New HDS

[jipper]

I was out on milacs Lake with my new HDS from Lowrance and have the new lake master chip in it and it would not tell me the name of the flats on the lake.( it shows the contours and depths ) It will tell me the name of the flats on my handheld but not on my HDS. Any ideas or I'm i just screwed since garmin owns the lake master chips. Thanks

[TrollnDrift]

I would think somewhere in a menu there is an option about what information the unit displays. I do not have a lowrance tho i have a bird. We found the same thing on a friends bird and in one of the menues there was an option turned off that you had to turn on.

[John Mickish]

If you have a new gen2 HDS unit you do not have a Lakemaster chip. Lakemaster no longer makes Lowrance compatable maps, and haven't for about a year now.

I am guessing the reason your handheld works better is because it is older and does use the Lakemaster chip. The new Gen2 maps are a Lowrance product.

[Jacob]

I have a gen 2 HDS and my lakemaster chips work just fine

[raymondk]

the older chips that were made for lowrance will work in the newer units but not the elite ones but the mapping that came with my hds is better then the lakemaster chip on the lakes that I fish . This is why I bought a hds unit instead of a hb unit I got to use a hb unit before I bought the lowrance couldn't be happier with my hds unit . everybody brags up the hb units but I was not that impressed . Also when I had problems with my h2o I called customer service in 2 weeks time they had a new cord at my door and they were very helpful so lowrance will get my bussiness at this point....

[jipper]

I do have the new chip in my HDS 7 generation 2 . I appreciate the help. Thanks.

[John Mickish]

I was out on milacs Lake with my new HDS from Lowrance and have the new lake master chip in it

OK, you have an OLD lakemaster chip in it, not a NEW one. They DO NOT make NEW chips for Lowrance. When you said you had a new chip you threw me off there thinking you might be running a NEW Navionics or something.

Anyways, are you zoomed in far enough? My buddy has the same issue with his Lowrance units and the name of the flats. He has to be zoomed in pretty close in order for the name of the flat to show up. I think it's a screen size issue.

[John Mickish]

I do have the new chip in my HDS 7 generation 2 . I appreciate the help. Thanks.

Lakemaster DOES NOT make Lowrance chips anymore! They quit when Johnson Outdoors purchased them almost 2 years ago.

What you could be having is a compatability issue with the GEN 2 and the older Lakemaster products. I would call Lowrance and see what they say.

[Slob_Samurai]

I have a HDS 8 gen 2 and the Latest lakemaster chip they made (version 7)

also a 2009 chip in my HDS 5 they all work fine in both. For Mn lakes the older lakemaster chips still blow away lowrance's new chips. Already tried then sold the new Lake Insight HD 2012 cuz it was a joke for Mn lakes.

[Esox_Magnum]

2010 was the last year LM made chips for the Lowrance units, Had one and used it for 3 hours, sat on it for months to get half my money back.... Navionics for me is a much better chip...

[KirtH]

Yep Lakemaster is no longer supporting their product for use in Lowrance, I prefer Navionics they also offer some cool features such as free updates for a year, PC app and Community Layer. Navionics is constantly updating their cartography to supply the best mapping.

[Kyhl]

If you have to have a Lakemaster then find an used one.

I use both Lakemaster and Navionics in my HDS depending what lake I'm on. Sometimes Navionics is better, sometime Lakemaster is better.

I expect that Navionics will get caught up and we won't need lakemaster anymore.

Stupid move by Johnson Outdoors IMO. Turning away customers is never a good idea.

[jipper]

Has anybody tried the new lowrance HD chip and if so what do you think of it for minnesota lakes. Thanks

[Jnoel - Navionics Rep]

The LM 2011 charts will work in HDS Gen II, the 2012 LM will not. I have used all three chart companies, LM, Lowrance insight and Navionics HM Platinum. For the lakes tha I am on Navioncis still has the best charting. Because of the constant updating or Freshest data my lakes are just getting beter and Better. Way to go Navioncs Chart dudes....

[snowfighter]

Had a simliar problem with my Eagle elite 480 would show deep and contour but not all the names/ detail. I did a soft reboot by holding in pages button and pushed the power button held both until unit powered up. The lakemaster chip worked good after that all the detail and names were back up. You can also do a hard reboot by holding the zoomin and zoomout buttons and power until unit starts up but you will loss all your icon's and way points, you won't with the soft reboot.

[PerchJrkr]

I bought the pro chip and im glad i did instead of waiting for the higher priced HD. I got a look at one in Scheels this last weekend and was not impressed. The 3d goes away when you get in close, so IMO, its not worth the money. Love the pro chip though. It has EVERYTHING lakemaster had up through last year. Sodak, Nodak, Nebraska, Ok, Kansas, iowa, wisconsin. Best chip ever. Pretty sure this is a big F-U direct from Lowrance to Humminbird. Not sure if the info was bought and paid for or leaked to Lowrance, but its nice to get about 6-8 chips for the price of 1

[fishrhunt]

Esox; I would be interested to know where you fish that you find Navionics maps to be better than Lakemaster. I have generally found Lakemaster's maps to be superior where I fish on Lake of the Woods.

