Mosaic Live / Solix question

[danceswithquail]

I have been battling for a month trying to get the Mosaic Live function to work properly on a Solix unit that came on my new Bass Cat. Not sure if anyone else is using this feature, but it has potential if they would make it where the saved mosaic files would auto-display like the Lowrance technology auto overlays, but thats for another post.

My main frustration that I am getting the runaround on with Hummbinbird support on is when I record a Mosaic live, it records for about 150 yards, and then I start losing pie slice shaped chunks out of that overlay on the screen near the start of my recording. If I stop the recording and save the Mosaic to an SD card, when I reload that card, it has the same chunks of data missing. Surely the buffer in a Solix is larger than 150 hards / 4 minutes worth of recording. Anybody else have this problem? Is there a workaround or is it way until Humminbird delivers a software patch?

Support is saying that I might need a Zero Lines card, but that doesnt make sense to me since I am just doing Mosaic recording, not messing with Autochart Pro etc, and I am not even to the save to SD card step yet and I am already losing data out of the internal memory of the unit.

Any words of wisdom appreciated, lots of hours into trying to figure this out and get this thing to work decently until they improve the usability (which I am hopeful they are working on)

[pfisher]

That feature is still there?? It was so bad on Onix I quit trying.....

Haven't even noticed it on my Solix

[Fishton]

Yes, the Live mosaic is not great

[danceswithquail]

I havent researched Autochart Pro capability, but the concept is you record mosaics and then go home and stitch them together into one larger file you can load correct? My problem is I think I would have to record two minute recording segments because I am losing data at the unit, or can Autochart pro stitch together rock structure type overlays using Autochart live sonar recordings?

[danceswithquail]

I have been messing with this and just to prevent some school of hard knocks for others on this journey:
1) Autochart Live to record color coded contour maps (for lakes that haven't been mapped commercially or to augment Navionics or whatever) works pretty good, easy. Its automatic like Lowrance's structure scan, no need to manually load files when you pull up to a point etc
2) Mosaic Live is very cumbersome. On my Solix unit, I can record about 200 yards of driving before it starts losing data, so you could end up with hundreds and hundreds of files that you have to manually load everytime you pull up to a ridge or set of rockpiles etc. Very limited usability right now unless you fish the same five spots that have a lot of rocky structure, isolated timber etc. Mosaic live is not compatible with Zero Lines Map card, so you cannot use AutoChart Pro to pull in the Mosaic SIM files and then write them back out to the Zero Lines Card where your Side Imaging Mosaic overlays become automatic. In fact, when you put in a Zero Lines Card, all the Mosaic Live options disappear from your menus
3) I then bought Autochart Pro to try and bring in .SON files from the Solix Sonar Recordings, but the Solix doesnt appear to have the processing horsepower to properly record 2D, DI, and SI, as about 70% of the time, the SI file doesnt get created or it only partially creates the SI files. I sent my Solix unit off and Humminbird swapped out the system board, but same exact issue. When you are recording SI on a Solix, it doesnt show you real time where you have recorded, so it would be really hard to record a lake cleanly.
4) The last problem with the Solix and the Zero Lines card combo, is that there doesnt appear to be a menu option to overlay the SI mosaics on the top of your map like the Helix does

Net is if you want to use Mosaics of any kind, buy a Helix or go to Lowrance where the structuremap feature is much more automatic and well thought out

[Bob B]

Please continue to post your results ..... one of the reasons I was strongly considering having a Solix on my boat was for the SI mosaic features .... If it doesn't work correctly it would be real frustrating. Are you using the most current update? Have you noticed a change in this feature with updates? I saw a video Doug Vahrenberg did early on and it appeared that the mosaic live was working good then.

Too bad Humminbird won't work with Reefmaster to allow their mapping to display on a Humminbird unit .... what they can do is pretty impressive. Maybe Johnson Outdoors should buy them like they did with Lakemaster back in 2011. The trick would be to keep the guy who does the Reefmaster software .... plus they could keep compatability with Lowrance.

[Wayne P.]

Please continue to post your results ..... one of the reasons I was strongly considering having a Solix on my boat was for the SI mosaic features .... If it doesn't work correctly it would be real frustrating. Are you using the most current update? Have you noticed a change in this feature with updates? I saw a video Doug Vahrenberg did early on and it appeared that the mosaic live was working good then.

