Thread: HB AUTOCHART Review/tips?

youtube UNCUT ANGLING AUTO CHART and watch the very first video! He does it in a minute and 39 seconds I believe.

I am just now starting to experiment with autochart myslf.....but its built in the Helix 9 model. Thats what I just got.

I will check out the uncut angling video...

Lowe Pro... I bought my Helix 5 a year ago in Feb...I wished I would have known they were making one with auto chart built in.

Please write back as you use it.. Thanks for the replies.

Yes sir, I will do!!!! I didn't realize that it had it built in either until I decided to buy. It was a pleasant suprise!

AutoChart Live is built in to the Helix 9 and up as well as Onix. The Helix 5 and 7 will require you to purchase and use the AutoChart software (with Pro being the upgrade for bottom hardness and SI mosaic).

AutoChart Live is VERY easy to use and makes a decent looking map with nice shading, but it is limited to 8 hours of internal storage unless you buy and use a Zero Lines card, after which there's probably not enough commutable lakes for any one person to fill up. AutoChart Live will not do bottom hardness or side imaging mosaic overlay.

The AutoChart Pro software simply requires the user to import any sonar or track recording that you can do on a blank SD card. Now the software is a pretty robust tool with lots of configuration options, however the interface is not what I would call intuitive. Fortunately there are enough YouTube videos and samples on the web that if you take it step-by-step in the beginning, you gradually get better at it.

Important Notes - the two products mentioned are NOT compatible, they are totally different and don't talk to each other. If you record a map in AutoChart Live it can only be viewed in an AutoChart Live-compatible unit, whereas the AutoChart product can be used in any LakeMaster unit. To share mapping with two or more AutoChart Live units, you can record once and copy the maps, but you will need a Zero Lines card for each unit. I currently use both products because I have a core series on my kayak. The work around for compatibility is that I can luckily record sonar on the Helix 9 and record AutoChart Live simultaneously so I don't have to map a lake twice.

Overall, I like the idea of custom mapping and HB does a sufficient job with these two products, but there is certainly room for improvement.

So..........if I have my humminbird 859 networked to my Helix 9 if both units are on.....can I see my topo maps that I have created? I havent had a chance to link em yet, but I do have the cables to do so.

I have been using autochart live for a couple of months and its awesome. I fish an uncharted river and do a 500 foot section each time out. I have mapped a 3000 foot secrion of the river so far and it has helped locate some spots that you could never tell were there by just looking at the above water landscape. I love it.