Missing Autochart Live files

Hey guys!   I am struggling with Autochart PC.  

At one point in the past, I tried building a map and gave up in frustration.  I recently gave it another try, and while I did make more progress than the previous attempt, I'm not sure I would call the results a success.  To start with, my head unit shows pretty much complete coverage for the 3 mile chunk of river I am using as my test project.  The Autochart PC version of the map I am working on is about 50% coverage.  There are many files for other areas of the lake that show zero coverage on my PC, but have a lot of data on my Helix 10.  Where are the missing files?  How can I access them?

So, I managed to generate a map, even tho I am missing data.  I cannot save my work.  I even got to the point where I uploaded said map to my Zero Lines card.  The program says the upload was successful, but I still couldn't save my work.  When I closed the program and reopened it, the map was gone, of course, including the corrections I had made to the log files.  I won't be able to view the uploaded map easily until I get back to the area in question, which won't be until next summer.

While this loss is annoying, it is not critical, as there is only about 30 minutes work done to correct my data.  Obviously, though, I won't attempt anything larger until I solve this issue.

Well, that's enough for now.  I have other issues, but they don't matter until I resolve these.

I much appreciate any assistance you might offer.

Cheers!

Chip

A quick update: It seems that AutoChart PC can only handle a limited number of files in one upload. I uploaded the files in 4 batches and now I think I have pretty much all of my data. Now, the issue is that I cannot update my Zero Lines card. So, I have a pretty map on my computer and I cannot use it.

Bring up AutoChart. Import files you want from ZLC. Watch for the file extensions on the import menu.

1. If your use the "record" feature on your Humminbird depth finder, save the file when you are finished recording. Those files will be saved with a .SON extension. There will be three files for each session, but only the #1 file will have importable data into ACPro. You can also use "track" data to import into ACP.

2. If you import and "ACU" file, again verify the extension or you may not see the file on your ZLC . You can import more than one file at a time if you like.

After ACP says that data has been converted, place your cursor over the spot on the map where you recorded the lake bottom. ACP has now created a .DAT file.

Now with the cursor on the spot you like, Click on "map here". This step will convert raw data to a contour drawing in this "map here" step. This is not the final hart view, but you will see contour lines here.

Then, click on the white icon on the toolbar for "update ZLC" or words to that effect. If you imported moemthan one file and your area contains several, or many boxes you can rigt click to update all boxes in you area of interest.

ACP will now create your overlay on the ZLC and the screen will show your new contours on the screen. If you want, do a screen print to see your new map as you can't see it again until you are on the water and us AC again. Updating the ZlC card can take some time. If you have as many files as I do from fishing in Canada, you will think that ACP has locked up, but it hasn't.

ACP is wonderful. Your maps will help you find fingers on reefs, or in rivers where the food will be channeled to hungry fish.

Enjoy

Mike,

The learning curve is harder than it needs to be. The right answers to a couple questions would have saved me a ton of time. I was able to successfully create and upload the necessary maps to my ZLC. Through trial and error, I developed a workflow that allowed me to import and process hundreds of AutoChart live recordings. They were about 99% accurate, which still leaves a significant amount of editing to get a good map.

Part of the confusion is in the terminology. The documentation refers to each imported file as a “map”. To my mind, the finished collection of files creates a map. This misconception caused me some difficulty as I spent some time searching for a “map” file to save, or to load and continue working on. In fact, I could never get the save function to work because I was trying to save the whole map, rather than the individual files.

The next issue was that the contour spacing is dependent on the setting at import time, and cannot be adjusted later. I had to start over because of this.

At any rate, I am pretty handy at mapping now. The next one will be a piece of cake.

Cheers!

The inability to update my ZLC was caused by having the lakemaster setting as local, rather than “require ZLC”. Lots of little, easy to miss! Quirks with this program.