However, last evening I had the chance to compare the most recent Minnesota Lakemaster (pre Johnson Otds) chip in a HDS 5 Gen 2 (yes, it opened fine!) right next to a Navionics chip in an HDS 8 Gen 2. I looked at about 30 small to mid-sized lakes (300-1000 acres) in my home area around Bemidji, MN. I would have to say that Navionics was slightly better in 9 out of 10 cases. This surprised me but made me feel somewhat better about purchasing Lowrance.

I'm currently shopping and debating between HB (ie Lakemaster) and Lowrance (ie Insight and Navionics). What worries me about Lowrance is that they don't seem to have any update program like LM and Nav.

[Esox_Magnum]

I fish Iowa mainly but got the LM for Vermilion and wasnt impressed so went back to my old Navionics....

[fishrhunt]

So that mean you are primarily getting Corps of Engineers data on Navionics? Is that true? I hear their data is pretty good and doesn't require much supplementation to get a high definition map.

[Esox_Magnum]

No idea where they get their mapping all I know it's spot on....

[CaptainMusky]

Be careful about judging one chip over the other by "bench racing" them in your garage. Because one has more detail doesnt make it better.

There are lakes that are LM HD lakes, but only 3 ft contours while Navionics has them in 1 ft contours. BUT, the LM chip is more accurate when you are on the water on the lakes I have fished. So, at first glance one might think the Navionics chip IS better, but in reality the detail isnt accurate.

BUT, I have put the new lowrance chip side by side with the newest LM chip that worked in a Lowrance and they were identical for the lakes I checked. I focused on areas where I knew Navionics was off and the LM and Lowrance Pro chip were the same. So that is good.

What I love about those new Lowrance chips is it has LOW and Rainy, along with other states on ONE chip and the price is very good. Just watch where you buy it because some places were selling for $25 OVER retail where you can get it right from Lowrance for retail.

[BrdHunter01]

Esox; I would be interested to know where you fish that you find Navionics maps to be better than Lakemaster. I have generally found Lakemaster's maps to be superior where I fish on Lake of the Woods.

To me Lakemaster is much more accurate on Mille Lacs as well....

[Kyhl]

To me Lakemaster is much more accurate on Mille Lacs as well....

How old was your Navionics?

I agree, when I was on Mille Lacs in early June that the 2011 LM was better than the 2012 Navionics.

This weekend I updated my 2012 Navionics chip by downloading from their website and noticed that Mille Lacs looks much better.

I haven't been back since June so I don't know how it looks while being on the lake. How old was the Navionics info you were using?

[BrdHunter01]

I agree, when I was on Mille Lacs in early June that the 2011 LM was better than the 2012 Navionics.

This weekend I updated my 2012 Navionics chip by downloading from their website and noticed that Mille Lacs looks much better.

I haven't been back since June so I don't know how it looks while being on the lake. How old was the Navionics info you were using?

I don't have a Navionics chip and never have. Just had a friend with me last year that had a handheld with Navionics on it. Not sure when the Navionics was last updated but It was so horribly wrong compared to my lakemaster I'll probably never buy one. Could be better now...

[CaptainMusky]

When you say horribly wrong, did it depict the structur just not where you found it with the LM? Reason I am asking is because the GPS in a phone is not real accurate. I have the navionics app on my phone and had decent success on mille lacs with it compared to my LM chip, BUT the GPS is not dead on so using it to get "on the spot" isnt nearly as good has my Lowrance HDS with the LM. This has nothing to do with the chip itself, but the GPS capabilities.

[BrdHunter01]

It had structure but it was way off. The Navionics said we were in 22ft and we were in 28ft. The structure didn't look the same as LM on that spot on the SE side of Mille Lacs. Also the Big Point area of Mille Lacs was way off with the navionics as well. That was last year and I don't know when he last updated his navionics maps but I'll be sticking with Lakemaster...

[SpecialK]

Water levels can and do change on a weekly basis. Your unit should have a way to offset the map based on real world water levels. You should be able to find out what the difference is from normal from any local resort or baitshop.

Put the offset in to the unit then check to see how far off the mapping is.

As was stated earlier, no GPS antenna is perfect (unless it is military grade and those are still not perfect) and all will have times where they are just not that accurate depending on weather and conditions.

[Esox_Magnum]

Chips look way different on a hand held than on a good boat unit.... My results were on the water with a 2005, 2007, 2008 Navionics and 2010 Lakemaster...

[jipper]

How close can u zoom in on the navionics chip ? I know on the lake masters chip you can zoom in pretty close. ( I think as close as a 1/8 of a mile )

[Esox_Magnum]

50' on my Navionis and HDS....

[Kyhl]

To put the 50' into perspective, it's about 50' to 1" on my screen when my chart is full screen. So an 18 foot boat would be about a third of an inch on your screen. That is really zoomed in my book.

The problem comes when I split my screen into 4 squares. That brings my boat down to 1/6 of an inch and I'm only seeing 1/4 of the landscape.

It pays to go big screen if you want to see more information.