. It seems to be just as accurate as I could ask for. When I get home tonight I'll see if I can figure out how I did it.

[LetThemGo]

How well do small structures, like submerged points and islands, display on these units? Is everything really scrunched together because of the small screen, our can you can you zoom out and get a pretty clear picture of what is going on?

I'd like to use this unit to find new spots on the lakes I fish, so that means being able to zoom out and and look at the lake the same way I would if I was holding a hard copy of the lakemap. This is what is great about the size of the screens on the 332c and 110c by Lowrance.

If zoomed out viewing does not work well with the small screen of the H2Oc, I would rather buy the new Lowrance 334c (w/internal GPS antenna) and rig that for ice fishing instead.

Thanks in advance for any replies. I have tried to get a look at a display model of an H2Oc to see for myself, but so far I have not been able to find one.