saumon
Lieutenant
- Joined
- Aug 2, 2004
- Messages
- 1,452
Hi,
I've always had Garmin charplotters in the past and liked their Bluechart maps but my new to me boat came with 2 GPS/SONAR combos, a slightly older Lowrance LMS-522c and a newer Humminbird 598ci HD SI, so I'm pretty stuck with Navionics. Having 2 combos units, I usually use one as a chartplotter only (the older Lowrance) and the other (the newer Humminbird) on the SONAR mode only.
Boating mainly the St. Lawrence seaway around Montreal, until 10 years ago I used the paper charts from the Canadian Hydrographic Service and, when I got a Garmin GPS and switched to the Bluecharts, I saw no difference.
Last spring, I got a Navionics Gold for my new units and so far I'm really disapointed by the lack of details on their maps. I played a lot with them, making sure I was on the "most details" setting and tried them in both units but they're still lacking of precision. Really, being based on the same data from the Canadian Hydrographic Service, I can't understand why the Navionics weren't more precise, not even close to the paper charts...
If you run in the channels, they're ok but for working the shoals when fishing and doing some high speed trolling (5mph) in shallows areas (4-6ft.), they're not very useful.
Here's an example of a place I fish:
Google Maps
And here's the comparision of the view on the chartplotters for the same area, both on Navionics and on Bluechart:
Now I think of selling my 2 units, the Lowrance LMS-522c and the Humminbird 598ci HD SI, and getting a single Garmin 7" GPS/Sounder like the GPSMAP 720s or 721xs...
I haven't made the comparision with the south-of-the-border maps yet; are the Navionics the same than the NOAA paper charts?
I've always had Garmin charplotters in the past and liked their Bluechart maps but my new to me boat came with 2 GPS/SONAR combos, a slightly older Lowrance LMS-522c and a newer Humminbird 598ci HD SI, so I'm pretty stuck with Navionics. Having 2 combos units, I usually use one as a chartplotter only (the older Lowrance) and the other (the newer Humminbird) on the SONAR mode only.
Boating mainly the St. Lawrence seaway around Montreal, until 10 years ago I used the paper charts from the Canadian Hydrographic Service and, when I got a Garmin GPS and switched to the Bluecharts, I saw no difference.
Last spring, I got a Navionics Gold for my new units and so far I'm really disapointed by the lack of details on their maps. I played a lot with them, making sure I was on the "most details" setting and tried them in both units but they're still lacking of precision. Really, being based on the same data from the Canadian Hydrographic Service, I can't understand why the Navionics weren't more precise, not even close to the paper charts...
If you run in the channels, they're ok but for working the shoals when fishing and doing some high speed trolling (5mph) in shallows areas (4-6ft.), they're not very useful.
Here's an example of a place I fish:
Google Maps
And here's the comparision of the view on the chartplotters for the same area, both on Navionics and on Bluechart:
Now I think of selling my 2 units, the Lowrance LMS-522c and the Humminbird 598ci HD SI, and getting a single Garmin 7" GPS/Sounder like the GPSMAP 720s or 721xs...
I haven't made the comparision with the south-of-the-border maps yet; are the Navionics the same than the NOAA paper charts?