# Chart data update



## floridascuba

iMacattack said:


> i have a Lowrance HDS 7. Love the unit. Problem is my chart data is from 2006. Time to update. I've been looking at all the options for chart data. For all the options I'm liking the Navionics Platinum+. I know there are other options but not much in comparisons. Most everything I've found as reviews is a thinly veiled infomercial. I fish coastal SF, Keys and SWFL. I'm looking for options and considerations with regards to chart features.
> 
> Cheers


Florida Marine Tracks. Its awesome. He constantly updates his aerial photos on the chart. And i have it on the same unit (if yours is touch screen as well)


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## floridascuba

FMT


Navionics


FMT


Navionics

FMT

Navionics

FMT

Navionics

FMT

Navionics

FMT

Navionics

FMT

Navionics

FMT

Navionics

FMT Snake Bight

Navionics Snake Bight

FMT

Navionics


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## floridascuba

FMT

Navionics

FMT

Navionics

FMT

Navionics

FMT 9 Mile

Missingonics


World Wide Sportsman FMT

Navionics

FMT


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## CaptainRob

I've been interested in these chips for a while....what's your review?


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## floridascuba

While I can't speak for Navionic's, I love it. The detail is excellent. I have only owned the chip for a year and he already replaced it with newer images. You have to contact him to have it swapped out, but the turn around is quick. And he now has the whole state of FL.


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## iMacattack

Stunning imagery. Does it also have typical 2d cartography with depth soundings? I have the HDS 7 Gen 2. Not the touch version.


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## floridascuba

iMacattack said:


> Stunning imagery. Does it also have typical 2d cartography with depth soundings? I have the HDS 7 Gen 2. Not the touch version.


It does have depth and contour lines.


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## floridascuba

floridascuba said:


> It does have depth and contour lines.


This is off his photobucket. I will takes pic of mine tomorrow on what mine looks like.


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## Net 30

I've been following his reports on Florida Sportsman forum and still can't figure out who/where to contact? I've been waiting to hear when they finished all of Florida.

I have a new Raymarine A78 and have been waiting to install it until I decided on a chip…FMT looks like a much better choice. Any additional info is appreciated.


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## floridascuba

here is my last email to Glenn when I transferred to Tampa from Miami and needed to update my chip. Also, Has his contact info.

"We are now out with the initial release for N. Florida which covers from N. Sarasota Bay to Pensacola on the west coast and from Sebastian Inlet to the GA state line on the east coast. 

The N. FL chip covers the inland areas as well and the tracks are substantively complete including the St. Johns River. We will post some examples on line soon to include the current coverage and how the raw imagery appears on the units. This is a constant work in progress and additional mapping efforts are continuing, particularly in the big bend area where additional tracks are being confirmed over the next couple of months. There were also additional tracks added in Everglades/Flamingo area recently so S. FL is also being updated every month or so. The photos on both chips now cover the entire State including all of the inland areas where there is water. Most all of the substantive water features should be included in a hi res format. Other inland areas may be included for reference but at lower resolution due to space limitations.


Because you purchased the version to cover all of Florida you are now entitled to N. FL and we are happy to send them out. I just ask that you not request we do that until a couple of weeks or so prior to your planned boating trip to N. FL as this will ensure you receive the latest version and that we are in town to get it turned around in time. I am making them only when orders come in so the latest version is saved to the chips.


