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Posts: 3472
Location: Elk River, Minnesota | Hi Everyone,
Just upgraded electronics and am curious about iPilot link...most notably the contour track feature. I don't know anything about it other than I know it exists. I have an older Terrova with iPilot, which is nice for spot-lock, but I have not used it for anything other than that...
I'm curious about it as it would be nice to be able to let the motor do the work, following a specific depth, which even using autopilot, saves me from having to adjust direction...
Plus..my terrova is universal sonar. Wondering if a newer version would also be worth it for an upgraded transducer...
thoughts and insights everyone?
Thanks!
Edited by VMS 12/22/2023 9:01 AM
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Posts: 1187
| I mostly fish by myself, and while not absolutely perfect, follow the contour is awesome. On the smaller lakes, you can set it and go completely around the lake and never touch anything. Just fish. You can spot lock while following the contour, and then resume, with the touch of a button. You can also use the Go To, to get from your current spot, to the next spot. The nice thing about this, is that if you want to fiddle with your gear before getting to the next spot, you just set it, and you can re-tie, put on new lures, get a different rod out, take a pee, eat a sandwich, whatever, while the boat just goes to the next spot by itself. |
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| I don't use mine that much but you can plot a milk run on familiar waters, save it and then the motor does the work the next time. Same with waypoints. For grins, I way pointed a crib on the lake where I live. Then after going home, backed the boat off the lift, lowered the motor, found the spot on my Helix and motor took me to the crib over a quarter mile away. When I got it two years ago, I told my son, "I now have another piece of technology that is smarter than I am". |
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Posts: 3472
Location: Elk River, Minnesota | Does the contour feature follow the contour of a lakemaster chip or does it follow the contour based off of the actual depth? I know some lakes I fish don't have 1 foot contours, and if you've followed a couple of other posts on MF, I will be using Autochart Live as well...
My instinct says the contour is followed off of depth? |
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Posts: 199
Location: Downers Grove, IL | Follows the contour lines on the chip. Otherwise it wouldn't really have anything to follow, say for example you were on a featureless 20' deep flat. |
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Posts: 2
Location: Saint Bonifacius, MN | VMS - 12/22/2023 1:37 PM
Does the contour feature follow the contour of a lakemaster chip or does it follow the contour based off of the actual depth? I know some lakes I fish don't have 1 foot contours, and if you've followed a couple of other posts on MF, I will be using Autochart Live as well...
My instinct says the contour is followed off of depth?
Lake Master Contours are "pre-mapped depth"...
Follow-contour requires iPilot Link (network) to a HB graph with a HB Lake Master Chip (with an iPilot icon) to follow contour. You can also use a HB Zero Line Card and "map" your lake to develop your own contours/hardness "lines" and then follow those "lines"... (I typically only follow hardness contours I have created).
I use follow contour 80% or more of the time I am fishing. I also use follow contour to create maps (if that makes sense) to identify the structure along those breaks and to identify the spot on the spot points.
Pro's for me are I fish alone, so boat control is run by follow-contour. Over years of fishing the same lake I have identified the spot on the spots.. so I will follow contour up to a point and then break off and drift certain spots (or spot lock at points)....
Con's; as long as HB doesn't break any of the functions with updates, FC just works... and then also cost... yet IMHO, con's are none because it meets my requirements. |
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| I have the one boat network w Minn Kota motor w GPS that ties in with the Humminbird fishfinder (at least w my rig). I warn y don't get to excited about the follow the contour feature it's an issue. The reason is not an issue with the one boat network. It's the lousy Lakemaster maps, so far very inaccurate, then the feature is the one feature I cant get with the accurate Navionics maps which I now use. The good thing is y still have spot lock (electronic anchor) and the heading feature where the motor keeps you on a constant heading regardless of wind and boat wakes great features. |
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| VMS - 12/22/2023 1:37 PM
Does the contour feature follow the contour of a lakemaster chip or does it follow the contour based off of the actual depth? I know some lakes I fish don't have 1 foot contours, and if you've followed a couple of other posts on MF, I will be using Autochart Live as well...
