Wayne P.

Have you looked at the current maps (both of them) on the Navionics website's Web App?

GPS will allow you to mark stuff you find so you can return directly to it. It will also draw a trail/track on the GPS view of where you have been. Mapping with GPS will have a contour map background that may or may not have the coverage you need. You have to check the map source to see if your waters are covered. Whether or not you "need" GPS and mapping depends on how large a body of water you fish and how familiar you are with it. Plus whether or not you want to mark locations to return to like brushpiles, or any submerged feature that may hold fish).

You are suggesting two electronic devices to take the place of one. Unless the handheld is free, that is still a cost. What does a "good handheld GPS" cost? Bass Pro has the Garmin Echomap 43DV for $300. The Garmin Striker series has GPS but with no mapping capability. The Humminbird Helix 5 Sonar GPS is $300 MSRP. There are Lowance Elite 4 CHIRP models that are discontinued and some are still available for a lower price. They are GPS/mapping

KVD had no bass yesterday and only one so far today.

You can do that with Humminbird Autochart, Humminbird Autochart Pro computer software, and Navionics Sonar Charts. Auto Chart, when processed, functions just like Lakemaster mapping. Sonar Charts is a free service by Navionics, but is shared data. When Navionics processes the sonar logs, the contour mapping is shared on their website's Web App, Mobile App, and downloadable to a Navionics card that is Sonar Charts compatible.

Call Robbie Patterson, the one that invented that kit for Motor Guide trolling motors, to see if it can work with a Minnkota Edge mount. 804-706-1847

Are you joking? Did you even read all of my post that describes where to find info about it. ICAST was no secret==BEST OF SHOW. It has been discussed extensively on some other websites.

Obviously you don't know all about the Ultrex. It DOES have Spotlock and does steer either with the foot pedal with cables or remote control electrically. It is a combo Terrova and Fortrex. It is electric power steering when using the cable steer foot pedal. There is a Spotlock button on the foot pedal you can use rather than the remote control if you don't have the remote handy. There is an accessory mount for the Humminbird bow 360 transducer. Yes it does not have electric deploy or depth trim. There is a facebook video of a pro demonstrating it with the 360 attached, but I cannot get the link to post on this site. JC Pro Angler is the facebook name. The link was posted on another website and it works. Also do a search for Minnkota Ultrex Trolling Motor at ICAST 2016. Watch the presention by Bill Carson, Bret Ehrler, others too.

The Ultrex is the new kid on the block. It is a combo cable steer and electric steer with a folding mount like a Fortrex. It can be used either way and has iPilot or iPilot Link. The other models will be their current names with improved Spotlock. Freshwater and saltwater version of the same electric steer motors.

The new models due out this Fall will have the new GPS with Heading Sensor for improved Spotlock positioning. No, the current ones cannot be retrofitted.

I save all my recordings on a USB thumb drive for viewing with computer viewers, and contour map creation. I stopped counting after 200.

So you will be installing the Side Imaging version of the Helix 7---Helix 7 SI GPS. There is a 2D version, a DI version and the SI version, actually six models--some without GPS. You can purchase just Toledo Bend via the Lakemaster Chart Select program. It is incomplete though since the lake is so large, it takes a long time to survey it--its a work in progress. Boat Lanes is a separate product that is actually GPS data that you load to the unit's memory. It is not map data. You can purchase that on-line, load it to a memory card to load to the unit.

Your looking has been incomplete. Humminbird's DI units have Down Imaging just like the Raymarine DownVision, Garmin DownVu, and Lowrance Down Scan HDI have. Depending on the display size, you can get a Humminbird DI unit with or without GPS. All the DI units have dual beam 2D sonar also. Most of the Humminbird Side Imaging units do not have dedicated Down Imaging. The ONIX and ION do. The down looking imaging is just as restricted as 2D sonar is in shallow water. Even more so since an imaging pulse is very thin front to back and wide to the sides. 2D sonar pulses are a somewhat inverted cone shape. Two of my Humminbird units have 2D CHIRP, I don't use it.

You record directly to a memory card just like when you take screen snapshots and it writes picture files to a memory card.

