Calling Navionics on their BS

[rbarrow]

Well... Navionics charts for the most part are not surveyed but digitized/extrapolated from old topo maps and updated via crowd sourcing uploads...this is the SONARCharts part. The community edits are updates like new buoys, marinas, etc. which change constantly. Both are what you get for the $99 per year subscription...less than $10 per month. Garmin is out actually augmenting the Navionics data with scanning boats but I am not sure how massive an effort that might be but I understand they have been spotted in various places. Needless to say, Navionics data is currently the least accurate of all...at least until such time as the new data from the scanning boats gets integrated into the model.

Lakemaster changes as new lakes are actually surveyed and added to the card...which happens. Not sure what the triggering number of new lakes happens to be before a new version is released but that is the way they handle it as I understand it. To gain those updates, you purchase a new card.

C-Maps are basically the same as Lakemaster but with the option of updating. No details on the subscription costs at this time but it should be pretty reasonable. The updates will include fixes to existing lakes as well as adding potential new lakes in a state as they get scanned...the update process is still under development.

Lakes change but it is very rare that previously HD scanned lakes get rescanned...it simply costs too much to do so. So updates to existing HD scans simply are not going to happen often. It costs an amazing amount of money to scan a lake much less a whole state of tournament level lakes. It is not getting cheaper and the cost of mapping technology will continue to rise going forward. Some anglers, especially those that are focused on shallow water, will simply stay with whatever they have and not spend money. Serious offshore anglers live/die by the quality of the mapping and are willing to pay for it.

There are amazing things coming in the next few years but it isn't going to be something you can get for $99 per year... just saying...

You are certainly not required to buy anything...but you will be competing against those that will.

[leethefishking]

Listen I agree on paying for new information. My issue is having to pay to use a functionality your unit and maps have had for the last ten years. We arent talking about rocket science, we are talking about the ability to mark shallow water to keep yourself safe. If you think that’s fair then you and I have different opinions on that.

[rbarrow]

Do not misunderstand... I am not defending Navionics pricing policy in particular but it is what it is....the simple reality is that it costs you money to keep that feature (and the fishing range feature) active. There are a very few other options (none of which are free!) but both require moving to different brands of electronics.

The other option is spend $5 on the Navionics iPhone app and use that...but it will still cost you $5 a year!

[Wayne P.]

Well... Navionics charts for the most part are not surveyed but digitized/extrapolated from old topo maps and updated via crowd sourcing uploads...this is the SONARCharts part. The community edits are updates like new buoys, marinas, etc. which change constantly. Both are what you get for the $99 per year subscription...less than $10 per month. Garmin is out actually augmenting the Navionics data with scanning boats but I am not sure how massive an effort that might be but I understand they have been spotted in various places. Needless to say, Navionics data is currently the least accurate of all...at least until such time as the new data from the scanning boats gets integrated into the model.

Lakemaster changes as new lakes are actually surveyed and added to the card...which happens. Not sure what the triggering number of new lakes happens to be before a new version is released but that is the way they handle it as I understand it. To gain those updates, you purchase a new card.

C-Maps are basically the same as Lakemaster but with the option of updating. No details on the subscription costs at this time but it should be pretty reasonable. The updates will include fixes to existing lakes as well as adding potential new lakes in a state as they get scanned...the update process is still under development.

Lakes change but it is very rare that previously HD scanned lakes get rescanned...it simply costs too much to do so. So updates to existing HD scans simply are not going to happen often. It costs an amazing amount of money to scan a lake much less a whole state of tournament level lakes. It is not getting cheaper and the cost of mapping technology will continue to rise going forward. Some anglers, especially those that are focused on shallow water, will simply stay with whatever they have and not spend money. Serious offshore anglers live/die by the quality of the mapping and are willing to pay for it.

There are amazing things coming in the next few years but it isn't going to be something you can get for $99 per year... just saying...

You are certainly not required to buy anything...but you will be competing against those that will.

Lakemaster is like Navionics was prior to 2010--only annual editions with new locations and new surveys added each year.

Navionics lost the rights in 2009 to publish features from "other sources" that they had purchased so they started the Freshest Data program to add back those features to their maps as the data was collected by their teams. With the Freshest Data program, new locations and re-surveys are available for download as they are processed---Navionics does about 2,000 updates daily worldwide, not counting the data that is added via the user generated contour mapping (Sonar Charts).
When Navionics was re-surveying Kentucky Lake, I watched the Web App change as different sections of the lake was added and then updated my cards to get those changes. It took a couple of months.
When they are at Toledo Bend, flooding occurred before they were half way though so they stopped and finished that later when the lake was more normal.

[grout-scout]

Do not misunderstand... I am not defending Navionics pricing policy in particular but it is what it is....the simple reality is that it costs you money to keep that feature (and the fishing range feature) active. There are a very few other options (none of which are free!) but both require moving to different brands of electronics.

The other option is spend $5 on the Navionics iPhone app and use that...but it will still cost you $5 a year!

$5 for the phone or $99 for a card that we had to purchase, what in the holy hell???

Are most guys using the “screen mirroring” function now or just spending the $99, serious question there.

[wallyandre]

App renewal is: $14.99

I link the app on my HDS Live the other day but the picture look small on the Live; looks like a 4:3 on a 16:9 screen and even worst. I was disapointed because I was counting on that function for the color shading.