autochart or sonarChart

I’m going on a big vacation to LotW near Kenora in July that LakeMaster doesn’t have contours for the area. I run a 999ci. So I’m considering either autochart or sonarcharts. The navionics web app shows the area with some basic information but no contours, however when you hit the sonarchart button it shows 1 foot contours. From my understanding, in order to get that data on my bird, I need to get navionics platinum for $200 and then the sonarcharts update which is another $100. Or do I go with autochart and make my own charts while I’m there? I don’t like that sonarcharts requires an annual fee of $100 for the updates and that I can’t use the nice mapping features of the bird with navionics chip. Anyone have experience with either of the programs in a humminbird?

I bought the auto chart last year when it first came out. I thought it was cool and really handy to have since no where is 100% right. but it is a real pain to convert your charts and con only record a few hours at a time and I could not figure out how to see my recorded trips all together at the same time on computer. I ended up putting it back in the box on my shelf chalked it up to a 250$ waste. right after that they came out with the autochart live on the onix units that lets you record maps live on the water. I would rather spend 2 grand on a new unit then mess with the chip to computer to program back to chip to unit stuff ever again

@bls1984 What unit are you using and what size is the SD card you only got a couple hours recording on? More specifically did you have a unit 2 SD slots?

Did the maps look okay on the unit and the issues were just on the computer?

I just got a 999 the other day and looking at mapping software. It’s not a priority for me and think you just convinced me not to do it. The info online just doesn’t tell me enough. Most of what I found was more marketing based and feedback from real world users.

I have a 1198 si I used for the autochart pro. ido not remember the size of the sd card but its the one that it came with. I did not try to use another because they old me it is encrypted and it would not work so I didn’t bother. but I heard from others you can. the maps look great on the unit ill see if I still have a pic. it was just over the top trying to figure out how to convert them and not being able to see my maps on the computer other than the last one. if its the only option you have and is a small lake it might be worth playing with.

I don’t believe you need the navionics platinum for your unit. I believe that you need the navionics+ that comes with the first year of updates free. The navionics site is terrible to navigate and confusing. Navionics+ is about 150-200 depending on where you buy it. Do some more research before dropping the money. With auto chart you would need to chart the entire section of the lake by yourself and then convert that using a computer to have a chip of that area. It would take time and you would probably rather be fishing.

All the information you need about AutoChart is located here:

http://www.bbcboards.net/humminbird-sonar-gps/508722-auto-chart-auto-chart-pro-auto-chart-live-information-resource.html

I put together several tutorials that show how to import data, create maps, etc. bls1984, it might have really helped you before you returned it.

I’ve used AutoChart a bunch since it was released a year ago. There is definitely a learning curve to use the program, but I have made great use out of it. We’ve been fishing an uncharted lake in Canada for 20 years, and last year was able to fish it with my custom map! It was pretty awesome knowing exactly what the structure looked like, and basically having my own private lakemaster map for our areas.

I was able to import old track files with depth data from 2011, 2012, 2013, so I already had several of our fishing areas mapped before I went up there last year. And each year, will be able to add a little more data to the map.

You’ll never get an entire area mapped, but that’s not my goal. Just map the areas that you fish frequently, or want to learn about. Myself, I haven’t really dedicated any extra amount of time up there for just mapping. I just fish the areas like I normally would, and just record sonar data while doing it. Over time, you develope a very detailed map.

As far as Navionics SonarCharts goes, go to their webapp and see what the map looks like for Lake of the Woods near Kenora. Look at the depth map with sonarcharts off, then look at it with sonarcharts on. They like to advertise that you get 1ft contours with sonarcharts, but in most cases, that isn’t the case. In most cases, all sonarcharts did, was interpolate fake data from the already inaccurate depth data that existed before. Sure, if lots of people submitted sonar recordings to update the map, it would update over time, but I haven’t seen people doing that for Canada lakes yet.

Therefore, I preferred AutoChart since I could update my map right away (as opposed to waiting weeks for Navionics to get around to it), and I could also keep my maps private. The way I see it, if I submit a bunch of really good depth data to Navionics, all I’m doing is helping them sell more map chips, and I see nothing in return. In fact, I’m having to pay annual fees to access all the map data that I personally submitted to them. That’s another reason I liked the one time fee with AutoChart.

Just a heads up, if you have a Cabela’s bargain cave near you, you might be able to buy it at a discount from someone who returned their copy, like bls1984.

Here are some screenshots from my map:

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   Weed-Area-2.png
   

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   Weed-Area-1.png
   

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   Rock-Point-2.png
   

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   Sunken-Island-2.png
   

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   Point-2.png
   

I purchased Autochart Pro about a month ago and love everything about it. I fish a pretty big lake that hasn’t been mapped yet and this software is a life saver. If you aren’t computer/tech savvy, you may have problems initially. I highly recommend reading through the bbc boards (link posted above).

I take my laptop with me on the lake in a dry bag. When done recording an area, it takes 4 steps (upload, map, create map, update card) and I have my map up and running within 3 minutes. It really is that easy once you get the hang of it.