My instinct says the contour is followed off of depth?
No it's off the maps, not depth, thats the issue is map accuracy |
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| Will the trolling motors follow contours produced by Autochart? |
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| VMS - 12/22/2023 1:37 PM
Does the contour feature follow the contour of a lakemaster chip or does it follow the contour based off of the actual depth? I know some lakes I fish don't have 1 foot contours, and if you've followed a couple of other posts on MF, I will be using Autochart Live as well...
My instinct says the contour is followed off of depth?
Unfortunately it follows the map and in the case of Lake Master chips, whose accuracy for Western-central NNY and eastern Ontario leave a lot too be desired. Bottom line example, my fish finder says ~ 14 FOW, chart says I'm 400' over the bank on dry land, not good. |
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Posts: 3472
Location: Elk River, Minnesota | Hiya,
This is why for the lakes that I don't have a good map, I can use the autochart to create a detailed map of the area I am fishing. I think I am understanding things well for the most part as I delve into this area. Only one more thing I am looking to get...and that is the humminbird gps heading sensor.. Everything else is just waiting for my second wife to arrive back home later this spring  |
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| VMS - 1/27/2024 3:49 PM
Hiya,
This is why for the lakes that I don't have a good map, I can use the autochart to create a detailed map of the area I am fishing. I think I am understanding things well for the most part as I delve into this area. Only one more thing I am looking to get...and that is the humminbird gps heading sensor.. Everything else is just waiting for my second wife to arrive back home later this spring ;-)
this is a good feature but can take a lot of driving the boat around before ny useful mapping data comes together. |
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Posts: 166
| Guest - 1/21/2024 4:33 PM
VMS - 12/22/2023 1:37 PM
Does the contour feature follow the contour of a lakemaster chip or does it follow the contour based off of the actual depth? I know some lakes I fish don't have 1 foot contours, and if you've followed a couple of other posts on MF, I will be using Autochart Live as well...
My instinct says the contour is followed off of depth?
No it's off the maps, not depth, thats the issue is map accuracy
And this is why you make custom maps with Autochart Live then use those contours instead. You'll know they'll be 100% correct. |
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Posts: 61
Location: Avilla, IN | Perfect timing that I found this discussion. I was all set on linking my bow and console Gen4 Humminbird units together, but now see benefits of adding my Terrova to the mix. Is there a limit as to the amount of auto charts that can be set?? How smooth/accurate does it follow a contour line if I use that feature?? Seeing if the extra money is worth it for the networking box. Thanks!!! |
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Posts: 269
Location: Oregon, WI | I concur with other comments. I have it and it's only as good as you mapping whether it be a chip or the pre-loaded ones. |
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Posts: 120
Location: Twin Cities Metro | Duke1 - 2/25/2024 4:14 AM
Is there a limit as to the amount of auto charts that can be set?
Not sure what the storage format is for Humminbird, but Garmin has the same feature (they call it Quickdraw Contours rather than Autochart). 750 hours of recording takes up about 1Gigabyte on the microSD card. A typical microSD card is 32Gb (costs less than $10). That would be 24000 hours of recording (which corresponds to recording 24/7 non-stop for a bit under 3 years).
Another way to put it: 1000 acres of contours would need about 1 Megabyte of space. 32Gigabyes would mean you can contour 32000 lakes, each of 1000 acres size.
You get the picture: yes, there is a limit. But it is unlimited for all practical purposes. If Humminbird has a different format for storing the contours, it could be less, but I bet it isn't much less.
Kind of amazing how much storage is contained in that little card that is the size of your pinky fingernail, eh? 
With that much storage available, I typically just leave my Quickdraw contours on while I'm fishing and get perfect mapping after fishing those spots just a few times, with a couple zig zags over the structure to fill in the contour gaps after I finish the spot but before I leave for the next one.
Edited by RobertK 2/26/2024 10:20 AM
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