BrownBear Posted December 16, 2018 Report Share Posted December 16, 2018 The chip has lived up to the hype. In fact it's so good that I'm being unfair in even using the word "hype." It's real and does everything that's claimed for it. A few small local tracks aren't on it, but I can easily add those. A couple of friends have seen it at work on my boat now. Both are dumping their beloved Garmins for Simrad or Lawrence just so they can run the chip. The choice between the two GPS units is hard for them, but the need for the chip is easy to see with one firsthand look. Only thing I can suggest is that FMT needs to add some more detailed screen shots of regions around the state, just so it's easier for guys to see what's happening. The additions don't have to be large enough for pirates to use, but a little more info would sell more units. For sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.N Posted December 18, 2018 Report Share Posted December 18, 2018 I held off on buying the FMT for a long time because I couldn't see what my area looked like. I was expecting more tracks for the 10k islands, but I've got plenty as is. I find myself in the black tracks constantly LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wanaflatsfish Posted December 18, 2018 Report Share Posted December 18, 2018 15 hours ago, J.N said: I find myself in the black tracks constantly LOL Hopefully not on negative lows dc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skinny Running Posted January 4, 2019 Report Share Posted January 4, 2019 On 12/16/2018 at 8:55 AM, BrownBear said: The chip has lived up to the hype. In fact it's so good that I'm being unfair in even using the word "hype." It's real and does everything that's claimed for it. A few small local tracks aren't on it, but I can easily add those. A couple of friends have seen it at work on my boat now. Both are dumping their beloved Garmins for Simrad or Lawrence just so they can run the chip. The choice between the two GPS units is hard for them, but the need for the chip is easy to see with one firsthand look. Only thing I can suggest is that FMT needs to add some more detailed screen shots of regions around the state, just so it's easier for guys to see what's happening. The additions don't have to be large enough for pirates to use, but a little more info would sell more units. For sure. ISLA released an updated Website sometime at the end of December. Were you looking at that site? I think the new FMT site has some better detail of what their map has as far as track detail around the State. It looks like a lot better site than the old one with some drone footage and integrated social media stuff. They must be selling some chips. I got the recent update for SFL a couple of weeks ago in December and it had most all of the Irma bushes and stump Obstacles in the 10,000 islands which I hear were just added last month. Like more than 500 of them I'd say plus hundreds of them in the lower keys. Pretty incredible. The ones I checked were exact to the foot locations. All the black crossbones shown below were recently added. It does not look so cluttered when you zoom in. There is a lot more but for these spots its pretty comprehensive. When I called to get it I was advised the NFL updated imagery is nearing completion so if you run up north in the Big Bend area and Jax area, the new photos are supposed to be much better in terms of clarity. They said like around February for that. But if you get it now you can update it for free after. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.N Posted January 21, 2019 Report Share Posted January 21, 2019 On 1/3/2019 at 7:55 PM, Skinny Running said: ISLA released an updated Website sometime at the end of December. Were you looking at that site? I think the new FMT site has some better detail of what their map has as far as track detail around the State. It looks like a lot better site than the old one with some drone footage and integrated social media stuff. They must be selling some chips. I got the recent update for SFL a couple of weeks ago in December and it had most all of the Irma bushes and stump Obstacles in the 10,000 islands which I hear were just added last month. Like more than 500 of them I'd say plus hundreds of them in the lower keys. Pretty incredible. The ones I checked were exact to the foot locations. All the black crossbones shown below were recently added. It does not look so cluttered when you zoom in. There is a lot more but for these spots its pretty comprehensive. When I called to get it I was advised the NFL updated imagery is nearing completion so if you run up north in the Big Bend area and Jax area, the new photos are supposed to be much better in terms of clarity. They said like around February for that. But if you get it now you can update it for free after. I'm not seeing that on my older HDS9 gen2 touch? I bought my FMT chip a week before Xmas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skinny Running Posted January 21, 2019 Report Share Posted January 21, 2019 No worries. If you bought in December 2018 before those were added, you should be able to the update for free until December of 2019. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JnamJnam Posted January 21, 2019 Report Share Posted January 21, 2019 I upgraded to the FMT chip. Have the Navonics chip if anybody wants to make an offer for it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh B Posted January 22, 2019 Report Share Posted January 22, 2019 I've had Navionics Platinum chips for years and they have always done the job well, but now that they are owned by Garmin I'm a little concerned what route they will take. I was super intrigued when I saw the FMT chip. Unfortunately for me, I live on the Manatee River which is exactly where they draw the line between regions. I would have to purchase both north and south florida to cover my area. I did speak to them and they were willing to offer me a small discount, but still hard to spend that kind of money. Coming from an IT/Tech background I started looking around. These images are all available for free online, i'm sure you've all used "google earth". Sure enough, if you are somewhat tech savvy and have some patience you can build your own maps for free. I'm not going to do it for anyone and yes, it's a little time consuming up front... but it's free and you can add/update/change area location, etc. as much as you want. Google/YouTube have all the information you need. Also, this is only mapping/images... so you're not going to get the benefits FMT has of actual mapped tracks that were navigated by someone. Josh B. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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