Thread: Detailed maps?

I don’t know what Lowrance has map-wise but depending on the lake(s) you fish there may be updates to the Navionics maps or LakeMaster may cover them.

Hope you get some good answers on this. I have a HB 798 ci HD SI but have not purchased map card yet. They are expensive and I can't seem to find one that really covers southeast rivers and secondary creeks off the rivers. Good Earth is pretty good on this so don't understand why there is no similar product for sonar units. It could be I don't know what I'm looking for in a card

I'm confused, are you saying lowrance base maps are more detailed than Hb ?

Are you sure the Lowrance unit did not have a map card in it? I just bought an Elite 7 and the base map is no where near as detailed as my HB with Navionics chip. I bought a Navionics chip for the Elite 7 also.

The "base map" in my Lowrance Elite 5DSI/Chartplotter is a simple patch of blue color, showing the confines of the lake .... as evidenced by this screenshot (which was taken while unit was in simulator mode):



I have not researched all of the lakes in my state, but one of the smaller ones that I have looked at, has contours of 7' - 17'- 27' that appeared ... and I have never had a map card, nor has one ever been placed into the unit (that I know of).

Seeing as how I don't use fishing methods that warrant following contour lines, a base map is all that I require. I use the card slot for my blank 2gig micro-sd card, which I use to take screenshots, for the purpose of posting on this site ... to be used for Q&A, instruction, comparison, or whatever purpose I deem necessary in aiding another member getting the best results from their unit.

As to the question by "talltimber" ... but I wouldn't think a Navionics map card would have any more/less information on it, for a Lowrance over a HB, or vice versa. One would think that IF one of the brands showed less info ... it would be because of less processing power of that unit, or less processor resources being devoted to the map. I would think that would be a technical question that only a rep would be able to answer, if allowed to divulge such information.

... cp

Originally Posted by brettw

I'm confused, are you saying lowrance base maps are more detailed than Hb ?

Lowrance with INSIGHT is detailed,,not the base

any map on a lowrance unit is from navionics wether pre installed or not, navionics makes a couple different grades of maps, ie the premium and the platinum. navionics makes a map chip that will fit everything out there, but if you want great detail i hear the lakemaster maps are the way to go IF they cover your area, and they are only compatible with humminbird units. i think what you saw was a lowrance unit with insight. i run a 898 with the premium east chip that is a 2011 model, i really like it, and humminbird allows you to shade different depths to makes productive ones pop out.

That's why I had the question mark by the base map statement, as I don't know for sure what it had in it. Wait one.

My mistake. It was a hds-7 with insight. Really detailed, the area that I saw. Had quite a bit of info my nav doesn't show.