Sonar and GPS Question

[jgevedon]

I'm in the market for a new combo and was just wanting to get some people's thoughts on the best bang for the buck right now. I'm not a big E-tronics guy so any help would be appreciated.

[CatFan96]

Lowrance 520C with a Navionics map chip.

[Basswipe]

It all depends on how much you're willing to spend.

The FIRST thing you need to do when looking for a GPS/Sonar unit is to set a spending limit.

I was in the market for one last year, and wound up buying it off of Ebay. I got a Lowrance LMS 330C for about $300. It works great for what I need it to do.

I also got the Navioncs gold chip for it. My only complaint about that is that it doesn't have a few Ky lakes on it. For example, it doesn't have Yatesville lake on it.

[td176]

I bought a Humminbird Matrix 97 on e-bay last year for around $400, works great

[jgevedon]

I don't want to spend more than 6 or 7 hundred. I'll have to be on the top of my game in the honey do department just to get that done. Ha. Is the navionics chip that people talk about essentially just Hot Spots maps?

[Basswipe]

Navionics and fishing hot spots are two different chips. They basically do the same thing, just different manufacturers. Ford and Chevy........

Now that you have a price range in mind, you're ready to start.

There's a ton of different units available out there, and they all have a ton of different options available with them. I found myself overwhelmed with info when I first started checking into it. I decided that I wanted a simpler unit because I was only going to use the basic functions of it. I just wanted Sonar and Mapping so that I could stay in the channel at Barkley, and mark all of my honeyholes on every other lake.

The things that you can do with a modern GPS is amazing. There's also a lot to learn in how to do all of the little things they can do. As I said, I wasn't into all that, so I went with a more basic unit. IMO, a good basic unit would be the Lowrance LMS 334C. They're about $550 or so, but you probably can get one off of Ebay for a bit less if you're patient. That's for a new one. I bought my LMS 330C used off Ebay for considerably less than what new was going for, and haven't any problems with it at all.

One thing to keep in mind is that your chip is going to run about another $100 on top of what you pay for the unit. Ebay is definitely the best place to buy a chip. People sell them brand new still in the package for a lot less than what you'll pay at a store for them. I think I gave about $80 for mine off of Ebay, and the cheapest I found it in a store was well over $100.

[MsgMills]

It all depends on how much you're willing to spend.

The FIRST thing you need to do when looking for a GPS/Sonar unit is to set a spending limit.

I was in the market for one last year, and wound up buying it off of Ebay. I got a Lowrance LMS 330C for about $300. It works great for what I need it to do.

I also got the Navioncs gold chip for it. My only complaint about that is that it doesn't have a few Ky lakes on it. For example, it doesn't have Yatesville lake on it.

Basswipe,

Solved your problem for you and for anyone who doesn't know about the ( FREE ) maps available to download to your PC. Then download to your SD Card....... This site had your Yatesville Map your looking for and to top it off it has the *** ENHANCED *** contour lines on it to really show you the lake better.... Just go to the web site link I've posted in this post and anyone can get the maps listed as well as the other free maps from the other 4 Divided sections of the United States.....


http://www.navionics/Premiumlakelist_07.asp?RegionID=3

If any problems contact me......

[Moose1am]

If money is no object then go for the Humminbird 997 Unit which has gps and side scanning sonar which can work together to mark any spot you see on your Side Scanning screen. You just stop the screen scroll and move a cursor over the object and mark that object as a way point. The UTM coordinates are then programmed into the unit.

The side scanning sonar unit can see out to each side of the transducer for about 100 ft. So any drop off, submerged trees, bottom hardness changes can be marked with a GPS way point.

It's almost like draining the lake to find the structure and then filling the lake back up before you start fishing again. it's that good.

This is the hottest sonar/gps unit on the market today. Lowrance can't compete with the Humminbirds these days since it does not have side scanning sonar capability ...yet.

I'm in the market for a new combo and was just wanting to get some people's thoughts on the best bang for the buck right now. I'm not a big E-tronics guy so any help would be appreciated.

[Bassky]

The bookmark above does not work. Are you sure this is correct?
Bassky

[Bassky]

I got on to the site. How do you get the free maps and download?
Bassky

[BigB]

I got on to the site. How do you get the free maps and download?
Bassky

Same problem what am I doin wrong cant get it opened

[Moose1am]

If using Internet Explorer make sure that you don't have pop up blockers on. Check your security settings to make sure that they are not blocking your ablity to download files over the internet. Also check your privacy settings.

Tools/Internet Options/Security
Tools/Internet Options/Privacy

Tools/Pop-up Blocker
Tools/Manage Add-ons.

Do you have any other security software running?

And if you are using Firefox, you are on your own as I can't help you with that browser as I don't use it.

These suggestions may or may not help but it won't hurt to check them

Any changes you make in the above settings can be reversed easily.

Same problem what am I doin wrong cant get it opened