New FHS HOTMAPS for Lowrance GPS units

[Aaron Burke]

This is just a partial list due out next week:

Chequamegon Bay
Lake Gogebic
Eagle River Chain
Lake Tomahawk
Trout Lake
Sturgeon Bay
Turtle-Flambeau Flowage
Pewaukee Lake
Lac Courte Oreilles
Castle Rock Flowage
Lac Vieux Desert
Lake Charlevoix
Rainbow Flowage
LakeMinocqua (this is also Mid and Kawaguesaga Lakes)


Check out www.navionics.com/fhs for more information.

[Keep in mind]

Also:

"Order by June 15, 2001 and get your HotMaps at the special limited-time introductory price of $25"

[Hawgeye]

Great concept but with the limited number of lakes available, I don't see that I will be spending any money soon. Why is it soooo difficult to create these lakes for GPS's. I want to have some contour maps for my Eagle status but by the looks of things my GPS will be outdated before they are available for the lakes I am interested in. I know CAD well and know that to create these maps, it can't be rocket science. Too bad that we can't scan in images and download them to our GPS!

[ANXIOUS]

WHAT I DONT UNDERSTAND IS IF MINNESOTA IS THE LAND OF 10,000 LAKES WHY IS IT THAT WISCONSIN IS GETTING ALL THE COVERAGE? 50 MAPS FOR WISCONSIN AND 10 FOR MINNNESOTA,WHAT GIVES? LOOKS LIKE NAVIONICS IS STATIONED IN THE LAND O' CHEESE NOT THE LAND O"LAKES

[risor39]

Fishing hot spots is located in the land of cheese sorry.Im sure they will be coming out with as many lakes as possible the more they have the more they sell.

[tideye]

It doesn't pay to buy them anyways. They wont make a decent map that will go down to .1 mi. I bought 3 maps and the best one(leech) only goes down to .5 mi. The others are around 1 or 1.5 mi. this is of little use. I for sure wont buy another until they realize that we need better resolution on the maps. Must be the land-o-cheese cause these maps are cheesy. Just my 2cents on what I figure is $75 over the side of the boat. No hard feelings navionics, just a prod. Get it right! When/if they fix this they will be very usefull.

Jim

[Al]

I don't understand why it takes so long either. Compag makes a "Palm Pilot" type computer that you can add a GPS to. You can download existing maps from specified cites. One owner told me you can download USGA maps and be up and running very quickly. Seems that Navionics should look into this. If Compaq made a waterproof unit, I'd be all over it.

[Mike Michalak]

Thanks for the update Aaron!

The rest of you guys...I've said it on this board before, this is new technology. Fishing Hot Spots may be based in "cheeseland" but Navionics has control of what maps they produce. They license our ENTIRE database.

Many issues get raised in situations like this and I'm finding myself getting curious by the responses. First, because the maps are protected by federal copyright, it's against the law to scan them for use without permission, CAD experience or not.

That process also severely limits the use of the data since you can't do anything with a raster image except zoom around. The technology of the hardware has to catch up with the compression ratios so they can jam more info into the memories (simply stated).

The maps must be properly georeferenced so the onboard GPS coordinates will work. The last thing you guys want is to have your units show you're sitting in 15' of water when in actuality you're beached on an island.

Each manufacturer has different standards for each unit. Lowrance, for example, accepts Navionics data, treats it for their format (not for Eagles) and you're off. Garmin is different, Raytheon is different.

As for resolution, remember fellows, we make paper maps...darn good ones too. While it's all done digitally, the technology has to catch up. It's an expensive procedure and all companies involved are doing the best they can. The near future looks even brighter as internal memory and processors expand in these miniature units. Remember too, this is only place to get these waters. No one else has them, so be patient. In about two weeks they'll have Rainy Lake, Eagle Lake and Pickwick Lake. You won't find those lakes anywhere else. Our digital partners (Navionics & Garmin right now) are aware of what needs to be done and are working hard to complete it. I don't want to answer for their companies, but I also just can't sit back and watch the shots ring out.

So, having said all that...my email address is always posted and I'd like to hear from you. Again, please be patient...think of it as fishing...

Mike Michalak
President
Fishing Hot Spots, Inc.

[Mike Reilly]

When in South Dakota you might want to check out Mike's Maps.
GPS maps with preplotted waypoints to various structure.
Mike Reilly
www.mikesmaps.com

[edtz]

We don't brag about it but Wisconsin has 15000 lakes! Does get confusing at times. Several popular names such as Silver, Long and Bass have over 100 llakes per name.

[Aaron Burke]

Mike,

Thanks for the explaination - with the time difference (we are located in Massachusetts, the land of two or three lakes), you got to it before me and covered all the bases.

One point to add - Navionics can only make an electronic map in the scale of the paper map. Being that Fishing Hot Spots is the sole source of our HotMap product, we are only able to produce a map that zooms to the corresponding scale they provide. So, it will be quite some time before there is a product, paper maps included, that will show you a lake at .1 mile zoom range. Luckily, most GPS units have an overzoom that is very helpful.

