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Location: Contrarian Island | Hey guys..with the Navionics premium chip in it seems the contours are harder than heck to read...anyone know how to make them easier to read?
Also, all the way zoomed in as far as I can get it zoomed is 1/8 of a mile...why is it so big? it seems on the unit in the front of my boat with no chip I can zoom in much farther....why can I only zoom in to 1/8 with the chip in?
what gives?
I know Jason S. (REEF HAWG) is having issues with his too..jason post yours here |
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Posts: 814
| Brad I have a 334c up front and have no problem Zooming in closer than a 1/8th mile. Maybe you have a bad chip? Did you try
and contact the tech support at Lowrance? My 110c also zooms in closer than a 1/8th mile. let me know what's up. |
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Posts: 3518
Location: north central wisconsin | I just put my 332 in a few days ago and am not very happy with it yet, though i am sure there is a learning curve. I don't like that it only zooms to 1/8 mile on the chip. That really bugs me for navigating to a cursor or waypoint on the map itself. I also do not like that I can't see the contours without compromising the navigation of my rig. It seems I have to have my face 6 inches from the screen to see them. I have been told that the 25 is alot better and will zoom to 1/64 witrh the software update. Much more expensive unit, but wondering if not worth it.
The main issue with mine is the sonar clutter. No matter where I have the transducer set(I have it on the transom on the same bracket as my old lowrance/eagle units) it shows alot of crap. I have to reduce my sensitivity to around 45% to get rid of it but I am then compromising bottom tracking capabilities. My last issue lies with weeds and bottom coloration. On my old black and white Eagle 320, weeds always showed up in a black or different color than the harder bottom beneath. In several weedy areas gone through with my new 332(mostly milfoil though), the weeds show up in the same yellow color as the bottom and I had a hard time telling if it was weeds or just a bumpy bottom. I thought just a hard bottom was supposed to show up in bright yellow... I hope I can get rid of the clutter etc. without sending the thing back as this is the time of year that I need the unit. That said, Thorne Brothers(where I bought it) has been very good about answering my questions, and very good about detailing certain possible remedies. They are interested in working with me, and making me happy, which really cements my continued business with them in the future! |
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| Reef Hawg,
I have the X25C and have the same issue. I bought it at M&W Marine in Hales Corners WI.. First I found that they put a transducer on my boat that was sanded and they then replaced it after asking them kindly ''twice''. Then I told them I would test the new Transducer and see if it helped. It did clear up some but it still has alot of surface clutter and it reads the lower unit of my engine. Kinda makes you wonder if I got a used X25C ? (Couldn't tell it wasn't sanded like the transducer)
I also am having problems with my 332C not picking up signal for the GPS. Not a happy day like I intended it to be when I bought them.
M&W sent me an e-mail telling me I can call lowrance to try and diagnose the problem myself.
I am not to happy with M&W's response! I bought the unit from them and had them install it. Now I'm told that ''I'' should fix the problem with Lowrance. Is customer service dead in the marina industry?
Was wondering if you were able to fix the clutter issue without dropping sensitivity?
You should be able to put it on Auto and have a fairly clear screen with good definition.
Hope your having better luck then me
Rick Hess
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Posts: 3518
Location: north central wisconsin | Rick,
I was not able to clear it up at all. Putting it into auto filled the screen with clutter. I sent it back, and am thinking about getting a 25, but don't know now as I don't want the same issues. i fish alot of shallow water and need to see weeds on teh graph in 4' or less and having to have the surface clutter on high will reduce the capabilities of me seeing the stuff shallow. I wonder if these super high wattage units might just be better for the guys fishing deeper and salt water, and that i might be best served to stick with my old lower power Eagle... |
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| re: the zoom level with the Navionics chips...
when i was deciding between chips (Navionics vs Lakemaster) i was told by Steve Jonesi that the advantage of the Navionics chip was a bigger coverage area (upper midwest) but less ability to zoom in; he said the Lakemaster was smaller area (one state per card) but more zoom.
a little research confirmed what he told me, and so i bought two Lakemaster chips (one WI and one MN) for my 3600CiGPS (functionally the same as the 332C on GPS features) and i am able to zoom waaay in to ~200 feet using the Lakemaster chips.
notably:
the Lowrance site lists the 332C and the 3600C as capable of 40 map zoom levels: .02-4000 miles
http://www.lowrance.com/Marine/Products/LMS-332C.asp
the Lakemaster site lists their ProMaps as containing data to zoom down to 200 foot scale.
