new gps

[okfisherman]

I'm looking to buy a new gps unit. Any suggestions from some of you Rainy boys would be appeciated. Who likes what and best map chips for Rainy.

[Fish&Fowl]

I have the Lowrance H20c with the Premium hotmaps north chip. I wouldn't mind a bigger screen, but since I use it ice fishing a lot I opted for the smaller and more portable handheld. Very nice unit.

[bitz]

I have the same unit (color) and agree with F/F, for a portable, I think it works great and has as good as resolution as the canada side lake maps that show rocks awash etc.

Bitz

[okfisherman]

thanks gentlemen. That is the one I had been looking at most. This is a great forum.

[tearin' lips]

Navionics Premo North...Hands down.

[npsmokefan]

I have a question on navonics chip. I recently purchased the new north version chip mainly for Rainy Lake. And when I installed it in my H20 I don't get any information. I went through my manual on the gps and did what it say's. I have a lake master chip and I put that in the gps and the information is there ready to use. Do you need to do something different with this chip to recieve the information on the gps. I'm confused why I can't it to work. Help

GO SMOKE #20 AT THE MONSTER MILE

[bitz]

i have the 2006 chip so not sure, but you do need to go to the menu and select the correct area you want to get the detail on mine... it doesn't try and provide all of the fine info for the entire zone, you might look at your menu and then select the area for rainy (don't remember which one, but will look it up and send another msg) try this, and let us know.

Also, did you get the premium north chip? which includes southern ontario? if not, you may not get the rainy part.

Bitz

[Fish&Fowl]

If it is the premim north chip, you need to select nemn something (for northeast MN) and that should bring up all the lakes in this area including LOW. In advanced mode, go to menu-map data-navionics map choice. Good luck!

[okfisherman]

I just got my H2Oc and need to order the chip, does the Premium North chip have the canada side of Rainy or do I need to order the Canada chip.

[Fish&Fowl]

Premuim north has both the U.S. and Canadian side of both Rainy and LOW, plus a ton of smaller lakes in MN, ND, SD, IA, and WI.

[okfisherman]

Thanks F&F I really appreciate it! Can't wait to try this thing out up there. Hope I can figure it all out.

[bitz]

Just a note, when using the H2O, the actual position of your boat versus the real spot on the earth don't always match what you see on the gps position. If you are fishing the canadian side, they have terrific maps that show rocks awash and good contour. The same detail is on the gps, but if you expect to be dead on, it doesn't usually work out that way and you can find the rocks the hard way. I have found from knowing the lake, that the gps will be off quite a bit in relation to the map (not the earth) I would suggest you verify your gps by looking at where you are compared to where the gps map shows you. This sometimes shows me crossing an island (in my boat) and am almost always sure that i didn't. Just a heads up. You can find your off enough to go over a rock instead of around it.

Bitz

[okfisherman]

Yea I run into that with my current gps. It's always more accurate to where I've JUST been rather than what I'm about to hit. But on a cloudy day and your along way from camp, it sure is handy. All them islands start to look the same.

One thing for certain, I have NEVER forgot where a rock is after I've smacked it.

[CaptJohnWI]

My boat position is often shown as slightly south and east of where the map shows a reef or island. SO if I am trolling close to the west side of an island, my track shows I am driving across the island.

I go wide open on the marked sailing routes but always take it easy in areas of humps that I haven't explored before. Often they miss a few nasty humps on the chip and paper maps. I just troll slow when in doubt - often find some fish I would have missed otherwise. Many battle scars on my lower unit but so far it still works!

[Fish&Fowl]

I have noticed the GPS to be "off" quite a bit on smaller lakes with less detail, like the ones down by Ely where I went to school, but the accuracy on bigger bodies of water like Rainy and LOW is actually pretty good. Not all the rocks are on there and sometimes certain things are in different spots, but the actual location is right on as far as I can tell.

Still if you are unfamiliar with the lake or certain parts of it, a good set of charts is a must. I mostly rely on the GPS for finding fishing spots, but don't put much faith in it for navigating unknown waters.

[bitz]

I guess I was seeing the same things Cpt John was. If I believed my gps, my boat can convert to a hovercraft and back without me even knowing it . On Rainy, last year I was heading to paddy bay and if I had followed the gps, I would have gone right over the big rock pile in the middle of the inlet to paddy, I agree F/F, I use the map for navigation and the gps to mark spots and return to them. I still think it works great, just would not want to 100% depend on it.

Bitz

[okfisherman]

WOW, I am impressed with both this new H2Oc unit and the chip. I wasn't sure I could figure all the bells and whistles out but am about to get there. Can't wait to try it out on the worlds best fishing grounds, Rainy.

[gbuck]

I didn't have much luck with the H2O..I found the garmin 76c to be much faster at grabbing sats