FMT is now in the final stages of image enhancement for the entire State and we hope to have that complete so the project as originally conceived is mostly wrapped up before the holidays. We are sourcing additional photos along the coast (primarily in N FL big bend area) where they are really needed and most importantly completing the process of brightening the photos and enhancing contrast and color. This is particularly needed in N. FL where there the raw data and the bottom is dark. Excerpting the images that are already done in S. FL, we have approximately 20,000 images to adjust running from Naples/Miami to Pensacola and Jacksonville. The adjustments for each are unique. We acquired some specialized software for this which will hopefully automate the process to make it more efficient and we will be running that county by county and also update the images in the future county by county. We expect that approximately 20 counties will be available for updated imagery every 12 to 18 months so on average the entire State is updated about every three years. The imagery along with the tracks is really what makes FMT unique so we are focused on making the images as good as we can and expect to achieve great improvements to the raw imagery we have on the chip today. Although a lot of the images are already pretty decent, the plan is to make it much better and achieve results similar to what was accomplished in Monroe County. Thanks for your patience and your positive feedback. We have received a number of messages from FMT users over the last few months highlighting their experience running the chip and we are pleased that everyone so far has found it to be a very useful resource.


Glenn D. Housman

[email protected]

407-463-7216"


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## floridascuba

I also have a FAQ word document for the FMT chip if anyone would like me to email it to them.


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## CaptainRob

floridascuba said:


> I also have a FAQ word document for the FMT chip if anyone would like me to email it to them.


Scuba...can you email the FAQ sheet to me. I PM'd you my email address.


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## floridascuba

sent


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## CaptainRob

What unit are you running Scuba?


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## floridascuba

I have a HDS 7 touch bought last year. Wish I went with a 9.


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## Net 30

floridascuba said:


> I also have a FAQ word document for the FMT chip if anyone would like me to email it to them.


 PM sent…thanks for the info above. Looks like a great product!


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## floridascuba

sent. I think it is. I have been very pleased with it.


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## Net 30

floridascuba said:


> sent. I think it is. I have been very pleased with it.


Thanks Gary…got it.


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## Egrets Landing

Net 30 said:


> PM sent…thanks for the info above. Looks like a great product!


FloridaMarineTracks.com


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## MariettaMike

Wow, I know some Keys guides that would be pissed to see these charts showing so many tracks for cutting across banks and flats. Some of those guides have stacks of PVC pipe they pulled out of Florida Bay where others have tried to mark additional cuts with the hope of preventing them from being turned into short cuts for large boats, and/or screwing up what fishing is left.

For instance the major cuts at Nine Mile Bank to get in/out of Rabbit Key Basin are already marked with PVC pipes and are shown on most charts including their GPS data on popular maps like Top Spot. Why this guy is showing all the cuts including the dead-end ones as if they are navigable 24/7 is misleading.

Then there are other banks where FMT is showing a couple tracks through them while there are shorter, better routes available. Don't get me wrong my Garmin probably has many of these tracks in it and more, but most of them were marked while on the pole or trolling motor looking for fish.

Thus I am confused as to what the purpose of these charts are, and have concerns that novice boat operators will frack the habitat if they run many of the tracks shown. Jus Say'n.

BTW I see a couple tracks shown on the screen shots for the West side of North Florida that may cost you a lower unit if you miss the wheel ditch through the rock bar.


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## Egrets Landing

That is interesting your Garmin has great coverage at 9 mile. It would be nice to see some screen shots of your gps chart's runs through nine mile for comparison. Do they provide good photos of it too? Do you run just the base map or that G2 card? Navionics for instance does not even have any photo of much of nine mile bank on their chart and the last map I saw for it looks like a kids cartoon. The base maps in the units I have seen show virtually nothing that is accurate for that area and the charts of it are not very detailed. 

