hummingbird mapping contour SD card

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Not Yet You Bet

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I have an older Hummingbird 899 ci HD SI combo + GPS sonar with Dual SD card slots, that I don't really know how to operate very well. I decided it is time to buy a mapping contour SD card. Not sure what to get or where the best place is to get it from. Thinking Lakemaster because have Hummingbird sonar, but maybe other brands are better (navionics?). States compatible with Lakemaster Autochart and Navionics cold/Hot maps. I think I need South West US card to cover Utah lakes and Lake Powell?

I want to be able to adjust the lake level on my sonar so the contours are correct, but don't know if that is possible with my unit or not, or if one brand of card is better than the other. Lost my instruction book so looking on line and more confused than ever. I am an old flip phone guy, and this is all confusing to me.

At one time the 899 Hummingbird was top of the line, but now it is probably way outdated.

Anyone out there have a 899 that can give me some suggestions. Where is the best place to purchase a card? and what card do I need? Can I adjust the lake level on my sonar? and how do I do it?
 
I bought lakemaster for my c.i. then found out it would not do the water level adjust. I would call Hummingbird, they are pretty good at answering questions. You will probably have to do a sofware upgrade using a computer but it is not hard. The higher number C.I.s I think will let you use the lake level adjust which everyone loves. You might be lucky. Lakemaster sometimes is under $100 on ebay. By the way, I love my flip phone.
 
I had the same issue with the lake level adjustment, it wouldn’t adjust more than + or - 30’ on my HB798. Did the software update and problem solved. You only need to make sure you download the software for your specific model, that is critical. Very easy to do. Also, you have to have a pc with a “SD” card slot to download the software update to the SD card (32G max) then into the fish finder, or buy the $50.00 cable from Humminbird. Sq
 
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Thanks guys. I gave the c.i. to my son in law. Don't remember which model but will call him to get the model and then refer back to you guys for instruction. This is the most awesome sight ever. Thanx. You guys can fix the fishfinder but I'm not sure I can fix my son-in-law. Joking---great kid. Sad when you call a 56 year old a kid. Sq. .... get gifts..
 
birdsnest said:
Thanks guys. I gave the c.i. to my son in law. Don't remember which model but will call him to get the model and then refer back to you guys for instruction. This is the most awesome sight ever. Thanx. You guys can fix the fishfinder but I'm not sure I can fix my son-in-law. Joking---great kid. Sad when you call a 56 year old a kid. Sq. .... get gifts..
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I was fishing bullfrog last weekend. I have a humminbird 698 ci with Navionics that does not allow depth change to the chart. I wasn’t being cautious enough at the mouth of bullfrog bay/halls and learned the hard way👎🏿 This week I learned you can buy the Navionics app for about $15 a year and it has the ability to adjust water levels down to where the lake is at currently. Also allows you to set your own hazard depth. I set mine to show anything under 30’ as hazardous just to be safe. Best $15 I’ve spent in a while!
 
Not Yet You Bet said:
I have an older Hummingbird 899 ci HD SI combo + GPS sonar with Dual SD card slots, that I don't really know how to operate very well. I decided it is time to buy a mapping contour SD card. Not sure what to get or where the best place is to get it from. Thinking Lakemaster because have Hummingbird sonar, but maybe other brands are better (navionics?). States compatible with Lakemaster Autochart and Navionics cold/Hot maps. I think I need South West US card to cover Utah lakes and Lake Powell?

I want to be able to adjust the lake level on my sonar so the contours are correct, but don't know if that is possible with my unit or not, or if one brand of card is better than the other. Lost my instruction book so looking on line and more confused than ever. I am an old flip phone guy, and this is all confusing to me.

At one time the 899 Hummingbird was top of the line, but now it is probably way outdated.

Anyone out there have a 899 that can give me some suggestions. Where is the best place to purchase a card? and what card do I need? Can I adjust the lake level on my sonar? and how do I do it?
Click to expand...
Sounds like the same unit that I am using, and it does all the things with the lakemaster chip. replace4.pngreplace3.pngI also like the fact that you can set shallow water colors, I set red for ten feet (dangerous zone ) and 20 to 30 ft for green which is where I typically target fish. I have set it at Powell for -93 ft last spring and found it to be very accurate on the southernend.
 
I bought mine from Cabelas, but a search on the Internet could probably get you a better price.
 
I agree with you Squirrel! Sure takes the pressure off the driver and let’s you target certain depths. 👍
 
great thread, been wondering how to navigate around all these whales, and at least know where to find them, will get it for the Helix.
What software will do that for the Lowrance?
 
The only way I've found to do it with the Navionics map chip for the Lowrance, is to highlight the seabed/channel one color. Then you can highlight a depth range, say 0-130 feet right now, another color. It is not a true offset as it doesn't correct the depths for you, but the edge of your highlighted range is now the shoreline, it does help to avoid shallow areas and keep you off the rocks. The Navionics app for phones/tablets does have the offset and shading features like the LM software, I use it ice fishing and it works great but you will only get an hour or less of run time on a fully charged phone battery, and even with charging capabilities I don't think its practical running on a boat.
 
Excellent info, LM it is , our boat came with the Lowrance Carbon, I added the HB due to the ease of use, and the kids can see fish as fish :) at the depth they are supposed to jig or cast for them. I will order the LM.
 
Squirrel said:
I had the same issue with the lake level adjustment, it wouldn’t adjust more than + or - 30’ on my HB798. Did the software update and problem solved. You only need to make sure you download the software for your specific model, that is critical. Very easy to do. Also, you have to have a pc with a “SD” card slot to download the software update to the SD card (32G max) then into the fish finder, or buy the $50.00 cable from Humminbird. Sq
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You may have just saved me $600, I was going to upgrade my console finder which is a 798 to an 1198 on eBay because the 1198 has a 200' lake level adjustment. One question, did you lose your waypoints when you did the software update? Thanks in advance
 
Sorry I can’t answer the question re: the 798 HD CI si unit as I didn’t have waypoints in it as it was new/used to me this winter. I did also update my HB 859 and didn’t lose waypoints. Hope that answers your question. Sq
 
Meatwagon said:
Sounds like the same unit that I am using, and it does all the things with the lakemaster chip. I also like the fact that you can set shallow water colors, I set red for ten feet (dangerous zone ) and 20 to 30 ft for green which is where I typically target fish. I have set it at Powell for -93 ft last spring and found it to be very accurate on the southernend.
Click to expand...

We put the SD card into the Helix today, nothing to download, it just uses the maps out of it.
Curious how much water level offset? I tried dropping it from full level to what it is today, then set it at -42 from where we were there last year, probably neither are correct?
 
I put -132 feet offset in mine last week because that is what the lake was down, it seemed to be pretty darn close according to my sonar and the readings it was giving.
 
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