Good stuff to know about the Ifinder H2O

[Hookmaster]

I just got the Ifinder H2O after returning the H2OC due to its viewability in bright sunlight. There was some text overwriting the satellite page so I called Lowrance support to find out how to get rid of it. He had me "reset" the unit by pressing and holding the "PAGES" and "PWR" buttons until the navigation warning message appeared, then release both. The tech said this does not delete any waypoints and he was correct.

Last night I successfully transferred about 560 waypoints from my Garmin GPS MAP76 to Easy GPS, then to an SD card in the card reader and finally to the Ifinder H20. Very easy to do. I tried the PC interface cable for the Ifinder H2O but that didn't work.

I asked the tech about the size of the icons (I think they are too large) and he said many people have called about that. If Lowrance does anything, it will be in a software upgrade so check their HSOforum occasionally.

[hitthebricks]

Whats a easy GPS and will this work with the garmin 12 HTB

[PierBridge]

It's a great FREE program to back up and transfer your waypoints.

http://www.easygps.com/default.asp

It will work if you have the cable to connect the GPS to your PC.

[MJCatfish]

I was able to transfer all of my waypoints off of my Magellan SPortrak Pro onto easygps and then to a chip, then to my H20C. Total process took about 6-7 minutes. Plus, I have a back up on my computer and on a chip. What a great deal!

MJ

[not_nuf_time]

Hookmaster, you returned the h20c because you didn't like the view in the sunlight? was it that bad? I'm really thinking about getting the h20c but heard bad stuff about the view in sunlight can you sway me one way or the other. Anyone else could throw in their 2 cents to. And if I'm highjacking your postlet me know and I apoligize and I'll move to another post. Thanks.

[Biffer]

NNT-

I think the H2O C performs adequately in sunlight, and have had no problems using it on the lake in direct sunlight. The backlight needs to be used in most situations, so battery life is reduced, but visibility with the backlight is generally good.

[BIG DIESEL]

I also have the h20c but have only used it for about 2 weeks since i just bought it. On the ice it seemed fine and absolutely love the color. That is my $.02.

[EJ]

I have found the color unit much easier to read in the sun than the B&W.

EJ

[Big Pine Walleye]

You do need to have the light on to see much of the time. I guess that for what I am getting from the H2oC I am ok with buying the batteries needed to keep it going--they only take 2 AA!!

I love this unit and it is so much fun just to drive around the lakes looking for "new" spots to fish! Make sure that you buy a chip to go with it--I recommend the lakemaster!

[kjgmh]

I have the H2O and can not figure out how to turn off the trails. Can anyone help me with this? They are always on the screen, so after going icefishing at a spot a couple of times there are blinking lines all over the place.

[crappace]

To transfer the waypoints...Do you need a specific cord to do this or is there a generic cord that goes to the computer from the h2o??

[Hookmaster]

I used the card reader that is part of the Plus package (MapCreate, card reader, card). Does anyone know if you could use the SD slot on the computer you use for uploading pictures from a digital camera? My gut feeling is the MapCreate card reader needs to be used.

[Hookmaster]

not nuf time

The power consumption issues people are talking about is when the unit gets cold. I wasn’t worried about that because all GPSs are like that. In my boat where it will be used the most, I use the cigarette lighter adapter for power. When ice fishing you can change the viewing angle to make it easier to see, but not in the boat when it is in a mount and the angle of the sun hitting it is changing constantly.

Here a some excerpts from an earlier post entitled “GPS Unit - Which one is enough?”

Hookmaster

The H20C (color) in low light is awesome with the backlight on but it is very hard to read in bright, direct or indirect light (i.e. sunlight). So difficult that I'm returning mine for the H2O, the black and white, unit after doing a side-by-side comparison.