FMT is not for novice boaters and is caveated accordingly and also provides different types of caution symbols etc at tight spots. All of the red tracks totally doable at low tide in a skiff. If you have some tracks that are a lot better for those areas send an email and perhaps you can get a free chip if its true? As for N. FL there are wheel ditches all over the state. If you miss many of them it will be trouble for sure. If you pay attention though, zoom in to an appropriate level so you can ensure you stay right on the track its not really a problem just like running lots of the tracks you run I'm sure. If there is a track shown it would run exactly where it is supposed to be. People could also turn off all of the tracks and just run on the photos in areas where they may be completely familiar and run just seeing their own routes if that is all they prefer to see. I am sure many of the guides would prefer to keep the navigation in ENP a mystery for the masses as part of the reason people hire them is because they may not be so sure where to run or have no idea at all. But the Park's new comprehensive plan is likely going to be changing things there anyway. They are already going to be requiring a course to run there and also it sounds like they will make many more areas pole and troll and areas and add a lot more markers to create a few main routes for people. Some kind of navigation app similar to FMT may be required too --- so I have heard. That will help. The purpose of the charts is clearly to help and not create a problem. The demand for quality clean imagery that is recent is very high for all of FL. It provides a visual that actually shows what is there at 6" resolution. You can see the pot holes at Snake Bight at that res. Coverage of ENP for chart plotters is very poor and top spot is not showing up on GPS screens. Top spot points you to a certain spot or area. You can't run your boat effectively in tight winding areas using it, especially if you have limited visibility.

There is way too much damage to the bottom in ENP created over the years from people who have little to no idea how to navigate there running around on poorly documented charts. All of that damage was a big part of the drive to create a new comp plan for ENP. It seems to me having something as clear as what is provided by FMT is far better than having virtually nothing. The pictures don't lie. And if some locals pull out markers and PVC stakes to keep people away from areas they would prefer to see no traffic, they can probably find where they used to be on the FMT map. Its got great reviews so far. You should give it a shot first hand and then you can comment with specificity. But it wont run on a Garmin as Garmin only uses their own maps locking all of their customers out from all of the other mapping choices. The other mfgs provide mapping choices for their customers recognizing that people like options.


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## MariettaMike

Egrets Landing said:


> That is interesting your Garmin has great coverage at 9 mile. It would be nice to see some screen shots of your gps chart's runs through nine mile for comparison. Do they provide good photos of it too? Do you run just the base map or that G2 card? Navionics for instance does not even have any photo of much of nine mile bank on their chart and the last map I saw for it looks like a kids cartoon. The base maps in the units I have seen show virtually nothing that is accurate for that area and the charts of it are not very detailed.
> 
> FMT is not for novice boaters and is caveated accordingly and also provides different types of caution symbols etc at tight spots. All of the red tracks totally doable at low tide in a skiff. If you have some tracks that are a lot better for those areas send an email and perhaps you can get a free chip if its true? As for N. FL there are wheel ditches all over the state. If you miss many of them it will be trouble for sure. If you pay attention though, zoom in to an appropriate level so you can ensure you stay right on the track its not really a problem just like running lots of the tracks you run I'm sure. If there is a track shown it would run exactly where it is supposed to be. People could also turn off all of the tracks and just run on the photos in areas where they may be completely familiar and run just seeing their own routes if that is all they prefer to see. I am sure many of the guides would prefer to keep the navigation in ENP a mystery for the masses as part of the reason people hire them is because they may not be so sure where to run or have no idea at all. But the Park's new comprehensive plan is likely going to be changing things there anyway. They are already going to be requiring a course to run there and also it sounds like they will make many more areas pole and troll and areas and add a lot more markers to create a few main routes for people. Some kind of navigation app similar to FMT may be required too --- so I have heard. That will help. The purpose of the charts is clearly to help and not create a problem. The demand for quality clean imagery that is recent is very high for all of FL. It provides a visual that actually shows what is there at 6" resolution. You can see the pot holes at Snake Bight at that res. Coverage of ENP for chart plotters is very poor and top spot is not showing up on GPS screens. Top spot points you to a certain spot or area. You can't run your boat effectively in tight winding areas using it, especially if you have limited visibility.
> 
> There is way too much damage to the bottom in ENP created over the years from people who have little to no idea how to navigate there running around on poorly documented charts. All of that damage was a big part of the drive to create a new comp plan for ENP. It seems to me having something as clear as what is provided by FMT is far better than having virtually nothing. The pictures don't lie. And if some locals pull out markers and PVC stakes to keep people away from areas they would prefer to see no traffic, they can probably find where they used to be on the FMT map. Its got great reviews so far. You should give it a shot first hand and then you can comment with specificity. But it wont run on a Garmin as Garmin only uses their own maps locking all of their customers out from all of the other mapping choices. The other mfgs provide mapping choices for their customers recognizing that people like options.


