Minn Kota Terrova to Ulterra question

Changed from a Terrova to an Ulterra at the end of last season when having the boat winterized, so new to Ulterra. Hope to boat fish int he coming weeks so reading up on the difference. Am I understanding it correctly that you can’t power on the trolling motor with the remote? Meaning you have to go up and power on the motor by pressing the button. Seems like that would defeat the purpose of the auto deploy??? You’re there…may as well put the motor in. What am I missing?

Turn the power on when you launch the boat and turn it off when you load the boat. No need to turn it on/off anymore than that.

Makes sense, so it doesn’t draw battery (or neglibile amount) throughout the day if on but not running/deployed wold be my assumption then. I guess I’m used to when I plugged in the Terrova and engaged the lock to deploy it was “on”. Same difference, I guess…

The only power draw would be the small LED light and the communication between the TM head and the remote. The amount of draw has to be so miniscule that it doesn’t make a difference to leave the power on all day. I’d be more worried about wearing out the power button over time if you’re turning it on/off every time you deploy/stow the motor.

Perfect, thanks Blank. I always unplug the motor when loading up the boat so all should be good. TIme to do some reading on the other differences between a 2014 Terrova and a 2021 Ulterra. I’m excited to have actual “spot lock” vs “Area Lock”, almost as excited as my son is to have auto deploy so he isn’t the auto deploy anymore

You’re gonna love the spot lock on the TM. The 2nd generation of “Spot Lock” wasn’t even a good area lock in my opinion.

How many generations of spot lock are there? When did the lates generation come out? My Terrova with Bluetooth is two years old, is it the newest version of spot lock?

3rdtryguy wrote:

My Terrova with Bluetooth is two years old, is it the newest version of spot lock?

My understanding here is that the Quest versions are the newest ones. They were released this year.

There’s 3 generations. One easy way to tell the difference is the remote.

1st Gen had a Long skinny remote, non touch screen.

2nd Gen was a shorter touch screen.

3rd Gen is the smallest of all three, keypad(at least to me) is similar to the layout of a Solix unit.

I’m not sure that the new Quest series of motors have any different GPS/spot-lock versions than the existing bluetooth versions.

3rdtryguy, the bluetooth version came out in 2017 and is regarded as the best version. I believe there are 3 generations. I don’t remember when the 2nd gen came out but guessing around 2013.

Yes power on once. If it is wired to a power switch do that to turn off or unplug I guess.

My bet it is a safety feature so it doesn’t deploy when you are not on the water or driving down the road.

I get it would be hard as you have to hold down the button to deploy but guessing it would be possible.

TillrLife wrote:

There’s 3 generations. One easy way to tell the difference is the remote.

1st Gen had a Long skinny remote, non touch screen.

2nd Gen was a shorter touch screen.

3rd Gen is the smallest of all three, keypad(at least to me) is similar to the layout of a Solix unit.

Those remotes are only for iPilot LINK.
The regular ipilot remotes are the same for gen 1 and 2. Gen 3 (bluetooth) are similar size/shape with more buttons.

blank wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>TillrLife wrote:</div>
There’s 3 generations. One easy way to tell the difference is the remote.

1st Gen had a Long skinny remote, non touch screen.

2nd Gen was a shorter touch screen.

3rd Gen is the smallest of all three, keypad(at least to me) is similar to the layout of a Solix unit.

Those remotes are only for iPilot LINK.
The regular ipilot remotes are the same for gen 1 and 2. Gen 3 (bluetooth) are similar size/shape with more buttons.

Yeah, I meant to mention link, but I guess my finders didn’t want to portray my thoughts.

Newer terrovas also have the on/off button. I’ve left mine “on” for several days with no noticeable battery drain. That Tiny led draws next to nothing.

Minn Kota trolling motors with improved spot lock that included the heading sensor were first available late in 2017.

It does look like the Quest series has improved GPS accuracy and another nice new feature is “Distance to Spot”.

From Minn Kota:

INCREASED ACCURACY
Updated hardware and software algorithms mean Spot-Lock can hold you on a spot more accurately than ever before.

DISTANCE TO SPOT
This reading on the remote tells you how close your trolling motor is to your set Spot-Lock.

KPE wrote:

Newer terrovas also have the on/off button. I’ve left mine “on” for several days with no noticeable battery drain. That Tiny led draws next to nothing.

Interesting my Ulterra has a timeout feature. I’ve left it on when I come back to the cabin for lunch. Then when I go back out it’s off. I thought the Terrova on my last boat had a timeout as well.

