I just had to try this out.......

[Cane Pole]

I got to use my wireless gps receiver (Garmin GPS10) this past weekend. It is a Bluetooth, but will only communicate with one pocket pc at a time. I have the Kentucky Hydrographics maps loaded on my pocket pc. It was easy to navigate the lakes and easy getting to a given place on the map using the pocket pc. I was not impressed with the screen readability in direct sunlight using the pocket pc, but it lots better with the pocket pc (IPAQ) than a standard laptop. However, the picture quality of the pocket pc is no where near the quality of my Motion Computing LE1600 tablet pc with the view anywhere screen.

I marked a lot of waypoints along the drops of the Big Sandy River, then loaded these waypoints into my Garmin 276C with Fishing Hotspots maps and loaded the same waypoints into my pocket pc using the Kentucky Hydrographics maps. The Kentucky Hydrographics maps were much superior (easier to read/understand what was going on beneath the boat) when used in conjunction with the sonar. It was lots easier to navigate with the pocket pc than the 276 gps. The wireless stuff performed flawlessly.

Why bother? Well, I am just taking advantage of technology here. I will get it down to a science and improve my “catching”. I can manipulate 1000’s of waypoints and generate 100’s of routes using my PC. This should eventually simplify establishing fishing patterns especially when you only fish once a week or less. Most of us spend most of the time on the water “hunting” instead of “catching”. I plan to turn this around and do more “catching” using this technology.

Lots cheaper than “renting” a guide every week….haha

[reelcrappie]

Tom, you are a constant source of amazement. Very interesting post, as always.

[frank lawhead]

ain,t Got No Ideal What Your Talkin About--but I Bet Your Doin Good

[Darryl Morris]

Sounds good to me Tom. I think what you're doing will help you accomplish your goal. I look forward to reading the results down the road. I'm going to research these Pocket PC's a bit more. There are some things I want to be able to do in a more mobile fashion and this just might be the answer.

[fiddlefarter]

My mind may be slippin but I think when I first started hanging 'round here a couple years ago, I thought you said you didn't need no gps. That you had all your spots memorized, lol.

[Rowdy]

Will the Hydrograf maps download the contuor lines to any gps? This is the best map there is!!!!!
I'm gonna get a new gps But would like to load there contuor on it
Rowdy

[mighty]

I got one of the garmin etrx vista with the map source this weekend gander had em on sale stores 1000 waypoints and has 24mb for downloading. I think I'll get the fishing hotspots.

Has anyone used this gps and what do you think. I want use it till after xmas so if its no good can return it.

[Cane Pole]

My mind may be slippin but I think when I first started hanging 'round here a couple years ago, I thought you said you didn't need no gps. That you had all your spots memorized, lol.

I have slept since then...ha, but I think I said I didn't need a GPS with a map. I still don't need one (but I got one). I don't need a gps (but I got one). I can catch fish in me front yard 6 months out of the year. I sure like these gadgets though. The gadgets simplifies my memory (what's left of it). Now what were you asking???

[Cane Pole]

Will the Hydrograf maps download the contuor lines to any gps? This is the best map there is!!!!!
I'm gonna get a new gps But would like to load there contuor on it
Rowdy

Ky Hydro Maps won't work with any gps Rowdy. That is why I have a Pocket pc, a tablet pc, and a laptop. These gps manufacturers want to sell their maps and their gps stuff.

You can run Garmin maps and Lowrance maps and Navionics on a laptop, but not a tablet or a pocket pc. I've called these manufacturers complaining about this, but they avoid the questions (hem-haw around). They might loose a little money is the truth of the issue. Gripes my grass to pay a 100 bucks for maps and only have limited use of the stuff I purchased. I am b**ching.

[Glowgood Jigster]

Tom: The wife and I have been using these for geocacheing this past year and I hope to incorporate them into our fishing locations more, beginning this coming spring. We have a pair of the Rino's, and so far we've just used them to communicate when we were separated on the lake with our pontoon boats or float tube. But I belive the locations saved in the Rino's can be saved into cachemate on the PDA, and put into a folder for each lake, and saved either on the PDA or computor, and then stored away on CD's.
I'd like to take more pictures of our lakes in drawdown stage with no water, get the GPS locations where the pics were taken from, and put those together in a folder in the PDA so we can choose our fishing spots better when the water is up. It will come together as the winter drawdown progresses. Ultimately, it should mean less time hunting and more time catching.