Lowrance XOG question

[HawkEYE1]

Does anybody use a Lakemaster chip with this XOG unit while ice fishing? How does it work with a snowmobile or ATV? It seems like an inexpensive unit that could also work in the car for directions, etc. Thank you for any input!

[Maverick]

Does anybody use a Lakemaster chip with this XOG unit while ice fishing? How does it work with a snowmobile or ATV? It seems like an inexpensive unit that could also work in the car for directions, etc. Thank you for any input!

I use the XOG for ice fishing. I have the Lake Master Map and it works out very well. The unit is not waterproof, so you have to take that into account when you are moving around, especially on a snowmobile. I usually keep it in an inside pocket until I know I am close, then pull it out to pinpoint my position. It is a very good on the hiway also. For the price, I think it is a good deal.

[fishwater]

I've ran both the lakemaster and navionics in the XOG, it displays both maps really well. The screen size is great and the touch menu is pretty intuitive. I'm really impressed with how fast the 12 channel receiver finds the your position too.

[Shack]

Wow, just thinking about this earlier today

I have just started to use the XOG this season and have been very satisfied with it and more so after learning more how to use it. I have brought over way points from other units and have started to use routes to way point with the turn by turn off. Basically after you get under a mile, it goes into how many feet away from a point you are. I also like the storage for info on way points. I use other categories for my info, but I can type in via the touch screen key board, pretty much all the info (jig, bait, weather, time of day) and date into the address area of the waypoint. Go with the Lakemaster chip, because it zooms into 12', verses my Navionics chip which zooms in to 100' only, but the Nav. has more small local lakes so do not rule it out .

It's very light with a nice big screen. I have heard the internal rechargeable battery (huge plus) only has a life of 2-3 hours before you need to recharge it. I leave mine plugged in to the truck or sled, so when I bring it into the porty to plan out spots, the battery has never died on me. If you take it with you out hiking or hunting, when you need it, power it up and then shut when not needed. You can go off the internal battery all day then.

You can check out more about them here:

Click here for XOG info at PFS!!!!

I have used it on my sled now for upwards of 60miles on lake riding and approximately 350 miles of trailering (I leave on the sled all the time). I even use the Lowrance suction cup provided mount and it has stayed on my sled, with out falling off. Even in below 0 temps .

Turn it on and with seconds I have my position. Works great in very cold temps. The touch screen can be used with glove on.

I am using it like any would use an H2O, to see how far it will go. I would not drop it down the hole and when on the sled out fishing, I have a cover I throw over the sled when snowing and this keeps the snow off it. It is weather proof, not water proof, so again do not drop it in a puddle or water. I am not sure what will happen.

Then when done fishing, switch over to turn by trun and use the Lakemaster chip info to drive right to your house. It also has a built in MP3 player and image, pic viewer and other junk in the menu's I have not got to yet.

Good luck!

[Nate McVey]

I also have been using the XOG this year as I am new to the cities and have yet to find my "go-to" lake. I run the Navionics chip and have had no issues with it. You can easily switch between the chip and the Lowrance data for turn-by-turn directions. What I mean is, the Navionics chip does not have the road data, it just shows your position, so when we use it for driving directions I like to see the roads. For the money it has been one of the best things I have bought.

[PierBridge]

Thanks for the detailed report Shack!

Oh and Shiner your Viking avatar is ready.

[Shack]

shiner,

Does your Nav. chip zoom in closer than a 100'?

Mine with the Nav. chip will stop at a 100'. Popped in the Lakemaster and boom, down to 12', popped back the Nav. chip and back to only zooming down to a 100'?

I have not installed any updates on-line yet. Maybe they have something that lets the Nav. chip zoom in tighter???

Thanks!

My next time out I am going to get into using the 3/D horizon route trail option for getting to my spots. Basically it has a horizon view of the lake your on, with contour lines in 3/D some what like fashion, with the depths marks via lines/arrows hovering over the lake going/pointing down to the contours lines of the lake. To me it would be routing to your spot in a 3/D type view.

[Nate McVey]

Quote:

Does your Nav. chip zoom in closer than a 100'?

Nope, stops at 100'. I chose Navionics mainly because it has WI, MN and MI all on one chip. As this is my first GPS that takes chips, I guess I didn't think about the zoom and how close it would get. I have used it on a couple lakes around Bloomington and compared the data on the XOG to that on the maps and seem to get fairly close to where I want to be.

Pierbridge, thanks for the photo and for tracking me down I have been avoiding the football forum 3 months it is.

[Lip_Ripper Guy]

I really like mine, except for the durability. I am on my 3rd one in under a year. The first 2 had the same problem, which I think is the mini-USB port breaking. Looks like they changed the charger with my new one, so hopefully it will take care of it. I think it is a great unit though.

[Caleb S]

I really like mine. I was debating between the H20 and the XOG. Went with the XOG because of the because of the turn by turn directions and touch screen operation. It was also a lot less than the H20C as well.

The only thing I was concerned about was that it is not WAAS enabled like the H20 is. Some people said it would not be accurate enough without the WAAS. After doing a bunch of reading on WAAS I determined it is not really needed. I marked a spot ice fishing where I was catching fish. The last two times out I was able to find the exact hole I had been fishing. When standing on top of the hole it said I was 6' from the hole. That is close enough for me.

I purchased a 1GB SD card and downloaded a bunch of music onto it. I take it in the fish house and listen to my music. The only downside is you can only use one SD card at a time. If you want to listen to music you have to take out your Lakemaster chip. If you are going to use it for music in the house you can turn off the GPS and set the screen to shut off after a specified amount of time. This helps save on the batteries big time. I was able to listen to music for about 4 hours and the battery still wasn't dead.

After shopping around I determined it was about the best unit out there for the money.