The size of fish recorded is determined by their size, the rate the unit records the images and the boat speed. If you are sitting still and the fish is motionless, a fish will be as long as the screen is wide. You can only compare fish sizes with all the other fish that are recorded at the same time so the conditions are the same. Otherwise the only way to know is with a catch. Being familiar with each species helps also to maybe get an idea without a catch. All of these fish are crappie, I confirmed that by catching some of them: All these fish are bass, I confirmed that by catching some of them:

Draw a Path with Google Earth were the waypoints are and save it as a KML file. Then convert it to a GPX file with Ride Leader software. Then load that file to HumminbirdPC so it becomes a Track and then to a memory card to load it to your unit's memory, then delete all those waypoints. If you have a Side Imaging unit, you can do a recording along the creek channel that shows the creek channel on SI. Play back the recording on HumViewer and draw a Track in the channel with that software and save it. Copy it to HumminbirdPC to load to your unit's memory. Been there, done that, got the T-shirt. If you can see the actual creeks channels at low water, just trace the channels with Google Earth Path without the waypoints displayed. You can use the Google Earth time slider to chose a time that does show low water for that process.

No, and you cannot link one of them to any other unit.

The two units you have in mind will do just fine independently. You can pay $10,000 or more each for sonar/GPS units and they will still cross-talk if they are using the same frequencies.

Have not researched the Raymarine products. Simple rule is if any units are operating at the same time on the same frequencies, when their sonar pulses overlap, they will cross-talk. Overlapping for sonar pulses on transom mounted transducers is pretty much a sure thing. The Helix broadcasts 200 kHz 2D all the time no matter which frequency (83 kHz or 200 kHz) you choose to view. You can select either 455 kHz or 800 kHz for Imaging. If the Raymarine has a 2D frequency that is independently selectable and a DV frequency that is independently selectable, you can use the one that doesn't match the Helix and won't get cross-talk much. Harmonics of a frequency will cross-talk a little but usually not noticeable. The dual Image screenshot I posted has some cross-talk since SI and DI are using the same frequencies. I typically do not use Down Imaging at all so that is either turned off or I set it to 800 kHz for demo screen shots. Just did that screen shot for demo.

Dedicated down looking imaging produces sharper images than the blended Side Imaging. The Raymarine DV is better, well any brand with dedicated down looking imaging is better, even the DI that Humminbird ONIX SI units have.

The Humminbird Helix SI units produce a Down Imaging view by blending the two SI pulses.

That link just brings up the current compatibility chart that is being re-done. It shows the unannounced 2GB Navionics+ cards for non-US waters. Yes the Hotmaps Premium you found will work OK in your unit, but slowly. When you get it, do the registration and update so your Update subscription will start. If you don't use it, you loose it. It comes with a USB SD card reader in case your computer does not have a card reader.

You are reading outdated information. The Hotmaps Premium regional cards and the Gold cards were discontinued at the end of 2015. Current products are shown on the Navionics website. Plus a new edition will be out soon that directly replaces the Hotmaps Premium. That will be the regional Navionics+ cards that are preloaded with the Navionics maps (Nautical Charts) and can have Sonar Charts maps downloaded also like the current Hotmaps Platinum, Navionics +, and Platinum+ The new regional Navionics+ cards will be the same price as the discontinued Hotmaps Premium cards. $149. For a particular lake, every product has the exact same map if each product is updated the same day. All new purchases of any Navionics card includes a year of Freshest Data Updates. Regardless of what day the data was put on one of the map cards, you can have today's maps today. The discontinued Gold and Premium cards were not renewable after the year of Freshest Data Updates expires. The other cards are renewable annually for $99 The Hotmaps Platinum cards have extra features that is not mapping and some less sophisticated units cannot use those features. Still should read the maps though. I used to have a Humminbird sonar GPS unit that was not compatible with the Platinum cards, but it would read the Nautical Charts and Sonar Charts just like my higher end models. The map cards are microSD and come with a SD adapter for most brands. There are some not well known brands that use Compact Flash cards. Navionics has those covered also. It looks like Navionics is updating their website's unit compatibility list, but once that is complete, you will see what is compatible with your Elite DSI unit. I do know that the discontinued Elite models cannot handle a lot of data at speed and the chart updates don't keep up with the boat movement at speed. The Navionics+ product can be customized to allow for that by deleting all the data and only load the bodies of water you need= less data to process.

If you got the plastic bottle, it will gel up without even being opened. If you have the glass bottle, it will gel up with air exposure. Store in a cool dark place.