http://www.lakemap.com/gpsdata/index.html
the Navionics site lists their charts as containing only 16 levels of zoom.
http://www.navionics.com/LakeMaps.asp
my thinking is that your zoom "problem" has to do with using the Navionics chip. it contains less zoom capability than your GPS is capable of displaying: you're maxxing the card out at 1/8 of a mile instead of getting the full .02 mile your unit is able to show if it has the data available from the card.
but hey, if you're ever fishing in North Dakota you'll have maps for those lakes... |
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Posts: 284
Location: Fishing the weeds | Talking with a Bass fishing Pro a few years ago the subject of sonar clutter came up. I was told to not run both front and back units at the same time. Upon turning one or the other off it seemed to clear up a lot. Apparently the units effect each other. Just a thought. Pat |
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Posts: 3518
Location: north central wisconsin | This was with the front unit off. I don't buy that though, as most need to run them both. I have never had issues with the other unit causing noise. I would think poor wiring would cause that. Regarding the chip, yup it is the 332's shortfall. The lcx 25 has a software update allowing a 1/64 mile zoom with navionics. I would have bought lakemaster but have heard that it is not as easy to read as navionics. Have you had good luck with it? I also didn't like that there were far fewer lakes in the lakemaster(several of which I fish) for WI and that they don't offer a $75 credit to upgrade like navionics does. |
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Posts: 3240
Location: Racine, Wi | Jason, I have the WI Lakemaster chip as well and I love it. I haven't had any problems reading it, and there are a bunch of lakes on there that I have only seen hand drawn maps of, but like you said, there's going to be some that aren't on there. Other than that though, I've been really happy with them. I've only seen 4 lakes so far though, so as I encounter more, I'll let you know the results as far as clarity. |
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Posts: 284
Location: Fishing the weeds | Reef Hawg,
That info came from a Lowrance Tech. So excuse me if I have to lean towards his diagnosis. And I must say in 40+ years of fishing I have never "HAD" to have both units on. You must be exceptional. Pat |
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| I am taking my boat to M&W tomorrow. The lowrance rep is going to take it out and look at it. The owner got involved at M&W and was much more understanding and seemed to really want to help me.
I did turn off the front graph and everything else on the boat. Surface clutter was still there.
I'll post when I get back next week. |
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Posts: 281
Location: Girdwood, Alaska | We have a 334c and are experiencing the same problems. One thing that i can't understand though, and is REALLY bugging me, is the fact that the split sonar/gps screen option will just disappear from the 'pages' menu under the map option. The only way to get it back was to go back into the menu and reset all of the options Has anyone else had this problem? |
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Posts: 3518
Location: north central wisconsin | Pat, I wasn't calling you out and saying you are wrong(sorry if I came accross like that), just saying I don't beleive that the two units should interfere with one another, as they shouldn't. If they are, it should be able to be fixed with noise reduction feature, or wiring. I did try using just the one but it still showed up. i too would beleive the Lowrance techy, but they sell lots of systems to network together, and they should have answers for you for that.
In regards to using both units, I have only been at it in my own rig for 20 years, though I rely heavily on it, especially at night time, and while fishing rivers and tight to breaks. At night, my front flasher might show 8' of water. I might not be sure which side of the shallow hump I have drifted off of, so I look at the back one whose transducer is 17' away from the front one. If it is shallower or deeper, I know which way I am from the structure, which way I am facing, and which way I need to go to remain on course. It really saves time and aids in precision fishing which is needed quite often. Helps in the skinny water too, as sometimes it can be 18' deep in the front of the boat, and all of a sudden the rear locator reads 2', telling me to move off a bit. I too, am sure I can get away with one, but havng both on sure helps. My wife and others like to look at the front flasher when she fishes with me, and when I am guiding from back I cannot see that one, so I need the rear one too. I just run a very cheap boat, and cheap electronics, but they are an aid when on, for fishing, and for saving wear and tear on my already beat up rig.
Tuffy, thanks for the recomendations. Even though I haven't really been impressed with the ease of reading the contours on the lakemasters I've seen, Lambeau had some good points yesterday and I might just switch to that system.
Edited by Reef Hawg 5/25/2006 8:48 AM
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Location: The Yahara Chain | You guys are just reinforcing everything that I have heard about combo units....that unless you spend the big bucks the sonar side of it sucks.
Are all of you guys running two GPS units? Couldn't you just mount one on a RAM mount so you can turn it so that you can see it when you are up front?
I just use a handheld GPS and move it up front with me when I am fishing....works fine for me. |
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Lowrance 332c issue