[PierBridge]

I was kidding on that one. >-< Lets try something more tasteful...

Sorry for the Hi-Jack guys... Great info!

[Fishnblood]

Just thought I would chime in and give yall my 2 cents on this unit.

I bought this from c abellas 2 weeks ago and have to say this is a great unit for 150.00. I use a 07' Navionics chip in mine and have to say I am yet to be disapointed in the quality. Also the fact that you can use it as on the road gps makes it a great option. You don't need to purchase additional software either which makes it nice if your looking to use it for driving. I have a phd handheld that is grayscale and will use that for hunting and with the wheeler. But if you look at all the prices out there for a "road" gps they are all over 150 bucks. I think this unit is ideal for any sportsman/woman! Just my review of it so far.

[slipperywhenwet]

Just thought I would chime in and give yall my 2 cents on this unit.

I bought this from c abellas 2 weeks ago and have to say this is a great unit for 150.00. I use a 07' Navionics chip in mine and have to say I am yet to be disapointed in the quality. Also the fact that you can use it as on the road gps makes it a great option. You don't need to purchase additional software either which makes it nice if your looking to use it for driving. I have a phd handheld that is grayscale and will use that for hunting and with the wheeler. But if you look at all the prices out there for a "road" gps they are all over 150 bucks. I think this unit is ideal for any sportsman/woman! Just my review of it so far.

I just picked up the XOG at the cabelas deal as well.

I've used a lot of GPS units in my day and this one fit the bill nicely.

I'm running both the Navionics and Lakemaster.

The navionics is a regional map and the lakemaster is state/area specific.

The lakemaster is more detailed.

My ONLY complaint is with the Navionics you have to switch back and forth between the Lowarance and Navionics maps.

You do not have to do that with LakeMaster.

The two chips do what they do great, but you pretty much have to have both.

One other tip...

Be sure in the settings you have it to turn off and not go into standby or it will REALLY eat the battery.

So far overall I'm really liking this unit. Sits on the dash of the truck and I drive out to the structure.

[KG243]

I think I will be pulling the trigger on one of these units shortly. DOes anyone know why they dropped in price so much?

[Shack]

FYI,

Dave at Pro Fishing Supply is running the same deal on the XOG as Bella's for $149.00.

Click here for a deal on the XOG from Pro Fishing Supply

You would be helping a fellow FMer and a good sponsor of this great site .

[fishwater]

I think I will be pulling the trigger on one of these units shortly. DOes anyone know why they dropped in price so much?

I might be mistaken, but I was under the impression that they were factory reconditioned units and they are discontinuing that product. I believe there was an issue with some of the early ones sold (which was fixed) and also business issues in getting them into retailers needed to break into that market.

[leech~~]

shack, did your sled come with a 12V plug in? Or did you put it in? Where did you wire it from, the hand warm wires, or off the key switch?

[slipperywhenwet]

Usually when this happens:

1. they are discontinuing them

2. they are making major changes.

I'm guessing #1...

Note from admin, please read forum policy before posting again, Thank you.

Read the directions carefully!

[slipperywhenwet]

Originally Posted By: KG243

I think I will be pulling the trigger on one of these units shortly. DOes anyone know why they dropped in price so much?

I might be mistaken, but I was under the impression that they were factory reconditioned units and they are discontinuing that product. I believe there was an issue with some of the early ones sold (which was fixed) and also business issues in getting them into retailers needed to break into that market.

I don't think the bella's units are refurb's usually they have to tell you or its marked on the box. My unit I picked up last week looks factory new to me.

[KG243]

FYI,

Dave at Pro Fishing Supply is running the same deal on the XOG as Bella's for $149.00.

Click here for a deal on the XOG from Pro Fishing Supply

You would be helping a fellow FMer and a good sponsor of this great site .

I saw that and he has free shipping too I believe?

[Maverick]

Originally Posted By: KG243

I think I will be pulling the trigger on one of these units shortly. DOes anyone know why they dropped in price so much?

I might be mistaken, but I was under the impression that they were factory reconditioned units and they are discontinuing that product. I believe there was an issue with some of the early ones sold (which was fixed) and also business issues in getting them into retailers needed to break into that market.

I am quite sure that they are not factory reconditioned. I think they came down in price to compete with the Garmin 205 which was selling for around $120 and has similar automotive aspects. The 205 is the low end of Garmin GPS and would compete with the XOG. I would be really surprised to see them discontinued since it is Lowrance's only Auto GPS.

[Shack]

Lowrance will not sell the remanufactured units as new. They will how ever exchange your under warranty broken unit (XOG, H20) for a remanufactured one.

I can not find anywhere where they are discounting the XOG. My take on it is Lowrance did not do the best on marketing this unit (heck I did not know anything about them until hearing stuff on FM ), plus they have a tight market for automotive GPS units with pricing.

It is not like this unit is a brand new model, it has been around for over year. If Lowrance wants to keep in the automotive turn by turn market and be competitive on pricing with other units, the XOG will stay. Now, if they are just selling off them cause they did not market them well or have something new coming out, we will find out I guess.

I went into the XOG with full knowledge of it's plus's and minus's and am very satisfied with the unit.

Leech, that sled is the Roles Royce of sleds Ya, plug in baby I think there is 2 or 3 of them on that machine

[leech~~]

shack, 2-3 plugin's on one sled, how many cigarettes do you need to smoke at one time? Or are you making Expresso on one of the others at the same time!! Well I'm going have to splice in a plug in on mine some where. Any ideas where to splice in a 12V plug in on a 2000 Polaris Sport Touring would be? Key switch, hand warmer?

[Nate McVey]

Leech, here's a thread that was started the other day.

Where to put a 12V adapter

[leech~~]

shiner, Great! Thanks for the tip!