Humminbirds response to a problem

[mike rousseau]

It's just annoying that my 10 year old black and white gps(with external) out performed my current humminbird...

 

If internal doesn't work well... Why would they put it on the market?

[SlowPoke]

If they deem that level of accuracy "acceptable", one must wonder how accurate the sonar is. You might as well leave it demo mode.

Edited November 5, 2011 by SlowPoke

[mercman]

If internal doesn't work well... Why would they put it on the market?

 

 

Exactly.We aren't rocket scientists.All we want is a safe accurate way to tell us where we are,where we are going,how to get back home, and how fast we are going.

My automobile GPS is more accurate than my 587. both have internal antenna.I expected my Humminbird to be at least as accurate.

At least when the car is parked, it says 0mph

[manitoubass2]

This doesn't really surprise me too much after doing some training last summer with a mining company/ontario government.

 

I was confused at how innaccurate our GPS co-ordinates could be/were. For 5 days I averaged about 6-8 metres off my locations(not very accurate)

[Billy Bob]

I gave up on Humminbird's toys long ago....

 

My Lowrance LMS 520C units both share one external puck antenna and it's accuracy is VERY good....HOWEVER, I do have water speed which I paid extra for...(the small paddle wheel on transom) WHY ???...Because when you're trolling in current your land speed and water speeds very a LOT and your walleye lures will spin if your going to fast.

 

Paul, if you satisfied with the Sonar readouts of the Humminbird then bite the bullet and purchase a external antenna...if not, remove unit and sell it and get yourself a Lowrance HDS unit....either way problem solved.

[dave524]

HOWEVER, I do have water speed which I paid extra for...(the small paddle wheel on transom) WHY ???...Because when you're trolling in current your land speed and water speeds very a LOT and your walleye lures will spin if your going to fast.

 

 

 

If you got the same one I do Billy , been running one since before there was GPS, never could bring myself to hang a 300 dollar probe on a rigger cable. This combined with the angle of the dangle of the rigger cables, hum of the wires and the way the little bubbles break off the cable I do good enough on speed. There are even local to you. Mine is the Osprey model, it is even self powered unless you want the light.

 

http://www.moorelectronics.com/fishing/trolling/trolling.html

[aplumma]

Most of the GPS in a car have a program edit that will not let it read anything but 0 below 2 MPH or Metric Equal. GPS is a wonderful thing but to get the accuracy that people want would mean a really expensive receiver unit. To keep the costs down they sacrifice certain reality information with software parameters. Your Auto GPS does not really track your car on a map so accurate that it doesn't leave the road. They have a parameter that says chose the closest road and keep the car on their even if the GPS is off by X feet. The depth finder you use does not really read 10 ft 3 inches it reads 10ft going to 11ft but they have decided to relay that information to you as 10ft plus inches till it is 11ft etc. The best way to find your trolling speed is mechanical not electronic's your accuracy fluctuates with how many satellites are up their and what the angle of them are in relation to each other. You can make a mechanical trolling meter very easily using a string with a cylinder weight. hang it on a stick in the water and troll at the speed you want and check the angle of deflection from 6 o clock. Get a bite then mark it as the deflection and you can reset the boat at the same speed.

 

 

Art

[mercman]

Most of the GPS in a car have a program edit that will not let it read anything but 0 below 2 MPH or Metric Equal. GPS is a wonderful thing but to get the accuracy that people want would mean a really expensive receiver unit. To keep the costs down they sacrifice certain reality information with software parameters. Your Auto GPS does not really track your car on a map so accurate that it doesn't leave the road. They have a parameter that says chose the closest road and keep the car on their even if the GPS is off by X feet. The depth finder you use does not really read 10 ft 3 inches it reads 10ft going to 11ft but they have decided to relay that information to you as 10ft plus inches till it is 11ft etc. The best way to find your trolling speed is mechanical not electronic's your accuracy fluctuates with how many satellites are up their and what the angle of them are in relation to each other.

Art

 

Ok, With all this new to me info, i can see how GPS in your car is great for getting you to a destination or finding gas stations and restaurants.

But why do we even bother getting GPS on our boat if the accuracy level is so far off, that it is basically usless???? If the accuracy is so bad, then we really cant follow a depth contour,we could be 20-30feet off in either direction. We cant use it to navigate waters and avoid shallow areas, and we cant use it to troll acurately at a given speed. Why spend hundreds of dollars on naveonics cards if the machine we put them in, cant accuratley use the info on them

I am so depressed now

[GbayGiant]

MercMan, you say Lowrance has their problems.

How many Lowrance units have you owned and what are the problems they have?

I have had a few Lowrance units over the years and none have had any problems. I still have my old paper graph and x70 that still work quite well.

