Fishfinder question lakemaster compatible?

[jpaulson]

While fishing this weekend I introduced my dad to my H20c with the lakemaster chip. He liked it and I was telling him you can get a finder-gps combo that accepts the lakemaster cards too. About 20 minutes after talking about it his depth finder dies like he was destined to get a new finder. What is the easiest and most affordable combo unit out there now? I am also thinking if it would be a better idea to get a decent finder and a handheld seperate so it could be used for ice fishing as well. What would you guys do? Thanks.

[DTro]

With the LakeMaster chip your best (and maybe only) option is a Lowrance.

You could just as easily use the Navionics chip and go with a Humminbird too.

Mostly it depends on which lakes you primarily fish and which maps provide the best detail for you.

Either way I would look up Dave (Perchjerker) at www.profishingsupply.com he'll hook you up.

As far as the seperate units, that is a very good option. It's nice to have a bigger screen in the boat, but so far the H2O has worked pretty good for me.

Another thing to consider is that some of these "combo" units have a few bugs/tweaks that are still being worked out.

[Ralph Wiggum]

With the LakeMaster chip your best (and maybe only) option is a Lowrance.

I believe you can use them in Eagles, too, which is basically a Lowrance for the more budget-concious fisherman.

[jpaulson]

He fishes the Park Rapids area and the metro.

[Sandmannd]

I'd go Lowrance.

[Northlander]

Go Lowrance if you wnat to run both Lakemaster and Navionics. The Humminbirds wont take a Lakemaster. Although the 09 Navionics chips are supposed to be much improved.

As far as a easy to use combo unit I would look at the Lowrance 522c or something in that neck of the woods.

Wait until the end of the year and you should find some close out deals. Check Marine General, Cabelas, Reeds, Thorne Brothers. Profishingsupply and Gander. Some times you can get very good deals on units being discontinued but they are still great units.

[PerchJerker]

Getting a fishfinder and a handheld gps is a good idea if you want to be able to use the gps other places, like in the woods or on the ice or on the road. The only drawback to a handheld is the small screen size.

Combo units are nice and I use them a lot, but the screen sure seems to get a lot smaller when you're splitting the display. For my main units in my boat I run full screen sonar and full screen gps so it's larger and easier to read.

If you go with a fishfinder only you have lots of good options from Lowrance, Eagle, Humminbird or Garmin. And for handheld gps you would want to go with either a Lowrance or a Garmin and the LakeMaster chip.

If you want to go with a combo unit then a Lowrance or Eagle would probably be the best way to go, because of the options of using more map chips. Eagles will give you 99%+ of the functionality of Lowrance but at a lower price.

If you want to email me I can get you some ideas on specific units and their pricing. My email is in my signature. Hope this helps.

[mtheis]

I currently use the H20c with a 2007 Lakemaster chip. I have been using this combination for a period of 2 or more years. I use this with my Eagle depth finder and use a mount I purchased to use them side by side in the boat. I have come to depend on the GPS for many uses including speed and setting waypoints on the lake, but have been disappointed by two things:

1) Most of the lakes I fish are smaller, and do not even have

depth contour lines on the map 2) the darn batteries only last

a couple of hours, so when I came to depend on the power cord in

the boat it failed after about a year of use. So cheap.

I am trying to say...that if I knew then what I know now...I would have not purchased this equipment and spent the few extra dollars more on something else that is more reliable.