Doc Samson on Lowrance, GPS, Sonar, Mapping etc.

STCROIXER,

I use a Panasonic ToughBook http://www.tkkelectronics.com/rugged.html that is shock resistant (tournament fishing) and waterproof (boats). They have sunlight viewable screens. I use a 12 v power converter that can be plugged into the 12 plug that are on my Crestliner. I think most boats have them or you can wire the adaptor to your 12 v system. Any boat rigger can help you. The PC is linked by a serial connector which connects to the Lowrance 0183 NMEA wires. These wires are the small colored wires on the Lowrance power cable. Other GPS companies can output NMEA 0183 and I don’t know which models do. I have used LakeMaster, Fugawi, DrDepth and GlobalMapper to see my position on these programs.
I posted my next classes on the Outdoor gear forum today. I have been scrambling to get dates set up and finally secured a good location.

Thanks Doc-
I purchased a x-18c, and it has the three wires to hook to the serial cable, I’m going to try to find one of those and start hookin her up Hope I can get this going by spring, would love to make a map in the boat on my old dell laptop AND use it as the main GPS screen.
Thanks again for your help!
STCROIXER

Go to this site for the easiest serial connection. http://www.fugawi.com/web/products/hardware_unterminated_cable.htm

After you make a contour map from data, you can use it on your GPS/Depth finder in place of the system map that is there, correct?

Does the information that is recorded have altitude also? The reason I’m asking is what happens if a lake’s depth drastically changes? Do you have to “remap” everything? I realize such a situation is pretty unlikely, but Lake McConaughy is very, very low now (guessing 50 ft), but if it goes back to normal water levels in the future, it would be nice to have the map semi-accurate.

Thanks.

JD

JD,
“After you make a contour map from data, you can use it on your GPS/Depth finder in place of the system map that is there, correct?” YES
The altitude won’t help but the shape of the contours are what really matter not the exact depth.

Doc,
Thanks again for the information. Still trying to find a way to attend your class in Feb., but my schedule it being a problem.
If I were to purchase the 3D progam with tutorial, would that be complete enough to learn and implement without attending your class? My objective is to map areas of lakes in the same color/contour format as your first pic of this thread. Would be logging data with LMS 332c and software in new Dell laptop(XP home). Would one program be better than another?
Thanks, and hope to attend your class,

Jeremy

Jeremy,
Call me at 952-240-9298 and we can answer your questions better. I need more information to answer your question. What is easy for some is unattainable for others.

Doc,
Thanks, I’ll give you a call.

Jeremy

Doc,

As we wind this down, I had a few other areas I’d like you to touch on if you have time.

Waypoint sharing

Sonar cursor

Different display settings for the color screen

Trackline

The Lowrance hard drive

Doc will be ending this Q and A on Tuesday. If anyone else has questions for Doc, now is the time to ask.

Lowrance has a network option that lets you create a waypoint on one unit and it creates the identical waypoint on the second connected unit. I use this feature when I am looking for fish with my console mounted Lowrance 111c. When I see fish I create a waypoint on the fish, stop the boat and fish from the bow. My bow GPS will have that waypoint displayed on the screen so I can stay on the fish. How many times have you started fishing from the bow and wondered where were those fish? This helps eliminate that problem.

The sonar cursor feature is described in video at http://www.hightechfishing.com home page, under What’s New at Hightech Fishing and them Audio and Video tips. Less typing for me!

This is how I set up my Lowrance 111 last year.
Ping speed 100% which automatically sets the chart speed at 100%.
Manual sensitivity so I can set higher than auto sensitivity which allows me to display weaker echo returns.
Colorline 70%
Sonar chart mode: select sonar menu and then sonar features and see attached photo. I use the white background over 90% of the time. I use blue background when searching for fish at 20 mph and I increase the sensitivity and colorline at the same time. The nightview setting is good at night but I was only out once after dark this year.

Hard drive maps I will leave for Wade. It depends on the water you are on. I used the NautiPath for the Great Lakes and Fishing Hot Spots for the Missouri River last year. I usually use LakeMaster when I am on water they have surveyed.
Trackline is a new feature found under the map menu and then select map data to see the attached menu photo. Trackline places a line projecting from the point of the cursor. I use this when trolling to a waypoint as it makes it much easier to navigate slowly. My next post will have an example.

Using trackline to navigat to waypoints.

I know this is not a “sell Doc’s stuff thread,” but I just wanted to add that if you want to learn a lot more on the how-to’s of Lowrance product/operations, I would highly recommend that you sign up for one of Doc’s Lowrance classes. …..See his website.
I took one of Doc’s 6-hour classes nearly two years back when I bought my new Lowrance LCX-26HD and 332 (from Wade ). Initially, I was a bit intimidated by it, but after I met and saw the likes of the other people/fishing pro’s in my class – and then learning that he was going to present the same class to all the PWT tourney guy’s at a future pre-tournament affair, I new I came to the right place. Like Doc say’s, “If your willing to drive 6-hours to go fishing, why not spend 6 hours learning how to run your sonar units.” …etc., etc., etc.
For me, it was an easy decision. I figured if I was willing to spend that kind of cash on two like units – just to fish, I better-d*m-well know how to run them.
For the time and money, the course was well worth it (understatement). Doc has a great program and you don’t have to be a computer genius to follow along. You WILL learn many new details and tricks. Not surprising, you will also find that you WILL remember and use each of them too. ….His DVD’s are also great.
Thanks again Doc.
Splitshot

In case others have problems with the link to the sonar cursor video from Doc, just enter this into your browser:
http://hightechfishing.com/video-audio/, and then click on the file “sc1000.swf”

Thank you, Doc! This information is great!

I also changed the link to the sonaor cursor in my previous post.

Can I get one more question in Doc?

While catten or Sturgeon fishing there are certain depths that I’m looking for. An example would be on the St Croix, I want to see all depths 30 feet or deeper. Is there an EASY way to do this? Scrolling around with my GPS or with the computer is not easy.

I just looked at the LakeMaster Minnesota chip and they have 30 foot depth contours on their St. Croix map. Now that is EASY. If the lake is not surveyed it isn’t easy.

Brain,
This is a Lakemaster St. Croix example.

I promised Doc that we’d let him off the hook today. I want to thank Doc Samson for taking the time to answer all of our questions. We really appreciate having you here, Doc. Thank you!

The Q & A went well. The questions were good and demonstrate the advancement in angler knowledge. My interest in electronics is no different than my interest in the best minnow, a new jig, or the right color lure. I will drive hours for the best minnow and I will put in hours to learn my electronics. Bottom line I love fishing and I enjoy improving my fishing skills.
Go Fishing, The Clock is Ticking

Thanks Wade and Doc!

PS Doc you gave way my secret spot!

I realize Doc isn’t answering questions on this thread anymore, but I thought of another question that maybe somebody else can give some insight on.

Does anybody have an example of when you would use an Icon rather than a Waypoint? I just don’t know what you would use the Icon for that you couldn’t use a Waypoint for.

Thanks

JD

JD, You can use waypoints for just about everything, but icons give you another option so you can use your creativity to manage your GPS in your own style.

James Holst provides an interesting and useful tutorial on his Mille Lacs DVD and Doc Samson offers his take on waypoints and icons on his Lowrance DVDs .

One thing to keep in mind is the way waypoints and icons are managed. You can delete one waypoint at a time, and you can name them. Icons are deleted by symbols and can not be named. That may/will impact how you use icons and waypoints.