Even my hand held h2o c works flawlessly.

By the way. On charts and GPS maps it states to "not to rely on for navigational purposes". The maps are not perfect.

Edited November 5, 2011 by GbayGiant

[SlowPoke]

Why spend hundreds of dollars on naveonics cards if the machine we put them in, cant accuratley use the info on them

I am so depressed now

 

In colour no less!

[Roy]

I might be a little late with this but maybe you should have gotten a Lowrance? My LCX 25C works well and my old X-85, after all these years works flawlessly.

 

ps. Oh, disregard the above. Perhaps you should give Humminbird another crack at it. Hey, all the really good fishing dudes with those coloured shirts and sexy Humminbird logos all say they're the best they've ever used! C'mon Paul...buy another Humminbird. They already told you that they're aware of their limitations so it's only a matter of time before you're really somewhat happy with one.

[Woodsman]

Last year I bought an obsolete but new in the box Humminbird 580.

It has an external antenna & I find it quite accurate for speed & location using the provided UniMap or Navionics cards. Using either type of map places me in the water even when near shore. Have not found the need to use the map offset yet.

Adjusting or confirming some settings in the unit may help your problems.

Map datum - insure it's on the default setting of WGS 84

If running the tracking option set the distance & intervals to the lower values.

With use of the map offset you should be reasonably close.

What many forget is that for civilian use the receivers are designed to be only accurate to within +/- 10 metres 95% of the time and the US can downgrade the GPS signal anytime they choose for security reasons.

That being said many/most units still perform far better than this standard.

[mercman]

I might be a little late with this but maybe you should have gotten a Lowrance? My LCX 25C works well and my old X-85, after all these years works flawlessly.

 

ps. Oh, disregard the above. Perhaps you should give Humminbird another crack at it. Hey, all the really good fishing dudes with those coloured shirts and sexy Humminbird logos all say they're the best they've ever used! C'mon Paul...buy another Humminbird. They already told you that they're aware of their limitations so it's only a matter of time before you're really somewhat happy with one.

 

 

Well if what i am seeing here is true, it makes no differance at all what brand you buy, they are all innacurate.The technology is innacurate, period.

Mine works fine too Roy.If it is a defective unit,i want it fixed. If its a problem that Humminbird is aware of, i want it fixed.If they do nothing i will take my propane torch and turn it into a door stop and buy a lowrance.Simple.

 

In answer to GBG, here are a few.Just type 'Problems with Lowrance" into google, and get with the program bud. Both companies have thier share of problems.Whether you agree or not is neither here nor there

The unit powers itself up when the boat is in storage or parked in the driveway.

The backlight display is constantly turning on and off. It's like looking at a strobe.

Lots of problems with lowrance transducers not being able to hold bottom at speeds much over 25mph.

Sending back to Lowrance my third LGC-3000 antennal that has gone bad on my Globalmap 7300 HD GPS unit. Exactly the same symptoms: the unit works fine for a while, then, when powered up cannot find its location.

[Skipper D]

How ever which way its looked at ,technoligy can be hard on ya and in most case's shorten your life if your not careful , the dam cursed stuff .

[aplumma]

Don't get me wrong GPS has lots of uses... It has the ability to get you back to an area that you visited last season and forgot that you caught fish their. It will allow you to troll the same line that you did repeating each pass thru the point you found. It allows you to plot a circuit to fish thru the day. What it can't do is get you to the pinpoint area due to physics. You are located by the triangulation of your position from space from up to 9 points. The closer or less amount of points the less accurate it is. The bright side is they can get you within 10ft most of the time all for around $500.00 with no monthly fee. What unit is best is up to what unit you read comfortable. I personalty after reading what does what and spending long hours on the water found that Lowrance reads the way that I understand the information and the controls it has to offer. It will take long hours of reading the information on the screen on the water and looking at the manual before you will even start to comprehend all of the features the little black box offers. To call the information that it does give you valueless is incorrect it is actually invaluable to making a flat sheet of water rich with navigation aids, past memories, and the ability to mark it anytime you want.

 

 

Art

[mercman]

Don't get me wrong GPS has lots of uses... It has the ability to get you back to an area that you visited last season and forgot that you caught fish their. It will allow you to troll the same line that you did repeating each pass thru the point you found. It allows you to plot a circuit to fish thru the day. What it can't do is get you to the pinpoint area due to physics. You are located by the triangulation of your position from space from up to 9 points. The closer or less amount of points the less accurate it is. The bright side is they can get you within 10ft most of the time all for around $500.00 with no monthly fee. What unit is best is up to what unit you read comfortable. I personalty after reading what does what and spending long hours on the water found that Lowrance reads the way that I understand the information and the controls it has to offer. It will take long hours of reading the information on the screen on the water and looking at the manual before you will even start to comprehend all of the features the little black box offers. To call the information that it does give you valueless is incorrect it is actually invaluable to making a flat sheet of water rich with navigation aids, past memories, and the ability to mark it anytime you want.

