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Well, tonight I did something that I should have done years ago … back up all of my precious waypoints on my Lowrance HDS-5 fishfinder.
Over the years, I have accumulated around 300 waypoints that I like to frequent. I have often thought that I really need to back them up. Finally did it tonight. They are now backed up on an SD card as well as on my personal computer.
I was surprised at how easy it was. A phone call to Lowrance helped get me started and now I have a little more piece of mind.
One more added cool thing is that, using that same SD card, I can easily copy my waypoints onto my brother's Lowrance units. We had at one time attempted to manually write down and enter in some waypoints onto his unit. Boy, was that a pain in the but! But no more … a 2-minute job and they will all be on his unit too.
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That's cool ! care to share a little more information about how you do that ?
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Old coot
Once you have put that info on your computer you can go and rename all the way points also. There is a simulator on Lowrance web site you can down load and this helps learn more about your HDS system great tool
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I have a Humminbird and they have a download to put on your PC
called Humminbird PC and and you can use Google Earth to organize Waypoints, and rename them on your PC.
I lost all my Way points once and had them saved on the Humminbird PC. also if you get a new fishfinder you can download them to the new finder. also there is away to convert the way points to Lowrance.
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WP2, Hummingbird does have slots to use sd cards. I'm not sure about the compatibility coming from a different depth finder. I assume they would just plug in and work fine, but I am computer no savi.
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Basically, I inserted an SD card into my HDS-5 Lowrance and used the page/menus to "export" the waypoints to the SD card.
Then I downloaded a [url "http://www.eaglenav.com/en/Downloads/GPS-Data-Manager-GDM/"]free waypoint management program from Eagle called "GDM6" (GPS Data Manager)[/url]. Understand that for many years, Eagle and Lowrance were to fish finders as Chevy is to GMC or Ford is to Mercury. So Eagle had a GPS data management program that worked for both. Lowrance support told me that it still works for most Lowrances. I downloaded it and gave it a try and yup ... works good.
So anyway, with the GDM6 program downloaded and installed on my PC, I plugged the SD card (with all the waypoints that I had previously copied from my Lowrance) into a SD card reader slot in my PC. Then launched GDM6. In that application, under "File" you have the option to go out to the SD card and save the data file down to your computer. Doing so backs up your data. I didn't need to but GDM6 has a feature where you can go into the individual waypoints and make modifications to them or rename them, etc.
So, at that point, I had them backed up on my PC and I have a backup of them on an SD card as well.
If/when I want to, I can take that SD card and insert it into my brother's Lowrance and, and using the page/menus I can copy them onto his unit(s).
A couple things to keep in mind here is that certain Lowrnce units only accept certain size SD cards. You have to call [url "http://www.lowrance.com/en-US/Contact-Us/"]Lowrance support[/url] to find out which SD card to use in your unit.
Also, understand that each model of Lowrance unit has a slightly different menu system. You have to use a little logic to figure out how to get to where you want to go in the particular menu system. Lowrance support was kind enough to guide me though that a little too.
I highly doubt that one could use the Eagle GDM program for any brands other than Eagle or Lowrance. But I am certain that any fishfinder manufacture worth their salt will have an equivalent application that can be downloaded to use to backup/modify and manage your saved waypoints for your particular manufacture.
I'll bet that many of the vendors will be at the ISE show next weekend and you could ask them for details too.
Attached are my notes on how I backed up my waypoints and copied them to my PC. But remember, they are just for Lowrance and then just form my particulr model (HDS-5).
Oh, and here is the Web page to download that free Eagle/Lowrance [url "http://www.eaglenav.com/en/Downloads/GPS-Data-Manager-GDM/"]GPS Data Manager program[/url]:
[url "http://www.eaglenav.com/en/Downloads/GPS-Data-Manager-GDM/"]http://www.eaglenav.com/en/Downloads/GPS-Data-Manager-GDM/[/url]
--- Coot ---
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Be careful and follow the direction step by step or you can erase all your waypoints when doing a software update. Saw it done and heard a whole slug of obscenities. I didn't know he had been in the navy.
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[quote dtayboyz]you can erase all your waypoints when doing a software update[/quote]
All the more reason to back up your waypoints BEFORE doing a software update.
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