Thanks for the very detailed response.

Did you know that many years ago an Islamorada guide, John? Starkes, drug an engine block across the flat North of where Robbie's is at high tide to break through the marl. Then they created a wheel ditch with prop wash. The tidal currents did the rest. This was before there were mangroves growing out there.

Now that innocent little wheel ditch has 36'+ boats with trip 300's running through it. And it all started because somebody made a short cut. 

So I ask, do you really need to mark all the small unmarked cuts? Especially the ones that are less than 1/4 mile away from a large one that is marked and commonly accepted as a channel. Its NOT about hiding knowledge, its about keeping "that guy" with more money than sense from running his new 300hp 24' HB bay boat through a 5' wide cut that is hard for a seasoned veteran to run in a Whipray with a tiller without cutting the corners and damaging the bottom. Caveats are like incentives to "that guy".

24.882835, -80.700655


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## Egrets Landing

MariettaMike said:


> Thanks for the very detailed response.
> 
> Did you know that many years ago an Islamorada guide, John? Starkes, drug an engine block across the flat North of where Robbie's is at high tide to break through the marl. Then they created a wheel ditch with prop wash. The tidal currents did the rest. This was before there were mangroves growing out there.
> 
> Now that innocent little wheel ditch has 36'+ boats with trip 300's running through it. And it all started because somebody made a short cut.
> 
> So I ask, do you really need to mark all the small unmarked cuts? Especially the ones that are less than 1/4 mile away from a large one that is marked and commonly accepted as a channel. Its NOT about hiding knowledge, its about keeping "that guy" with more money than sense from running his new 300hp 24' HB bay boat through a 5' wide cut that is hard for a seasoned veteran to run in a Whipray with a tiller without cutting the corners and damaging the bottom. Caveats are like incentives to "that guy".
> 
> 24.882835, -80.700655


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## Egrets Landing

Your point is well taken and it is not something that was not considered. We tried to find a happy medium on the track details. Its not a radical notion and we did have an environmental bent to the entire concept. If you don't put on enough, you have people asking why this run or that shortcut is not noted on there and complaining. There was an initial release at 10,000 islands about a year ago with a lot less detail there and there was a bunch of comments like that. They did not want to see the boat next to them running a track that works that they did not see noted. It's a detail product and if people pay the money they want all the detail. And then you have the other end of the spectrum. But when you look around ENP and see all of the damage all over the place, I think overall this will help because at least FMT gives people that ordinarily would have no clue where to go a perfect idea of where to go and its best to have them running a noted track than guessing. And you know that there is a lot of guessing going on around ENP as the scars can attest. If people run the product in boats that the product is designed to accommodate it's not a problem. There will always be people who don't follow instructions but they are problems with or without maps. The product is totally caveated with different levels of cautions and different colored tracks to help people understand how and when to run. If a track is not passable on low water conditions its a different color and its also noted with words. The person you are describing that would be trouble is going to be trouble no matter what and I am more inclined to think it would help a person like that rather than exacerbate problems. The Park is going to be changing soon anyway and it could be that running the entire area is going be a very different paradigm by statute. Who knows but if they do change the rules it will probably go to a few main routes that are marked and tons of signs and off limits zones. When and if that happens, the map will have to change with it. Most of the guides are sure to really dislike FMT and products like it for a host of reasons but far more of the boating public will appreciate what it provides. I wonder what the wreck guides think about all of their charters secretly marking their spots with cell phone gps. There are a few guides that run FMT though because they appreciate the imagery and get benefit from that running new areas. One of them just promoted it on ESPN radio. But I think most will not like FMT because it treads on their turf. They hated the Top Spot map too which shows so many fishing areas. Do you think Top Spot ruined the fishing overall or create issues with all the tracks they show? I don't think it had any negative affect. It's only a matter of time that Top Spot is on a chip if its not already and maybe with even more details on where to stop and fish. The tech train is rolling on and there is no stopping it so its get on board or get rolled over. Someone is going to provide what is not provided if there is a demand in the market for it. There are all kinds of fishing and GPS apps out there. People have been clamoring for a product like FMT for many years. The only reason it was not provided before now is because it is really really hard to make and requires an enormous amount of specific and very detailed boating knowledge and the universe of potential developers for it was very small. But it is a great tool. You should try it out and then you might appreciate just how unique it really is and enjoy some extra insight running with it. After that, I would be interested to hear if if you still felt it is too aggressive on the track detail.


