What does everyone think about the Motorguide XI5?

[sodaksker]

There is no on off switch on my pedal that I know of. May batteries last all year. Never had a problem.

[Junk Fisherman]

There is no on off switch on my pedal that I know of. May batteries last all year. Never had a problem.

You turn the pedal on by pressing and holding the the anchor button until you hear 1 beep. You turn it off by pressing the anchor button again until you hear 2 beeps.

[TMG]

There is no on off switch on my pedal that I know of. May batteries last all year. Never had a problem.

It doesn't happen to all of them.
I used the same batteries for 2 years.

[Legend Chris]

Liked mine a lot on my last boat especially paired w/ Lowrance

[Cojab]

I went a year and a half with my foot pedal batteries before I replaced them just to be safe.

I had my Xi5 on my Tracker 185. Just bought a different boat that had a good Fortrex on it and much better Lowrance electronics than I had before. With the new Lowrances on the new boat I took the Xi5 off my old boat and put it on the new one. The spot lock feature just works and I did not want to be without it. That and the compatability with Lowrance made it a no brainer for my situation.
I agree it can make quick movements sometimes and the heading lock does not hold exactly true all the time but the spot lock lets me "anchor" next to grass beds I like to fish. The jog feature lets me work around them from any angle without ever coming out of anchor mode.
When I use it shallow in place of poles, I put my nose pointing offshore and fish from the back. This helps with keeping the prop wash from hitting where I'm fishing.

All that being said, I've considered selling both the Xi5 and the Fortrex and getting a new Ultrex. I like the remote and the foot pedal on the Ultrex way better. I do like the wireless feature of the MG pedal though. It's nice to put the pedal anywhere on the boat with no wires to get tangled in or trip over. Also without the steering cable its much cleaner on the deck than the Fortrex which I really like.

[Cojab]

There is no on off switch on my pedal that I know of. May batteries last all year. Never had a problem.

If I remember right the foot pedal times out and shuts itself off even if you didn't use the anchor button to turn it of manually.

[edwonbass]

Do you turn the pedal off after you are done fishing? A set of batteries has lasted all year in my pedal.

Yes I turned the pedal off every time but somehow it still drained the batteries. Now I just turn off the switch I installed and haven’t needed to replace them since.

[Highcentered]

How are y'all calibrating the jog control? I've looked in the manual numerous times and haven't seen anything about calibrating it. If I could get jog control to work like I think it should I'd probably never use the pedal. And I can navigate stump fields way more accurately with the remote.

[e-tec]

Does a Point 1 make a difference when using the XI-5 spot lock?

[Transom]

Does a Point 1 make a difference when using the XI-5 spot lock?

No but it helps you know where to cast when looking at a map.

[zelmo]

How are y'all calibrating the jog control? I've looked in the manual numerous times and haven't seen anything about calibrating it. If I could get jog control to work like I think it should I'd probably never use the pedal. And I can navigate stump fields way more accurately with the remote.

If there is a way to calibrate it I would like to know. I just learned which direction each button moves the boat and use it accordingly. Once you have it down you can move the boat to where you want easily. I haven't even turned on my foot pedal (rocker switch mod) in a couple of months.

[jigman51]

Have a good friend who has MK verison of this for sale only has a few total hours maybe 2 or so . just hated it that much.

So he is the one guy who doesn't like it.

[Cojab]

How are y'all calibrating the jog control? I've looked in the manual numerous times and haven't seen anything about calibrating it. If I could get jog control to work like I think it should I'd probably never use the pedal. And I can navigate stump fields way more accurately with the remote.

I'd have to check my manual but the only thing I vaguely remember was something about having to point the head strait forward for some reason. I'll check.

BTW, my jog works flawlessly. It's one of my favorite features for the way I fish grass. You can really pick places apart with anchor and jog.

[zelmo]

I'd have to check my manual but the only thing I vaguely remember was something about having to point the head strait forward for some reason. I'll check.

BTW, my jog works flawlessly. It's one of my favorite features for the way I fish grass. You can really pick places apart with anchor and jog.

There is a step in the setup section where you point the unit to face forward and set it. I did that but it didn’t have any effect on jog. Maybe I will try that again.