Really need your help with which handheld

[hal112303]

Nebraska only has 2 or 3 lakes that are on GPS chips that you can purchase. A lake that I fish is being drained for repairs to the dam (not one of the 2 or 3 mentioned). I have the opportunity to take a handheld out and precisely map out all the structures on this lake. But will I then be able to transfer this information to the sonar on my boat?

First of all, I need to purchase a handheld GPS. Sonars are Lowrance, so stick with Lowrance handheld? Or it really doesn't matter? I guess I could ask pages and pages of questions, but for now I only need to choose a handheld and get the structures mapped out on this lake this winter while I have the chance. EVERYONE knows more about GPS and what I'm trying to do so all help is appreciated!! PS, would also like to use GPS for ice fishing. Lowrance's H2O unit???

Thanks
hal

[acar555]

A Lowrance handheld would be the easiest. When you go to move them to the sonar unit there would be no conversion of file formats to get them to work. Just save them to a memory card, put the card in the sonar unit and load them from the card. All waypoints transfered over. If you went with another brand you would have to convert them before the sonar unit would accept them. There is free software to do this though.

[hondo]

For starters, look at the Navionics Premium HotMaps South map card, which has approximately 80 lakes for Nebraska (5 of them are high-definition (ie. super-accurate) maps).

The Nav card will work in the Lowrance H2O or H2OC handheld GPS.

acar555 is right on, it would be simplest to do what you want with a Lowrance GPS as you could simply transfer the data card with the waypoints from your handheld to the Lowrance GPS in your boat ---- if you don't go with a Lowrance handheld GPS you will have to do a data conversion.

[keek]

Another unit that will work with Navionics Hotmaps is the PN-40 from DeLorme. It's on sale right now at 50% off. It's a great unit, my only complaint is the screen is a bit small even for a hand-held unit. I've been using it for 11 months.

ALSO: you can load satellite imagery to the PN-40. It's like having Google Earth overlaid on your GPS screen with your location shown. It's pretty cool.

USGS charts are also usable on the PN-40.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001FVLTNA?ie=UTF8&tag=gosale-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B001FVLTNA&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER

[hal112303]

Hondo, So if I purchased the Navionics Premium HotMaps South card, can I write my waypoints directly to the card? Sorry about the elementary questions, buy my GPS skills have suffered in the last 5 years.

Thanks!!

[hondo]

The way it typically works is you put a map card in the unit to display the maps, and you save waypoints etc. to the internal memory in the GPS. To transfer the waypoints to another GPS, or to a computer for backup, you transfer the waypoints from the GPS' internal memory to a blank data card, and move the data card.

If you're asking if you can use a Nav map card in place of a blank data card to transfer the waypoints, I have heard people say they've done this, but I've never it tried myself so I don't know for sure. As long as the Nav card has enough room on it, and is not write-protected, you should be able to do it. But on the other hand ........ a blank SD card is only a few bucks, so I would use a blank card instead of screwing around with a more expensive map card.

[hal112303]

Went to Lowrance website and didn't find this card. They have HotMaps PRO North edition that does have Nebraska, but only 2 lakes. Is the Premium HotMaps outdated and no longer available?

Thanks

[hondo]

Navionics is not the same as Lowrance FHS.

You can see the list of lakes on the Nav card on the Nav web site. Many retailers (including us) carry the Nav cards.