I just bought an Ifinder thinking I could chip it with a Navionics chip. Now I find I can't.

DoubleD in another post mentioned he had Mapcreate maps in his along with Navionics maps.

Are the maps you make with Mapcreate just for roads?

I saw on a website 3 or 4 lake maps for mapcreate. Is that all there is?

Can I get info from some other source on the net and use the mapcreate to download it on a chip and put it on my Ifinder?

For you guys who have used them, Do these maps make it way easier to find structure, drops, and etc.?

Can you put in the numbers and drive straight there saving tons of time?

Do you still find yourself trolling around marking the points you find with your graph?

It seeems like it would save hours of time and be well worth it?

I just want to know before I sell what I got and go looking for another unit with 3X the investment. Thanks guys. Brad.

What version of Map Create are you using? Map Create will only give you shore lines, and not in great detail. MapCreate 6.2 is pretty easy to make your maps with. Again, go to Lowrance.com and you can find your unit with specs and compatable software. Some units are not compatable with version 6. You can not use other brands of map software (Garmin will not work in LOwrance). Also, if you can use Map Create 6, there are a few down loadable maps that are really good enhancements to the map you get from Map Create. The one for Fork is excellent. I prefer it to the Navionics map.

The Lowrance Hot Spots card for Texas will work in the Ifinder. I tryed my card in a friends basic Ifinder and it read it. It has 21 lakes. See the Lowrance web site. There are a few free lake maps on Lowrances site. Among those are Fork and Richland Chambers. The Ifinder will show them. You need a blank MMC or SD card. Down load them and they will answer many questions. You do not need Mapcreate to show those maps. Mapcreate 6 works with the Ifinder.

Mapcreate does show the outline of most lakes. There are no contour lines. It is primarily for roads.

You can't use another source from the net.

I do mark points so that I can run straight to them.

Hope this helps some.

The free maps on Lowrance are enhancements to the Map Create Map. You first have to make the Map Create map, Then down load the file they provide. I just looked up the iFinder. It is compatable with Map Create 6. The standard iFinder does not indicate that it is compatable with Navionics, but the other iFinder models do. That doesn't necessarily mean that it won't wotk in the standard model. As far as being able to find a point and drive straight to it, if your unit lays a trail, you should be able to retrace it. One word of caution though, take it from me, you can not depend on total accuracy. On some of our lakes, you don't have to be off much to tear up something.

"The free maps on Lowrance are enhancements to the Map Create Map. You first have to make the Map Create map, Then down load the file they provide."

This is not true. I loaded Cooper, Fork, and Richland Chambers free lake maps on a card with no Mapcreate files. I put the card in a friends Ifinder and it showed the lake contours and the points of interest around the lake that occurred within the box that contains the map.

My friend is running version 1.8 of the Ifinders software. I don't know what versions back that would work. But, the software is free on web site any way.

Thanks guys for the help. I have not bought any version of mapcreate yet. I wanted to see if I needed it first. I will have to look at the Lowrance Hotspots to see what 21 lakes are on it. I was excited to see all my close local lakes on the new Navionics post. I want to try to fish Eagle Mountain, Grapevine, Lewisville, and maybe Lake Weatherford. They are close and I rather not spend all day driving back and forth to E. Texas.

One thing I'm still interested in is do the lake maps put you right over the structure you see? Or do you find yourself trolling around and just marking spots seen with graph?

I can troll around and mark without the maps if that's how you end up doing it anyway.

"One thing I'm still interested in is do the lake maps put you right over the structure you see? Or do you find yourself trolling around and just marking spots seen with graph?"

Yes.

For example: I marked some submerged ponds on RC with the Lowrance Hot Spots Card in my unit at home. Swapped the card for a card containing the free map. The ponds were quite obvious on the sonar when I crossed them. The depths for the contour lines are shown at "normal" lake level and they are very close.

I don't mean to sound like an expert...I'm far from it. Just trying to help. I have learned a lot on this site the last year.

"Select Enhanced Lake Maps will be available for free download. If combined with a FreedomMap� or MapCreate� map, the Enhanced Lake Map will seamlessly replace the existing lake data with the new higher resolution data. Just add it to your memory card*."

This is from the Lowrance web site. I do not have an ifinder. I have a Globalmap 4000. It may work differently.

The way points and trails are different files from the map files. The way points and trails should display even if there is not a custom map. The map just gives you a point of reference. On my version of Map Create, Joe Pool is not on it. When I go there, my GPS says I am running on dry ground. My weigh points still show, though.

I got an H2O for Christmas. I just ordered the Map Create Series 6 accesoriy pack from Lowrance. They have gone to strictly the topo version. Lowrance has also dropped the price on their web site. I paid $99 for Map Create Series 6.3, A MMC Card, and the Card Reader. The part number is 95-49. Can't wait to get it.

The downloadable files (AT5) from Lowrance will work even with the basic map built into the iFinders. Once you move into the area it will use the enhanced map instead of the basic map.

If you can find version 6.2 of Mapcreate get it instead of 6.3 same map but you don't have to keep the CD in the drive to use it.

What is the difference in the 6.2 and the 6.3 version?

The 6.3 version requires the Lowrance card reader. I would stay away from the 6.3 version. You can use any card reader with 6.2.

Nothing with the maps. They added more points of interest in 6.3. Things like stores, motels, restaurants, and etc.. But, they added protection schemes. Such as limiting to 5 cards and having to have one of the CD's in the drive to access the program and you have to have a Lowrance reader/writer.