Ifinder H2o Question For Those Who Own/owned

[Cowboy Perfect]

I was wondering if you have to have the iFinder maping softwar in order to load waypoints on the H20. I know you need an sd card, but what then? Can I just transfer the waypoints on to the card with a reader and then put it in the H2O? I played arround with the H2O emulator and I think I'm going to get that, but I just wanted to know the answer to this question before I bought it.

 

Oh, also, does the H2O come with an sd card already or will I need to buy one? I know the plus addition comes with one, but I want to know about the normal one.

 

Thanks

[+Huckleberry Slim]

You'll need something like GPSBabel to convert the .loc or .gpx files to .usr format that the Lowrances use. It seems to me that any SD card reader would work for transfering waypoints and recorded trails between the GPS and your computer, but I haven't tested it. Some of the Lowrance experts might chime in to verifiy this. The Plus package was an extra $80 well spent by my rekoning, well worth saving up for.

[reidster]

The standard version does not come with an mmc/sd memory card.

 

The Plus version includes MapCreate topo mapping s/w, Lowrance card reader, and an sd memory card.

BTW: The extra $80 is well worth being spent on getting the Plus version.

 

For storing waypoints & trails, any card reader will work.

However the Lowrance model is required for MC6.3 and later.

 

GPSBabel is used by several owners here and with very good reviews.

[+kb7sei]

The Lowrance card reader is needed for initializing the cards ONLY. You can use any old SD card reader for reading and writing coords, trails, maps, etc. AFTER you "register" the cards to MapCreate.

 

If you don't have Mapcreate, don't worry about it. It's only maps that matter for the copy protection stuff. If all you want to do with the SD card is load waypoints, trails, etc.. just use any card reader you can get. GPSBabel can create Lowrance USR files, and GSAK natively supports them now so you can change the icons for the various cache types and such.

 

Personally, I'd recomend the plus version to get the card, Mapcreate, Lowrance reader, and 12V power cable. That's everything you need to get going. I also bought a 1Gig SD card to store detailed maps on. It's a bit overkill, but it's nice to have extra space available. The H2O Plus I bought came with a 64MB SD card, more than enough for waypoints and such, even with a local map.

[Simcoe]

The only thing that I'm confused about when it comes to Lowrance with respect to maps is that I don't really understand the difference between the MapCreate program and the FreedomMaps program. FreedomMaps only shows half of a province/one or two states and seems to be pretty much the same price as the MapCreate which includes the entire country. I get the impression that MapCreate allows you to put what ever you want onto your map, but is it the same amount of content as what you'd get in a FreedomMap? Why wouldn't you just get MapCreate instead?

 

Also...

The other thing I read from an online merchant that speaks to what kb7sei mentioned:

Note: For security purposes, MapCreate™ 6.3 encodes maps to memory cards, and will restrict the encoding process to a maximum of five different memory cards. You can create as many maps as you like, but they will only work on the first five memory cards that you register with the MapCreate Canada 6.3 software.

Note: You must use an LEI branded memory card reader/writer for MapCreate™ 6.3 to work properly.

 

P.S. Cowboy Perfect, I sent you a PM.

[+user13371]

The only thing that I'm confused about when it comes to Lowrance... the difference between the MapCreate program and the FreedomMaps program. ...Why wouldn't you just get MapCreate instead?

You're right, a "FreedomMap" is jist a preloaded card with a map for a given region, the exact same level of detail you'd get from MapCreate. Once upon a time there might have been a market niche there - people who didn't have a computer that could run MapCreate. But those days are gone.

 

... MapCreate ... will restrict the encoding process to a maximum of five different memory cards. You can create as many maps as you like, but they will only work on the first five memory cards that you register with the MapCreate Canada 6.3 software.

Sort of. You do need Lowrance's card reader, you do need to register at least one SD card, and you do need to have that card in the computer when you create a map. But there's a way around the 5 card limit and the requirement of locking a generated map to a specific card.

 

It won't make much sense until you actually have the product in hand, but read the first few posts in this thread to learn how.

Edited March 21, 2006 by lee_rimar