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## MariettaMike

Egrets Landing said:


> Your point is well taken and it is not something that was not considered. ........ You should try it out and then you might appreciate just how unique it really is and enjoy some extra insight running with it. After that, I would be interested to hear if if you still felt it is too aggressive on the track detail.


Thank you for another great response. I appreciate your sharing the trials and development hardships for the product. It is obvious you've put a lot of thought into it. However I still see no need to mark every possible track in Florida Bay. Please let the fish have at least one route they can travel without getting buzzed.

I can confirm your tracks NW of Molasses Key are runable in a skiff. And don't scare the fish on the oceanside. Good job!

Maybe you could rent your Simrad so people could try FMT out?
When will the Louisiana maps be available?


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## Egrets Landing

MariettaMike said:


> Thank you for another great response. I appreciate your sharing the trials and development hardships for the product. It is obvious you've put a lot of thought into it. However I still see no need to mark every possible track in Florida Bay. Please let the fish have at least one route they can travel without getting buzzed.
> 
> I can confirm your tracks NW of Molasses Key are runable in a skiff. And don't scare the fish on the oceanside. Good job!
> 
> Maybe you could rent your Simrad so people could try FMT out?
> When will the Louisiana maps be available?


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## Egrets Landing

Pushing to get LA done by the Summer but its going to be a challenge given the detail we are putting on marking all of the stakes and poles signs and posts and platforms etc. Many thousands of them. Much more challenging that 10,000 islands. We could go with just a few main routes noted and some recent photos and let folks interpret the imagery the way they want but that is already out there on some less than stellar imagery. We are working to take things to a different level in LA but its an enormous amount of time marking everything with precision. I have never seen so much stuff sticking up out of the water all over the place than in LA and that doesn't include the seemingly endless platforms.


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## MariettaMike

Egrets Landing said:


> Pushing to get LA done by the Summer but its going to be a challenge given the detail we are putting on marking all of the stakes and poles signs and posts and platforms etc. Many thousands of them. Much more challenging that 10,000 islands. We could go with just a few main routes noted and some recent photos and let folks interpret the imagery the way they want but that is already out there on some less than stellar imagery. We are working to take things to a different level in LA but its an enormous amount of time marking everything with precision. I have never seen so much stuff sticking up out of the water all over the place than in LA and that doesn't include the seemingly endless platforms.


I know what you're saying because I grew up in South Louisiana and have seen them first hand.
My first oil patch job was a roustabout in West Cote Blanche Bay where there were 100's of platforms: 29.683485, -91.79985
Roughnecked on the rig that drilled the first oil well at Chandeleur Sound. Don't know what happened after we left that first oil well platform there.
Left the oil patch with the drilling rig somewhere in Terrebonne Bay. Caillou Island sounds familiar.: 29.109869, -90.473874
Texaco had its own pile driving barge working full time.

It probably doesn't make sense as to why there are so many pilings, but in those shallow areas there is a small platform for every well spread out over the area, whereas offshore they will directionally drill many wells from one platform with everything needed on the platform. When they drill wells individually they have to have other pilings nearby to stage the equipment and chemical barges that will service the drilling rig. Then there are production facilities needed for the oil, food and lodging accommodations for the workers, helicopter pads for emergencies, flare stations, pipeline metering stations, ....


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