Recomended Map Card for Humminbird 899 ci SI

I'm looking at getting this unit and trying to decide if I should for 100 more dollars get the unit with the Navionics + card.

Lakemaster seems to be more limited in the number of lakes in KY, but I have heard they are better maps for HB units.

Any advice is appreciated. What map do you have or would you want with this unit?

Are the base maps with this unit ok?

[URL="http://www.basspro.com/Humminbird-899ci-HD-SI-Fishfinder/GPSChartplotter-with-Navionics-Map-Card/product/1409241503/?cmCat="]Here is what I am looking at....[/URL]

I have the hot maps gold which was around $200 and in my opinion its not worth the extra money. I had the basic hot maps card in last graph and it was just fine. When I bought my unit they didn't offer the navionics card for hummingbirds yet. With the gold card I can see every lake on the eastern side of the US. For a $100 bucks more you get an aerial overlay of the land but honestly I could care less how many houses and trees are laying above the lake so if I had it too go and do over I wouldn't buy it again. It was of no concern too me but the hotmaps cards are not as detailed as the navionics I've seen either but they do just fine for me, all I wanted was depth contours and for that the hotmaps is fine. If u do decide on a navionics card I would be eager to know if it is better than the hotmaps though.

[QUOTE=wolfewiz;544667]I'm looking at getting this unit and trying to decide if I should for 100 more dollars get the unit with the Navionics + card.

Lakemaster seems to be more limited in the number of lakes in KY, but I have heard they are better maps for HB units.

Any advice is appreciated. What map do you have or would you want with this unit?

Are the base maps with this unit ok?

[URL="http://www.basspro.com/Humminbird-899ci-HD-SI-Fishfinder/GPSChartplotter-with-Navionics-Map-Card/product/1409241503/?cmCat="]Here is what I am looking at....[/URL][/QUOTE]

Lakemaster cards are the best for your humminbird unit. They show contour lines and you can change the zero line if the lake go up or down like at KY and Barkley Lake. And you can link the Lakemaster maps with a Humminbird Unit and the Trolling motors that can use bluetooth or WiFi to control the trolling motor and let your boat follow a certain path or contour line in the lake. Sorry I can't think of the name of the trolling motor manufacture right now even though I have on on my boat. Brain Freeze as I get older. I'll remember the name in a while. Minn Kota . Ah. there you are. Yea the MinnKota Trolling Motors with the right setup can connect with the Humminbird using the Lakemaster cards information and control your boat for you. That's a nice feature for those of us who like to troll crank baits behind the boat and along a certain depth in the lake.

Humminbird and Lakemaster maps go together like ham and eggs.

[QUOTE=Moveon;572401]Lakemaster cards are the best for your humminbird unit. They show contour lines and you can change the zero line if the lake go up or down like at KY and Barkley Lake. And you can link the Lakemaster maps with a Humminbird Unit and the Trolling motors that can use bluetooth or WiFi to control the trolling motor and let your boat follow a certain path or contour line in the lake. Sorry I can't think of the name of the trolling motor manufacture right now even though I have on on my boat. Brain Freeze as I get older. I'll remember the name in a while. Minn Kota . Ah. there you are. Yea the MinnKota Trolling Motors with the right setup can connect with the Humminbird using the Lakemaster cards information and control your boat for you. That's a nice feature for those of us who like to troll crank baits behind the boat and along a certain depth in the lake.

Humminbird and Lakemaster maps go together like ham and eggs.[/QUOTE]

Some Depth Finders from Humminbird have a gps puck that can be placed on the boat and connected with the dept finder itself with a wire. I have this kind of gps puck on my Humminbird 898C SI unit and elevated the puck above my transducer on a pole mounted on the rear deck of my boat. This pole gets the puck up over the motor so that it can see the satelittes in the sky better without the boat motor getting in the way.

Other depth finders may not have an external gps puck or it may be an option. These get the gps signals from the satellites at the depth finder unit itself. So the distance to the sonar reflections may be from the transducer but the gps signals are received at the head of the depth finder itself So if you are trying to follow a depth contour or trying to located a underwater object you will need to know where the GPS gets it's signals from. The puck gps unit or the depth finder itself and then you will also need to figure where the transducer is located on the boat. In my case the transducer and my gps puck are very close together to make things simpler.