View Full Version : Which mapping GPS?
I don't care about detail showing bottom/structure, etc., but want trustworthy shoreline and island locations for navigation. I use GPS primarily for reduced visibility (night/fog) safety, and for marking spots.
Who does the best job of this?
Again, I don't give a rip about depth info, so tell me about good shoreline/island outline definition, not "hot spots" style mapping. I don't want that clutter on the screen.
Hans
Doug Burns
03-07-2001, 07:07 PM
Hans,
I don't believe you can get the detailed shoreline/islands without the other crap, as you put it. I have used the c-map cartridges because that is what is compatible with my Bottom Line GPS unit. The detail on this cartridge is amazing if you want it. If you don't want depth and bottom structure you simply turn that feature off. Basically you can set it up to show as much or as little info as you like.
Doug Burns
SeaCat
03-07-2001, 07:25 PM
Hans,
What bodies of water are you fishing? This may help narrow the choices you have more than anything else.
Like Doug my Magellan unit uses the CMap-NT cartridges but these are mostly available for great lakes and ocean coastal areas. I have the Southern Lk Mich and Western Lk Erie carts and they are great -- right down to showing docks in the marinas. On these waters it is nice to have some the "extra" info for navigation around new harbors but it can be filtered out through menu options on the GPS unit.
Ryan
TEAM_ALTO
03-07-2001, 09:52 PM
You should check out a Lowrance unit that uses their Map Create CD, you can down load a background map to the gps for any area in the US. It has all the lakes but no depth lines just the lake outline and large islands.
Hans
I like reading alot of your posts on Walleye Central and here is my experience with GPS. I have owned several units since 1993 and they all have good points and bad points. Lowrance makes a LMS 1600 that you can program with a CD and the detail is not bad. The main reason I like the unit is that you can download Navionics maps which have great detail.I use this unit on Lake of the Woods and with all the island and rock piles the Navionics map has all of them on there that I can see comparing it to a map.The lake with all it's islands can be very tough to navigate and sometimes I come back in the dark and this unit make it very simple.I don'tknow where you fish so you might want to go to Navionics web site and look at what maps they do have. They have a list on the web site of who they make charts for.
I use Navionics on Raytheon's 420D...This in eastern Michigan works for me.
You have a choice of turning on or off what depth contour you want.The clutter is up to you.
However, don't know what mapping is available for your part of the country.
Mike Michalak
03-08-2001, 04:46 AM
Hans,
Any GPS I've seen or used won't give you that "clutter" until you zoom in under a mile or so. Shoreline integrity is excellent, no matter how many miles the bird shows you above the water.
Island placement, buoys, routes, are all there to get you where you want to go on virtually every piece of electronics out there.
As for not caring about the bottom or structure, keep that in mind when you lose a lower unit. I personally NEVER count on one piece of information when I'm navigating unfamiliar waters or in the dark! That "Hot Spots" type of info can very useful.
Mike Michalak
President
Fishing Hot Spots, Inc.
Wow, thanks guys for all the info.
The lakes I use are all inland lakes which I know like the back of my hand (regardless of the patronizing comments from Hot Spots) -- I simply want to know where I am in relationship to shorlines and islands, and not be distracted by a lot of other undesired details.
Thanks again.
Hans