Map clarity depends entirely on screen resolution. Each plotter will display the map differently depending on pixel count and screen size.

[Hawgeye]

Mike,

With all due respect, I was not planning on scanning anything. Anyway, who is to say that I dont just plot my own map? I realize it is unpractical but it would be possible to be able to take the map listed, plot new points and upload the map to the computer, edit the lake and re download it without infringing on any copyrights.

If your price is going to be $75 per map, you will not get any of my money, at $25, I would consider it. Hope your technology allows this and I do have to say your "hotmaps" work great and are reasonably priced. I do use them...

[Cheeser]

>That process also severely limits the
>use of the data since
>you can't do anything with
>a raster image except zoom
>around.
This sounds just like your HotSpots software. Yes it is severely limited.

[Box]

Thanks for the info guys. I'm gettng close to getting some, but still have a problem, and I mentioned it in another post.

I understand there is a paper map and a digital map. You always need a paper map for planning and handing to your fishing buddy (in the same baot, not to give out freebies) to find a new spot, etc. Paper maps fly out of the boat at times, etc.

Why not have software that lets you print a map from your computer, or zoom in on a part of a lake and print that part? The user already bought the digital map, and he had to verify his GPS unit, so he most likely isn't going to pirate it - I know that is easy for me to say, but I"m in the software/games business, so I know all about piracy (and the costs/losses of it).

I guess my point it, I already paid for the digital map, I'd like to be able to use it to create "my own paper copy" of the same map. I certainly don't want FHS to loose money on it, but that would be the feature that would make me buy these maps.

As Mike mentioned before, at least bundle the paper map with the digital when you sell them. Price isn't the concern here, the convenience is.

This is not meant as complaining, but to let you know how a potential customer (me) looks at these things. I also understand it takes time to get the technology to do the things you want. I am glad you are here giving out info, and thank you for taking a leap in a new direction with your maps! I love technolgy :)

Good fishing,
Box in Mn

[Hans]

Hi Box,

Hot Spot Maps has such a product. A CD ROM with about a dozen big Minnesota lakes on it (MilleLacs, Leech, Vermilion, etc.).

Unfortunately the "print-a-map" part of it is crap, but you can zoom and and examine, etc., to your hearts content.

Hans

[Fishingdog]

Mike says 'Lowrance, for example, accepts Navionics data, treats it for their format (not for Eagles) and you're off'. The Eagle Status uses the same software as the LMS160 so they accept the same files. The Mapcreate CD is interchangeable from Lowrance to Eagle so whatever the LMS160 gets, so will the Status or Journey...

[Box]

But I think that is again separate from the "map" that you can upload to the GPS, correct?

I think LakeMasters (http://www.lakemap.com , and they have lots of lakes, even ones that aren't that big) have a decent package like that, and people have mentioned they like them a lot, but again it is only one part of the (*my*) equation. I'm looking for one stop shopping :)

-Printable map from computer + the Navionics digital GPS map

or secondly

-bundled FHS map with the Navionics map.

I would rather be able to print it myself, and like you said, if the software is not done correctly it isnt much use. I will pay for convenience, within reason - i.e. a premium to get all of it in one click.

But... I'd also like to design my own boat, but know I better not wait for that either! ha! I'm glad a lot of the companies are at least reading this stuff, even if they shake their head at my ideas.. hehe...

Box
p.s. - Hans, I was cleaning out my dresser and found that map you drew for me (over the phone) of Waconia a couple years ago! I gotta get out there soon! Thanks again for that advice!

[Tideye]

Mike, sorry if i went a little over the top in my previous post. I do understand there is a lot of info and a lot of lakes an so on. My main complaint, and it may be lowrances issue, is that the maps have a specified resolution limit, which in its self is ok i guess, but when I try to zoom in further it just wont. I dont need to see the contours at the .1 mi level I just need to get there(.1 mi). When I am using the hot spots maps the unit will not zoom in any further than the res limit of the contour map. It would be fine to have the contours down to say .5 or .75 or whatever and be able to zoom further without the contour shown so I can see where I'm trolling etc. Do you know if this is the map(navionics) or lowrance? Its a lcx15mt. After all the trouble with these units It probably is lowrance. Although the base map in the unit only goes down to 10mi, you can zoom in further without the map info. This would make these maps(navionics) worth it.
I'm not trying to bash fishing hot spots at all. In fact I have about 10 of the paper maps, there great.
I'm not trying to bash lowrance or navionics either. I just want other fisherman to know what they are not getting before they spend hard earned money on something that is only usefull for cruising across the lake and not fishing(navionics not fishing hot spots). If this gets corrected I'll buy several more. Not one before.

PS. You seem a little touchy on the copyright thing. I can say I dont know one fisherman who isn't willing to spend good money on a good product that helps him/her catch fish instead of ripping it off. Don't think I want to either.

best regards
Jim