[TurnMeLooseFLKeys]

Moving from the upper FL Keys to the Lake Placid area. Have a 547XS on my boat and am curious if there is a chip, or anything, I should purchase for lakes. Bought the unit second hand from a friend. I have no clue if he had any chips or anything installed when he bought it. Just curious if I'm missing out on anything or if the unit is already handy enough for lakes in my new area.

 

[Gogittum]

Watching this with interest. I live NW of you in the Inverness area and have the same question regarding a Lowrance unit.

That said, I have a Garmin GPSmap60CSx handheld with similar software in BaseCamp. From what I've seen, the standard Garmin maps show very good detail for the lakes and canals around here.

Here's a screen shot from BaseCamp showing tracks on my local area lakes and canals. Zooming in gives many lake names. Detail is excellent and accurate.

Zoomed in, it's far superior to most of the other lake mapping products I've seen - that cost $100s. In the area of the canal around "Home" and "Today's Run" and north, most show it as a wide lake, where in reality it's a canal with adjoining swamp, as shown here. It even shows many of the little ponds, such as the 2 at "Gladdy's Run Area." Blue cross-hatching shows swampy areas.

I really like it and it's a Garmin product. IIRC, it's called "Topo 2008." I think. What "I" really need is a way to copy and/or transfer it to my Lowrance Elite Ti. I've tried many things and can't get it to go.

 

[Gogittum]

Thinking further on this, somehow my copy on Base Camp got deleted and only have it on the GPS now. I couldn't figure how to copy it back to Base Camp from the GPS, so called Garmin support. "Nope, can't do it," I was told. Need to buy the CD again. My Topo 2008 CD is in storage in another state for now and not accessible. I will NOT pay those thieves for a new CD - something around $100, I think. If there's a way to do that, I'd love to hear about it.

 

[TurnMeLooseFLKeys]

Hope you get that figured out. All I know is for saltwater, and any unit that isn't a Garmin, Florida Marine Tracks is the way to go. I have no clue if they have mapped anything freshwater.

I also posted this on The Hull Truth and a response said for me to move the map to where I'll be living and zoom in to see how well the stock maps work. I'm gonna give that a try, but I'm busy trying to pack up the house.

 

[ISLA Mapping]

We choose to not participate in THT. ISLA has clean imagery of all substantive inland water features including most small lakes. Garmin products do not have inland imagery but some lakes will just have a chart with varying levels of detail for depths.

 

[Gogittum]

I took a quick look online and only see FMT by ISLA. What do I look for to find your inland waterways mappping ??

 

[Gogittum]

Hope you get that figured out. All I know is for saltwater, and any unit that isn't a Garmin, Florida Marine Tracks is the way to go. I have no clue if they have mapped anything freshwater.

Actually, I posted message #2 to show you what Garmin has available for fresh water in FL. It doesn't work for my Lowrance, but should give you a good start with your Garmin unit.

Topo 2008 doesn't have depth contours of the lakes, but it certainly shows location and shapes and is very accurate in showing your location on them.

 

[ISLA Mapping]

I took a quick look online and only see FMT by ISLA. What do I look for to find your inland waterways mappping ??

There is no inland waterways mapping as a stand alone product. We provide inland and coastal together. The covered areas are clearly shown.

 

[TurnMeLooseFLKeys]

Actually, I posted message #2 to show you what Garmin has available for fresh water in FL. It doesn't work for my Lowrance, but should give you a good start with your Garmin unit.

Florida Marine Tracks definitely works for your Lowrance. Garmin is the only unit I know of it won't work for.

 

[Gogittum]

Florida Marine Tracks definitely works for your Lowrance. Garmin is the only unit I know of it won't work for.

Yah, I know, but it's extremely expensive and a waste for me. I'm retired on a very limited fixed income and spending hundreds of $$ for something like that simply can't happen. I run in a limited area of the ocean and already have the StrikeLines chip for my area. I'm primarily interested now in a supplementary program for the lakes, streams and canals of west and north central FL.

I'm interested in navigating the maze of waterways - and finding my way back - and not so much in the actual depth contours, so the Garmin Topo 2008 would be perfect for me, but I can't get it to work in the Lowrance.

The C-Map chip for SE Lakes would work for me - for >$150+ and that seems a lot to spend to cover the small area I need.

 

[ISLA Mapping]

Yah, I know, but it's extremely expensive and a waste for me. I'm retired on a very limited fixed income and spending hundreds of $$ for something like that simply can't happen. I run in a limited area of the ocean and already have the StrikeLines chip for my area. I'm primarily interested now in a supplementary program for the lakes, streams and canals of west and north central FL.

I'm interested in navigating the maze of waterways - and finding my way back - and not so much in the actual depth contours, so the Garmin Topo 2008 would be perfect for me, but I can't get it to work in the Lowrance.

The C-Map chip for SE Lakes would work for me - for >$150+ and that seems a lot to spend to cover the small area I need.

The chart you are looking for that shows how to successfully navigate intricate inland waterways with ease and confidence does exist. However, it is way outside of your $100 budget and the ISLA prices are going up next week too. You may find it expensive but if you had it it would solve your problem so it would not really be a waste. And truth be told, for the area it covers and what it provides it is a bargain vs. the others. It seems to me, the chart products that cost anything that fail to get the job done for your area or get it done poorly and create uncertainty and anxiety on the water are really the waste. You spend money on those but are still looking for a chart that works to solve your problem. I would rather spend more and get the job done right or the problem totally solved 100%. When the problem is totally solved, retirees running ISLA find it to be totally worth it and they are much happier. We have plenty of testimonials for that. If you can't figure out the navigation puzzle easily using what you have, there is no readily available solution within your budget; there is no chart available anywhere at this time that is within your budget that would provide that.

 

[Gogittum]

I hear and understand and I do agree, but I don't really think I need "intricate navigation" for my purpose on these waters. My boat and knowledge work well for canals and small lakes, I just need to know where they are. Even just running from the canal by my home to the Tsala Apopka lakes can be very confusing with the tangle of canals. The Garmin Topo 2008 that I posted screen shots of in post #2 would work very well for me.

As I said, my CD is in storage and it's not practical to go and get my stuff at this time - 2,000 miles each way. It's a very long and unhappy story, but I did talk to a friend back there a week or so ago and he's agreed to go into my storage facility to find and ship a few things to me - one of which will be that CD.

When I was really digging into it, I was told by several "apparently" knowledgeable people that the Garmin files can be converted to Lowrance files. Wonderful, and I've already downloaded the program to do that.....but if it turns out not to work, I do have that program in my hand held now. Not quite as convenient to navigate with, but it does work.

I appreciate the thoughts. Thank you.

 

[ISLA Mapping]

Garmin waypoints you create can be converted to any other format and run in any other GPS. Any waypoints created by any gps can be converted to display on a different brand. That is very different from converting chart files. That is not going to work. If you want to run a garmin topo map, you will need to get a garmin unit to run it and if you get that, no other mfg. chart will run in it. So you will need to get a Garmin display.

 

[Gogittum]

Garmin waypoints you create can be converted to any other format and run in any other GPS. Any waypoints created by any gps can be converted to display on a different brand. That is very different from converting chart files. That is not going to work. If you want to run a garmin topo map, you will need to get a garmin unit to run it and if you get that, no other mfg. chart will run in it. So you will need to get a Garmin display.

Oh well. Handheld it is, I guess. My handheld works fine for its' purpose but other than that one topo, Garmin maps are trash. You won't see me buy a bigger one for the boat. Thanks for the reply.