Pinpoint^® Adds "Fisherman-friendly" GPS Capabilities for Existing Sonar With Easy Upgrade Package

New from Pinpoint is a GPS MapServer that automatically upgrades Pinpoint sonar displays to full GPS capabilities for all navigable U.S. lakes and rivers.  Particularly exciting is the fact you don't have to be a computer tech-head to install or use it.

Simply unhook the power cable from the sonar and plug it into the GPS control box that mounts easily underneath the steering console or in the side wall space.  Connect the control box to the sonar with the provided cable.  Stick the small Pinpoint GPS antennae on an exposed boat surface (no holes to drill), power-up your sonar, follow the menu prompts and you are moments away from full GPS capabilities.

The 64MB SmartMedia^® Card that comes with the package contains the most detail available on all U.S. navigable rivers and lakes, waters defined as having at least 10 miles of shoreline.  There are no computer downloads necessary, no other accessories required.

Everything that is needed for use with Pinpoint sonar displays comes in the GPS package: MapServer control box, antennae, power cable and 64 MB SmartMedia^® Card.

So, once this GPS upgrade is easily installed, what can it do?  Everything.  That is, everything that GPS is designed to do.  But in this case, it applies specifically to boating and fishing. 

The Pinpoint GPS system features a 12-parallel channel receiver and antennae, meaning information can be collected from as many as 12 different satellites.  There are at least 24 operational GPS satellites in orbit at all times.  Four are required for accurate positioning.

Pinpoint uses the newly developed WAAS based system for improved accuracy within 7 meters (23 feet) or less, 95% of the time.  The WAAS is based on a network of approximately 25 ground reference stations that covers a very large service area for all the U.S. and parts of Mexico and Canada.  The area ground reference stations receive signals from satellites.  The WAAS is a safety-critical navigation system that will provide a quality of positioning information never before available to the marine community. Some of the key features of the Pinpoint GPS are:

·        Easy to use Waypoint Management menus

·        All U.S. navigable rivers and lakes, plus U.S. federal highways, major state roads and rural roads within one mile of shorelines

·        Built-in, high-speed GPS MapServer capable of three second updates at any detail level

·        Internal Flash Memory for easy upgrades and safe memory storage

·        Graphic icons for every marine or fishing use

·        Multiple mapping, satellite and navigation screens

·        High-impact, waterproof case

·        The GPS MapServer sets aside 5MB of memory of the 64MB card for storage of Waypoints, Plot Trails, Navigation Routes, Bottom Surveys, and Viewsaver screens.  For example, the user can store away any combination of this data:

Memory = all Waypoints 5MB / 32bytes  = 163,840 waypoints

Memory = all Trails 5MB / 16054bytes  = 326 trails, each with 1000 plots.

Memory = all Routes 5MB / 430bytes  = 12,192 routes, each with 20 waypoints

Memory = all Surveys 5MB / 16054bytes  = 326 Surveys, each with 1000 plots.

Memory = all 7520 Viewsaver screens 5MB / 19200bytes  = 273 screen snapshots

Memory = all 7420 Viewsaver screens 5MB / 14400bytes  = 364 screen snapshots

Memory = all 7320 Viewsaver screens 5MB / 6400bytes  = 819 screen snapshots

·        Record sonar data (digital depth), along with GPS Plot Trails, Routes and Waypoints

·        Corrosion-resistant gold pin contacts on card and reader

·        Survey Mode to collect depth data and convert to "real time" contours

·        Ability to use a 128MB SmartMedia^® Card for even more memory

The Pinpoint sonar display offers easy to follow menu prompts for all GPS functions.  There's even a "Lake-Browser" function to make looking up desired lakes fast and easy.  Plus, Pinpoint has all the navigational aids for saltwater, too.

The Pinpoint GPS SmartMedia^® Card can be used with other Pinpoint GPS units for two-way sharing of information between anglers and boats.  According to company officials, Pinpoint GPS is all about being "fisherman-friendly." 

"Pinpoint GPS is designed specifically for marine use by fishermen," said Bob Healey, the company's senior engineer.  "Fishermen want applications that relate to boating and fishing, not to computers.  Ours is a 'plug and fish' strategy, giving us GPS system that is easy to use, processes information faster than anybody else's and provides exceptional detail," he said.

Healey said Pinpoint GPS sonar allows a variety of useful screen and split-screen viewing options, including navigation/sonar, navigation/Flash Chart, map of lake with roads, map of digital depth and many more. Hundreds of individual “SnapShots” of screens can be saved for later recall and viewing.

The Pinpoint GPS MapServer automatically upgrades any Pinpoint model 7520, 7420 and 7320 sonar displays manufactured after November 1999, along with earlier versions of these that have been upgraded with the more recent software.  To determine current GPS compatibility, Pinpoint owners need only to take a quick look at their start-up screens.  For the GPS upgrade to work the sonar start-screen must display the designation "4.0 Rev Code."  However, older Pinpoint 7520 models can be upgraded to the 4.0 software, and then further upgraded to GPS with the additional purchase of the GPS MapServer kit.

Pinpoint is the first sonar system to offer total integration between GPS, sonar and trolling motor.  Select models of MotorGuide^® trolling motors are Pinpoint-Ready, having built-in transducers with water temp sensors with internal wiring for "plug and fish" use with Pinpoint sonar.  MotorGuide Pinpoint-Ready trolling motors afford the industry's first true "interference free" sonar readouts.