I’m guessing I could leave it plugged in and it would turn off when I tun the Master Power off. Need to get on the water and use it a bit

Karry Kyllo wrote:

Minn Kota trolling motors with improved spot lock that included the heading sensor were first available late in 2017.

I was told direct by a Minn Kota rep. that the heading sensor has no effect at all on the spot lock accuracy. The only reason to even mount it was if you like and use the Jog feature. When I purchased and mounted mine last summer I did not even mount the Heading sensor at all. The jog feature was not anything I cared about. If I want to move the boat 5 ft any direction I will stop the spot lock and move the boat and re-spot lock it again.

fishthumper wrote:

The only reason to even mount it was if you like and use the Jog feature.

I’ve heard this too. By “heading sensor” I assume you mean the white puck thing.

I know some of the posts that had 2017 and newer was new version. I’m ipilot with no link 2022 Terrova, is there a quest version that’s newer? If so I’ve never heard of it. Anybody know for sure? I think 2017 and newer are the same.

side note, I hope you are one who has good luck with the Auto deploy. I know 3 friends who went with the Ulterra to get the auto deploy feature. 2 of them had nothing but issues with them and have since replaced them with the Terrova. The other still has his but has had issues that he’s needed to have fixed. He says if he has one more issue with it this summer he’s done with it. I believe all were the earliest versions of them, Maybe they have resolved and improved some of the issues.

gimruis wrote:

I’ve heard this too. By “heading sensor” I assume you mean the white puck thing.

Yep that is the thing I’m talking about. Mine is still in the box it was in when I opened the new trolling motor. its sitting on a shelf in my garage.

fishthumper wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Karry Kyllo wrote:</div>
Minn Kota trolling motors with improved spot lock that included the heading sensor were first available late in 2017.

I was told direct by a Minn Kota rep. that the heading sensor has no effect at all on the spot lock accuracy. The only reason to even mount it was if you like and use the Jog feature. When I purchased and mounted mine last summer I did not even mount the Heading sensor at all. The jog feature was not anything I cared about. If I want to move the boat 5 ft any direction I will stop the spot lock and move the boat and re-spot lock it again.

That is correct. It’s simply a compass to tell the motor the orientation of the boat for the job feature. It communicates with the TM via bluetooth, same with the remote. The commonly called “bluetooth version” of ipilot came out in 2017 and is easily identifiable by seeing the bluetooh label/logo on the TM head and if there is a white heading sensor (not GPS) puck.

thumper, you’re missing out by not utilizing the jog. It’s especially handy in breezy conditions. I use it all the time. It’s pretty easy to install, setup, calibrate. Highly recommend.

blank wrote:

thumper, you’re missing out by not utilizing the jog. It’s especially handy in breezy conditions. I use it all the time. It’s pretty easy to install, setup, calibrate. Highly recommend.

I may do so at some point. Not sure how long I’m going to keep my current boat and will most likely move the motor to a new boat soon. Just could not seem to find a good place to mount it. I remember mounting one on a buddies boat and it was extra work for little gain. His often loses the pairing to the unit and he has to do the re-pairing process. I don’t often find myself just wanting to move the boat a few feet. Once I come off spot lock, I’m often moving till I locate new fish and then spot locks down again. Most likely will mount it on the next boat and check it out.

blank wrote:

thumper, you’re missing out by not utilizing the jog. It’s especially handy in breezy conditions. I use it all the time. It’s pretty easy to install, setup, calibrate. Highly recommend.

Agree, I put mine right on the gunnel, my boat has wide ones, and have not had to re pair it at all. I don’t use it a lot but do like the jog feature.

John Rasmussen wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>blank wrote:</div>
thumper, you’re missing out by not utilizing the jog. It’s especially handy in breezy conditions. I use it all the time. It’s pretty easy to install, setup, calibrate. Highly recommend.

Agree, I put mine right on the gunnel, my boat has wide ones, and have not had to re pair it at all. I don’t use it a lot but do like the jog feature.

I was told you do not want it mounted real close to the Trolling motor itself. Better to mount mid boat if possible. That was where I struggled to find a good mounting place. I may change my mind and mount it someplace this summer if I decide to keep my current boat

thumper I’ve seen the heading sensor mounted everywhere. I’ve seen them mounted within 6 inches of the TM. Mine is mounted back by the transom. I think it will work almost anywhere you mount it. Some places might be better than others.

Mines close too and MK is who told me to put it there.

3rdtryguy wrote:

Mines close too and MK is who told me to put it there.

Directly from Minnkota’s website:

“The heading sensor should be installed at least 24 inches form the motor itself.”