Navionics insight charts for Lowrance

[Farfrumbehavin]

Hello, I am new to the forum, I live locally and have enjoyed the big lake for many years. My wife and I decided to buy a 20' CC fishing/family/fun boat and are on the lake as much as the ocean lately. I have an HDS5 Lowrance combo chartplotter and am looking into the Navionics freshwater East sd card to use on the lake. My question is, my chart plotter is 4 yrs old now, will the sd card be plug and play or are there upgrades/downloads required to run the software. Ive read some very mixed reviews about the support and do not want to get stuck with a $150.00 card that does not work for us. Thanks for the help.

[Rich]

I have a different chart plotter, but it uses the Navionics chip.

I just went through this myself. Navionics now sells the "Update Plus" as an update. I'm pretty sure the discontinued the 'Lakes East' chip.

If your chip is not too old (E6 or newer), you can simply log into the Navionics website and pay the $99 fee and update your current chip.

Mine was an E5, so I had to buy a new chip. So I found that a better deal is to search online for the "Update Plus" (aka: Update +) chip. I found mine for about $85 (I purchased mine here: http://www.thedigitaloasis.com/Navionics-Updates-Cf-Format_p_27452.html). I think you need an SD card (Mine used a CF card). Then you can update the new chip.

The nice thing about the new Update Plus program is that you can choose to load as many areas as your chip will hold. At 2GB, they can hold a LOT of maps. You can then update them as much as you want for 1 calendar year, after which you have to pay the subscription fee again if you want to update again.

The new data looks very good, they even include just about every dock on the lake, and include depth contours to 1 ft.

If your chart plotter supports it, you can even upload your depth soundings back to Navionics and this will update the data for everyone else too.

If you have any more questions, I can try to answer them, but their phone support is pretty good too, once you get through the wait list.

To see if your eligible for an update, you can plug your SD card into your computer and go to the Navionics web site and see if they say your chip is ok to update. If so, you can pay and update right then. If not, you have to purchase the replacement update chip as I did.

I'm glad I did as I found some markers and navaids that were misplaced on my older (2007) data chip.

[dt5150]

i run navionics platinum plus in my 2 year old hds 5. also had the same chip in a 2010 hds 5 with no issues. aj's in meredith sells em so you may be able to easily return it if for some reason it doesn't work in your hds. i'd ask em first though. awesome mapping, i won't go on the lake without it.

[Farfrumbehavin]

In response to Rich, I do not have any card now, so there is no card for me to update. I was not sure if I needed to update existing software in the plotter so it could read the card. If downloading the charts onto an empty card was an option that would be cool but I would be afraid to pay for the download and then have trouble with that. I'm not to cyber savy so I just want it to be simple like me. But it sounds like 5150 is saying that it should be plug and play. I'll check with AJ'S and see if they have them in stock or it has to be ordered. Thanks again for the help. Any more input is invited and appreciated.

[dt5150]

aj's usually has em in stock right behind the counter.

navionics has different levels of map chips though so i'd go on their site and look at the differences. you may not need all the satellite image stuff etc. so you may be able to get something less expensive. as for the hds, it'll have no problem using the navionics chip. you just need to go into the menu on the unit and tell it to use the chip maps instead of the pre-loaded stuff from the factory. easy to do.

[Farfrumbehavin]

Yeah that's awesome, I just called AJ's and the lady told me the same thing. They have 1 left for $150.00, I'm gonna shoot there after work and pick it up. We've explored most of the lake but I have not gone to the Moultonborough docks. (through the graveyard?) Looks like bouy city on the way. I have a bizer chart but it's still a little tough knowing exactly where i am on the chart. Chip $150, lower unit $1200, even I can figure this one out! Thanks for the help.

[dt5150]

it's worth absolutely every penny. you won't be sorry you bought it.

[Rich]

Yes, if you don't have a current chip to 'update' then you need to pay full price for the new chip. You may find them cheaper online, but then you have to wait.

I would definately advise you to get on the Navionics web site and update the data on the chip that you purchase. Usually you get 1 year of free updates. So why use old data, that chip could be a year old or so, depending on when they got it from the warehouse.

It's not too hard to figure out their update software, or find someone to help you if you need it, or you could probably do it while you have the Navionics support on the phone with you.

OR . . .

See if there is a Bizer chip for your unit. I'm not sure if there is or not. I wish I had the option of the Bizer chip on my older RayMarine unit, but after all these years, Bizer hasn't come up with a chip for the RayMarine units.

[Farfrumbehavin]

Done, I bought the Navionics card at AJ's today after work and read the lit that informed me about the updates. I didn't have time tonight but soon I will take a crack at the update. I can usually follow instructions, just can't figure this stuff out on my own, but I gotta kid that's pretty sharp. I'm looking forward to being on the lake with the card. Thanks again.

[RLW]

http://i44.tinypic.com/1499wms.gif Farfrumbehavin , I just noticed that you are fairly new to posting on the forum and glad you have joined us. Have fun and enjoy the Winni Forum while making many new friends.

Thanks for joining us. I see you are getting some great suggestions to your question. :)

http://i54.tinypic.com/2e56yqf.gif

[Farfrumbehavin]

Thank you for the greeting. We have been seeing more and more of the lake in the last couple years as I get more comfortable moving around. I'm sure i will more questions as time goes on.