01-19-2015, 04:39 PM
So a couple days ago (Saturday) I picked up a new Navionics chip. Been meaning to get another one so I had more detail on the front Humminbird. I don't have a chip in it and only the Humminbird base map stuff which essentially says you are on a lake and not much else. lol There is several different ones but after comparing them, several emails to Navionics and doing some internet searches it really comes down to one. The newest released Navionics+ chip. It comes with zero maps on it and one has to go to Navionics and pick what they want and download them. (More or less the entire west coast side of the US fits/is within the max limits one can download.) With this one one could have lakes on it all over the US verse being restricted to a zone like my 2011 Navionics HM Premium west chip.
Three gains made. First I haven't paid for updates for a while so back on a year of updates for this one. Second it has Sonar Charts which are waaaaaay detailed compared to "normal" Navionics charts. Third, one can record their day on the water essentially and upload that file to Humminbird. A week or so later when one does a update that "new" sonar info will be in it. To be seen if I like that/it works as advertised. I recorded some of my running around Sunday and uploaded it to Navionics. I really don't need anything new since Mead is really mapped well so to be seen if worth the time. Plus I didn't use their settings for the recordings so to be seen if this works (1 ping per second. I kept it on auto so I had a good picture fishing). I just did it once to see how this all works. It would be cool to hit a lake not mapped like Panguitch in Utah and see what comes out of doing something like that.
There still is no way to adjust for water level so one still has to be on their toes on Mead and just really watch the contour lines and take the info with a grain of salt.
There is some tricks to using that card which caught me off guard (like getting to Sonar Charts view verse the normal view). Info wise there isn't squat on the Navionics site on how to fully use the card. I did some youtube searches and learned what I needed to know that way. Plus I sent Navionics an email last night with some other questions I can't find the answers for.
To buy this one over say the HotMaps Premium it comes down to can your unit handle it. "Most" Humminbird units can and if so I say 100% worth it if your unit can handle Sonar Charts. It is a 50 dollar difference but worth it for the "HD" contour detail.
[url "http://www.navionics.com/sites/www.navionics.com/files/documents/Americas_CompatibilityGuide_4.pdf"]http://www.navionics.com/...atibilityGuide_4.pdf[/url]
I still want to try the LakeMaster version one of these days just for the ability to adjust the water level but since there is no online updates for it I'm holding off until the 2015 version gets released. To be seen if I actually buy it this year or not...
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Three gains made. First I haven't paid for updates for a while so back on a year of updates for this one. Second it has Sonar Charts which are waaaaaay detailed compared to "normal" Navionics charts. Third, one can record their day on the water essentially and upload that file to Humminbird. A week or so later when one does a update that "new" sonar info will be in it. To be seen if I like that/it works as advertised. I recorded some of my running around Sunday and uploaded it to Navionics. I really don't need anything new since Mead is really mapped well so to be seen if worth the time. Plus I didn't use their settings for the recordings so to be seen if this works (1 ping per second. I kept it on auto so I had a good picture fishing). I just did it once to see how this all works. It would be cool to hit a lake not mapped like Panguitch in Utah and see what comes out of doing something like that.
There still is no way to adjust for water level so one still has to be on their toes on Mead and just really watch the contour lines and take the info with a grain of salt.
There is some tricks to using that card which caught me off guard (like getting to Sonar Charts view verse the normal view). Info wise there isn't squat on the Navionics site on how to fully use the card. I did some youtube searches and learned what I needed to know that way. Plus I sent Navionics an email last night with some other questions I can't find the answers for.
To buy this one over say the HotMaps Premium it comes down to can your unit handle it. "Most" Humminbird units can and if so I say 100% worth it if your unit can handle Sonar Charts. It is a 50 dollar difference but worth it for the "HD" contour detail.
[url "http://www.navionics.com/sites/www.navionics.com/files/documents/Americas_CompatibilityGuide_4.pdf"]http://www.navionics.com/...atibilityGuide_4.pdf[/url]
I still want to try the LakeMaster version one of these days just for the ability to adjust the water level but since there is no online updates for it I'm holding off until the 2015 version gets released. To be seen if I actually buy it this year or not...
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