Navioncs Maps for iPhone

[beachburger]

Last night I attended Big Jim's ice fishing seminar at LeBaron's and it was mentioned that the Navionics maps were available for the iPhone. Having just picked up an iPhone a few hours earlier, this got my attention and when they told us the maps were only $15, that eliminated any reason not to check it out. I've spent far more money on far dumber things..... I purchased the Navioncs app and maps this afternoon.

The iPhone maps cover all of the USA and Canada. In local terms they are a combo of the "Great Lakes" Gold chip (Ottawa River, Rideau River, St Larry, etc) and the HotMaps chip. This means that in addition to the excellent maps for the navigable waterways such as the Ottawa and Rideau, there are good maps of the major lakes in the area (Mississippi, White, Calabogie, Kamaniskeg to name a few). A neat feature is the ability to overlay a Google map so you see both the lake/river map and the actual terrain.

I have a Lowrance H2Oc handheld and a Navionics chip and after poking about for a few hours with the maps on both devices, I've come to the conclusion that there's not much need for the handheld anymore for boating and fishing purposes. The handheld and a topo chip will probably now just find a permanent home on the ATV.

That's my .02. You're mileage may vary.

Hope you found this useful.....
Doug

[MLR]

I agree with you Doug, small amount of money I Phone and I Pad apps. Makes you wonder where they are buying their cards from that drives the price up so high for the card to be slotted into fish finders.

I bought my wife an I Pad for Christmas and got the Navionics app loaded onto it. It's 30 bucks for the I Pad. Now if I could just convince her to part with it on Sundays, I could mount it on the ATV on Sundays for ice fishing, instead of the old Garmin hand held.

And the other neat thing is that you can share all of your way points with me over the internet. Let me know when you are ready to send them Doug

[highlander]

I'm guessing that there are no "land" maps, (for hunting, etc) available?

[MLR]

Oh yeah you can get apps for just about everyting. Pretty sure there is a Fugawi app

[darkelf]

that is so sweet. i looked at a handhelp and the nav chip last year just for ice fishing and i just couldn't justify it. believe it or not, i don't own a cell phone.....but i'm seriously considering it now. did you get the maps at lebarons or somewhere else and is there anything else involved?

[Dore]

Got mine 3 weeks ago n I love it !

[MLR]

that is so sweet. i looked at a handhelp and the nav chip last year just for ice fishing and i just couldn't justify it. believe it or not, i don't own a cell phone.....but i'm seriously considering it now. did you get the maps at lebarons or somewhere else and is there anything else involved?

You buy it online through I Tunes

[Gordo]

Glad you are enjoying it Doug. Awesome deal for only $15.00

Gord

[Seaweed]

I had mine out with me on the Ottawa this past weekend trying to calculate where the good water was to fish.

I think this is great but two things that people should consider is that....

You can not pinpoint your location without your connection to your phone company.

We do not know how cold these phones will work and Iphone has warned that the cold could wreck the screens.

I would not throw away your handheld just in case ... and if you are getting rid of it at a good price let me know please.

I also feel a bit pee pee at Navionics selling these maps so cheap for the Iphone.... I think I paid over two hundred for the chips for my boat GPS... what's up with that?

[MLR]

True, if you are going to use the Navionics app a lot, you will need an unlimited data plan.

I think the large difference in price is that you can't move the app from machine to machine. The chip you can move from machine to machine or even re sell it if you wanted to.

Also, before you buy, make sure it has the lakes that you fish, other wise it's not even worth the 15 bucks.

I hope Navionics is going to expand their library to lakes like Muskrat, Lake Clear, Lake Dore and of course smaller lakes in the back country in the near future.

[beachburger]

I don't think you need a phone connection if you download the area maps onto the phone, don't use overlays and turn off the community stuff.

http://www.navionics.com/FAQs_2.asp?CategoryID=45

I thought the same thing about the price but MLR makes a good point (like he always does) about being able to move the chip around.

And the handheld GPS is not going anywhere. It's still very useful.

[MLR]

I have tested the I Pad, and Beachburger was right like he usually is and if the map is downloaded the internal GPS works without a network connection.

[Kerrazy]

Thanks for the heads up. Downloaded it and am playing with it as I type!!
Kerrazy

[bcjohnso99]

True, if you are going to use the Navionics app a lot, you will need an unlimited data plan.
.

Nope. Go to menu and download the maps while on Wifi and take them with you.

Brian.

[disconnect]

I just picked up the app (and my boat!) on the weekend. I'm hoping it works out, my main concern is visibility in the direct sunlight. The iphone/ipad isnt great for direct sun viewing.

I came across this article while looking for a good mount to get for the boat; http://www.poweredlife.com.au/quad-lock ... one-5.html

They are discussing this mounting system; http://www.quadlockcase.com/

Im going to buy it and give it a shot. I'll be buying the Case, the quick mounts, and the poncho

http://www.quadlockcase.com/collections ... one-5-case
http://www.quadlockcase.com/collections ... -twin-pack
http://www.quadlockcase.com/collections ... o-iphone-5

I'll report back once I try all this out, it may take a little time to get it all in.

Cheers,