How many of you are using this? Do you like it? I have a small lake and the map card is not even close to accurate, so I'm thinking of buying this to add to my Helix to get better mapping. Would love to be able to map vegetation, etc., in addition to contours, which this allegedly does. 

 

Second question, could I buy a software license from someone no longer using it? Sometimes I get a windows key or something from a computer getting tossed, and I'm curious if someone switched from Humminbird to Garmin or whatever and no longer needed it if I could buy second hand and it'd still work on the software side? Looks like it's pretty expensive to buy new, although I guess 'expensive' is subjective... 

I’ve had one for 3 or 4 years now. I had a helix 7 and was using auto chart for my local lakes because none are mapped. It filled the helix on the first lake so i got the card.

The card is just an SD card with a specific formatting. No, you can’t just use another SD card and format it yourself. Yes it works as advertised. And when I moved from my helix units to my xplores this spring the data came with me.

I haven’t put enough time into the hard/soft bottom and vegetation mapping. I just turn it on when I launch, set the depth offset, and let it go. It records the data and puts it on the card. One day when I put some time into learning it better I can add the bottom hardness layers and the data will be there.

If someone swapped and has one spare, you can easily use it. It isn’t anything like a license. It’s more like an old hard drive. Just install and start using it.

Thank you @casts_by_fly . Do you use the computer software Autochart with it, or only the ZLC? The ZLC is much less expensive than the computer software, and I'm not clear on what the software lets you do. It sounds like my use case would be very similar to yours, unless I had a friend joining me kayak fishing and I wanted to share data with them but that seems rather unlikely.

I don't have a computer that can run the ZLC software. I am 100% apple based except for my work computer (which I can't install anything on). So I am entirely inside the head units.

When I had a hummingbird on a small lake the self made mapping was -great-. 100% worth it kind of purchase, and some real advantage because I had really precise mapping.

I got the computer software too. Played around with it a bit. But never really used it in a way that made a difference. I think if I was willing to sidescan the whole lake and let it do the sidescan stitching it would hav been cool. But I kept deciding to fish instead. Wasn't worth it for me.

Be aware that the map recording is heavy on the battery to the point run time is really noticeable.

I regret buying the regular maps card. Should have bought zlc. My small lake is on there but not hd and it's not even close to accurate..

I guess I'll just buy the card. I've never heard anyone say they regret buying it

The ZLC card is $63 on Amazon right now.