Hookmaster

If I remember correctly the "advantages" of the H2OC are 1) color, 2) higher pixel count for a sharper display and 3) can track up to 16 satellites. I have had GPSs for 10 years and I think the most I've ever locked on to is 10 so the ability to track more satellites doesn't add much. The display is sharper than the H20 but if you can't see it in sunlight it doesn't make any difference. In low light when the backlight helps, the color is far superior than the black and white. I will use mine 90% in my boat during the day and the black and white will be easier to see. I did a side-by-side comparison between the H2OC and H2O in bright sunlight and the H2O was better. Before I sent the H2OC back I compared it to my Garmin Map76 (black and white LCD) in sunlight and the Map76 was better. If you'll use it mostly during the day, the H2O is the better choice.

One thing I figured out to do when using the H2O instead of a marker to get around the large icons is to use the compass page instead of the map page. This page shows the direction (arrow) and distance to get back to the waypoint. I'd like to thank Wade Kuehl at Jolly Ann Marine for the Fishing MN Xmas special and working with me to get me the unit with which I'm happy.

Chris Hanson, FishingMN Pro Staffer

Just thought I'd add a few things after using my H20C for a good month or so now.

1) Color is impossible to see in bright sun.

2) Forget about using batteries with the unit, it eats them up too fast.

3) Other than that, I love the unit!

What I've gone to now is using a flasher type battery in a handlebar bag on my snowmobile that I have the GPS wired to. This last couple days I fished for 2 days straight (9 hrs a day) and left the H20C on with the backlight on while hooked up to the flasher battery. Good to go! A guy shouldn't need any more battery life than that out of the GPS.

Paul Wadowski, FishingMN Pro Staffer

I couldn't agree with Chris more. When the sun is out it blows trying to read the dang thing. Under clouds or at night...I wouldn't trade it for the world I mounted a small 12 volt battery under the hood of my sled and hooked it up to a 12 volt receptacle. Just the ticket.

[PierBridge]

Quote:

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I have the H2O and can not figure out how to turn off the trails. Can anyone help me with this? They are always on the screen, so after going icefishing at a spot a couple of times there are blinking lines all over the place.

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You'll have to go into Easy mode. Then hit menu, and then scroll down to clear trail.

[PierBridge]

Quote:

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To transfer the waypoints...Do you need a specific cord to do this or is there a generic cord that goes to the computer from the h2o??

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If there on your Computer you would write them to any SD/mmc card and transfer them to the H2O.

[PierBridge]

Quote:

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I used the card reader that is part of the Plus package (MapCreate, card reader, card). Does anyone know if you could use the SD slot on the computer you use for uploading pictures from a digital camera? My gut feeling is the MapCreate card reader needs to be used.

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People are using their SD/MMC card readers with success, but it seems that the LEI card readers work a little better especially trying to read and veiw their LakeMaster MN Chip on their PC's using Lowrance emulators.

[ScottND]

Quote:

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Last night I successfully transferred about 560 waypoints from my Garmin GPS MAP76 to Easy GPS, then to an SD card in the card reader and finally to the Ifinder H20. Very easy to do. I tried the PC interface cable for the Ifinder H2O but that didn't work.

I asked the tech about the size of the icons (I think they are too large) and he said many people have called about that. If Lowrance does anything, it will be in a software upgrade so check their

HSOforum

occasionally.

---

Hookmaster,

I've got a Garmin GPS V and when I pull my waypoints in to Easy GPS they can be saved as *.loc or *.gpx file and my H20 only reads *.usr files. How did yours work? I also have MapCreate 6.3 with the LEI reader.

[Hookmaster]

ScottND,

I uploaded from the Garmin to Easy GPS and saved it as the default file. I don't recall what file type since I don't have the file extensions setting on. With that file opened, I saved it to the SD card in the MMC/SD card reader to it's default setting which is .usr which I saw on the H2O gps. Then uploaded it to the H2O. I'll see if I can find out the file type of the Garmin file.

[Hookmaster]

When I save the Garmin file to Easy GPS, it saves it as a *.gpx file.

[ScottND]

I'll have to talk with lowrance because when I put a *.gpx on my card it still only reads the *.usr's when I go to tranfer data. I upgraded mine to the 1.4.0 last year.

[PierBridge]

You have to convert the format of your older way-points to something the Lowrance product can read.

I believe you can do it with Map Create or GPS Data Manager V.6.(GDM6)

Where is Paul???