Too bad Humminbird won't work with Reefmaster to allow their mapping to display on a Humminbird unit .... what they can do is pretty impressive. Maybe Johnson Outdoors should buy them like they did with Lakemaster back in 2011. When they stopped supporting Lowrance and Garmin, it seemed it would be bad for them, but they seem to be doing OK .... Not sure how good compared to Navionics who has more universal compatability. The trick would be to keep the guy who does the Reefmaster software .... plus they could keep compatability with Lowrance.

Johnson Outdoors bought Dr. Depth mapping software which became Auto Chart.

[Bob B]

Johnson Outdoors bought Dr. Depth mapping software which became Auto Chart.

Is the guy who does Reefmaster the guy who used to do Dr Depth?

[Wayne P.]

Is the guy who does Reefmaster the guy who used to do Dr Depth?

Don't think so since both products were on the market at the same time.

[Bob B]

Don't think so since both products were on the market at the same time.

I think it was Per Pelin who owned Dr Depth befor JO bought it .... haven't been able to find who does Reefmaster yet.

[Bob B]

I think it was Per Pelin who owned Dr Depth befor JO bought it .... haven't been able to find who does Reefmaster yet.

'

Matt Fender does a lot of the Reefmaster online stuff, but not sure if he is the one who writes the software .... I seem to remember someone with a swedish sounding name from some old things I read..... but sorry, I have gotten this thread off track.

[danceswithquail]

I have the latest software and firmware on the Solix, I picked up my Bass Cat in late June and applied the June 6th patch before the cat even touched the water, so I couldn't say if it the patch broke it. I check the Humminbird website waiting for a new version beyond the June 6th version every few days. If Humminbird would allow you to keep the Autochart live files and the Mosaic live files on a SD card, and automatically load them once it gets a GPS fix near there (like competitive models), then AutoChart Pro wouldn't be needed (for me anyway). I did find a couple of interesting points from the Autochart live recordings that the Navionics card didn't show, so there might be more value there than I thought.

[danceswithquail]

Hey Bob, seems to be a software problem with the Solix and recording SI in particular. I took videos on the water and forwarded them to Humminbird, but 2D and DI are fine, but most of the time it wont record the Mosaic, and the 20% time it does, it records blank or just 1/3 of the recording run. I am wondering if the Solix's CPU is underpowered personally (that's in my head because my boat dealership tried to talk me out of it saying they were laggy, flaky and its because the CPU is underpowered, but I have gotten too used to touch screens from the multiple HDS units I have had so I took the risk).

[Bob B]

Thanks for the update .... Hope Humminbird is able to figure out what is going on. Sounds like you got them the info they need.

[Fishton]

It takes a lot of effort to build a high quality sidescan Mosaic Chart, but it is a real game changer when it id done right.

hdfc002.jpg

[Bob B]

It takes a lot of effort to build a high quality sidescan Mosaic Chart, but it is a real game changer when it id done right.

hdfc002.jpg

I saw the video you did with the mosaic, 360, and Livescope .... all pretty impressive tools. That video REALLY shows the value of the mosaic. Is that done with Reefmaster and brought back onto your unit, or is that strictly Lowrance tools?

I'm kinda hoping the mega 360 will draw that kind of view in real time.

[danceswithquail]

Bob, after sending in more diagnostics and doing more tests, I am shipping the unit back to Humminbird. Still same issues of "losing" SI recording data after about 90 seconds of recording. Hopefully I just got a lemon and this is not an across the board deal of recording mosaics is flakey on Solix units

[Bob B]

Bob, after sending in more diagnostics and doing more tests, I am shipping the unit back to Humminbird. Still same issues of "losing" SI recording data after about 90 seconds of recording. Hopefully I just got a lemon and this is not an across the board deal of recording mosaics is flakey on Solix units

Thanks for continuing the feedback .... Hope they get you fixed up.

[danceswithquail]

Bob, it came back from Humminbird (they replaced the system board and upgraded the unit to v3.500) and it has the same issues of not being able to record SI, and the Mosaic Live recording sporadically. You cant find anyone who is doing a lot with Solix units in this regard, and I have grown weary of being their alpha tester, so ordering HDS Live units and moving. I suspect they will have it working in a year or so, but buyer beware until then or stick with Helix if you are Bird fan

[Bob B]

Sorry they couldn't get it working for you ..... There is another recent thread with a guy saying his stops after recording 3Gb ..... is that what yours does or is it more intermittent than that?