 

 

Art

 

Thanks for that Art.

I like my stuff to work properly.It allows me to put faith and trust in them.If the issue i am having is "Normal" then i will accept it and get on with life. If its not.....then huminbird will have no choice but to fix it. And believe me, they Will fix it.

 

 

Paul

[Billy Bob]

Most of the GPS in a car have a program edit that will not let it read anything but 0 below 2 MPH or Metric Equal. GPS is a wonderful thing but to get the accuracy that people want would mean a really expensive receiver unit. To keep the costs down they sacrifice certain reality information with software parameters. Your Auto GPS does not really track your car on a map so accurate that it doesn't leave the road. They have a parameter that says chose the closest road and keep the car on their even if the GPS is off by X feet. The depth finder you use does not really read 10 ft 3 inches it reads 10ft going to 11ft but they have decided to relay that information to you as 10ft plus inches till it is 11ft etc. The best way to find your trolling speed is mechanical not electronic's your accuracy fluctuates with how many satellites are up their and what the angle of them are in relation to each other. You can make a mechanical trolling meter very easily using a string with a cylinder weight. hang it on a stick in the water and troll at the speed you want and check the angle of deflection from 6 o clock. Get a bite then mark it as the deflection and you can reset the boat at the same speed.

 

 

Art

 

 

Your fishing PONDS compared to the Great Lakes......those units are for the birds...Lowrance is head & shoulders above the "bird" units...OK...I said it....so what...

[GbayGiant]

Well if what i am seeing here is true, it makes no differance at all what brand you buy, they are all innacurate.The technology is innacurate, period.

Mine works fine too Roy.If it is a defective unit,i want it fixed. If its a problem that Humminbird is aware of, i want it fixed.If they do nothing i will take my propane torch and turn it into a door stop and buy a lowrance.Simple.

 

In answer to GBG, here are a few.Just type 'Problems with Lowrance" into google, and get with the program bud. Both companies have thier share of problems.Whether you agree or not is neither here nor there

The unit powers itself up when the boat is in storage or parked in the driveway.

The backlight display is constantly turning on and off. It's like looking at a strobe.

Lots of problems with lowrance transducers not being able to hold bottom at speeds much over 25mph.

Sending back to Lowrance my third LGC-3000 antennal that has gone bad on my Globalmap 7300 HD GPS unit. Exactly the same symptoms: the unit works fine for a while, then, when powered up cannot find its location.

 

I got with the program years ago after buying my first Lowrance and have not had any issues since. Try not to believe everything you read in Google and go with experience instead. The problem with the transducers freezing over the winter is something that has been known for a while now. After market transducers will last longer than the units will. Just a heads up for you when it comes to transducer problems. As for the units not being accurate, they are bang on for Georgian bay for the most part but a good eye will help keep you out of trouble when off of the main channels which is something else that comes with experience.

[BillM]

5+ years with a Humminbird, zero problems. Lots of Lowrance leghuppers in this thread.

[DRIFTER_016]

5+ years with a Humminbird, zero problems. Lots of Lowrance leghuppers in this thread.

 

20 years running Lowrance on my boat with no problems.

[Gregoire]

Can we combine this thread with the atlantic thread and have an all out OFC war...which side are you on?

[Billy Bob]

Can we combine this thread with the atlantic thread and have an all out OFC war...which side are you on?

 

LOL....

 

I'm on the winning side...

[Fisherman]

LOL....

 

I'm on the winning side...

What the heck are you doing up at 04:19, that's reserved for Lew..

[lew]

What the heck are you doing up at 04:19, that's reserved for Lew..

 

Sheeesh, by 4:19 I was thinking of lunch

[Big Cliff]

Well, I have had both Hummingbird and lowrance units, I currently own an HDS 5 and love it and I haven't had any problems with it other than messing up my settings a few times (my own fault).

 

As for accuracy, I figure that if it can get me within 20 or 30' of where I want to be, that is pretty good, my boat is only 18.5' long so if the GPS can put me within a boat length or so I have no issues. I have checked it out for accuracy on several occasions and found that within 10' is normal (1/2) a boat length!

 

As for speed, it seems to be pretty good but I haven't really had anything to really test it against. I do find that even when stoped it will fluctuate by .0 to .3 or .4 mph but when underway it seems to hold steady.

 

I hope Hummingbird comes through for you, it would sure be good business on their part!