I have been waiting for MK to step up and it looks like it might be what I always wanted.
A combination cable steer and electronic steer hybrid. At least it kinda looks like it might be.

If it works like I think it will, I will for sure get me one!

Thanks for the update David!

Are they going to make an update or adapter for those of us that spend the $ for an Ulterra.
Would be nice if they could make something to get the spot lock on the Ulterra to hold tight!!

Those videos explain a lot more!
Going to be way out of my price range, but if the spot lock is precise that is the perfect crappie fishing trolling motor! IMO
May have to start saving my pennies!

Man that would be AWESOME!

That question has been presented. I am waiting on that answer. A kit would be a nice feature for the original i-Pilot to enhance it's ability to hold tighter.

David, I was one of the very first, in the DFW market to get the iPilot on a PowerDrive V2 from MK when they first came out. I posted numerous times about how bad it performed and all the trouble I had trying to make it do what MK claimed in their ads it would do, to no avail. The guys at All Star Marine were fantastic but, could not fix something that simply wasn't designed to work as expected and promised in their ads. After fighting with it for about 2 years, I sold it at a huge loss and MK left me hanging in the wind with no help whats so ever.
So, now I'm supposed to believe they have a new hybrid that does what they say it will? To put it nicely, it ain't gonna happen!
I don't know how far back the history goes on the forum but, if you want to read all the posts on all the problems I had, feel free and see if you agree or not.
MK may have the greatest thing since sliced bread but, this poor dumb ole country boy ain't buyin it.

All I can agree on Bob is that the Minn Kota i-Pilot did not hold tight enough for us crappie fisherman. It did do its justice for the sand bass, hybrid, black bass fisherman.

Time will only tell if they stepped it up as did there competition (MotorGuide Xi5) and created the ultimate motor we have been dreaming of for us crappie fisherman.

The ultimate troll motor for me will be one with variable speed that doesn't produce interference with the electronics on the front of the boat. I ordered an Xi3 since it was variable speed which I had never had on the boat. Was extremely disappointed when for the first time, I had electrical interference with the HB unit up front. Tried almost all the fixes HB recommended and talked to David also who had some good ideas. After several weeks of frustration and chasing wires, ect. I pulled the plug on the new motor and put the old Motorguide back on the boat. Now no interference. Fortunately, Cabelas will accept returns of TMs within 90 days of purchase. I got a full refund including restoring all my points.
With so many people complaining about motor interference with sonar units, you would think correcting that would be the first fix for the TM companies.

Ken, try a ferrite ring if you ever have that problem again. Wrap your transducer cable around it as many times as you possibly can. You can buy one from hummingbird or I just made my own with a gasket. Interference was so bad I had to build up speed and turn it off to be able to make anything at all out. Or if I ran it on full power, it was fuzzy but still somewhat usable, just moving way to fast most of the time. Now it's crystal clear no matter what speed its set on.

Got the ferrite ring from HB. Tried it on the transducer cable and the power cable. Ran several ground wires, unhooked the on board charger, and a few other ideas. Only thing left was to re-wire the boat and move the TM battery cables to the other side of the boat or run separate power wire just for the front sonar unit. At that point, I was beyond disgusted. There was no guarantee that any of the re-wiring was going to fix the problem.

Wow that's crazy! I would have gave up too

There are just to many variables to consider when it comes to RFI. I have seen guys do everything Ken has stated and then they simply moved the electronic/depth finder unit away from the trolling motor 4" and the issue was resolved.

Each motor, unit and or boat can be different. RFI has been delt with for years in the Ham Radio field. This was a topic Slade touched base on at a recent CAT seminar. He quickly shared the different size Ferrite Rings the Ham Radio users utilize to eliminate RFI. Possibly a larger Ferrite Ring may have helped.

I thought Civilian gps could only be with in 3 meters or 9 feet. 18 feet dia. If this is so there just not going to hold to close. But would be nice to have to free your hands/feet up for odd jobs.