Just purchased the Reef Master Program. The $149 version. I've tried the Free Trail version a year ago or so and though I had a hard time with it, (not exactly clear / user friendly, I still wanted to get the full version (Figured I might get used to it eventually!) so I could make "personal" maps of the smaller lakes in my area.

I've been trying to upload my sonar recordings (Lowrance HDS 7 Gen2) or "assets" and have been hitting a brick wall. I got 4 in the other day, but can't get the ones I spend 4 hours recording yesterday to import.

When I try I get this message; "The application slg2txt.exe is required to import Lowrance generated sonar log files.
The location of the Lowrance application slg2txt.exe has either not been set, or has been set incorrectly.

Set the location of the slg2txt application in the Global Settings window.

I've tried setting the slg2txt.exe in the little check box, and tried with out checking the box. (I just get a different message there) Just where is this "slg2txt.exe" on my PC that Reef Master is looking for? I've tried searching for it but I can't find it. Is it supposed to be on the SD card with the .sl2 files? Is it with the Reef Master Program in C:/Program files?

I'm even more confused and frustrated than I was when I tried doing this with the Free Trial version. I'm also starting to regret spending the $149. Is there any one who can steer me in the right direction? I've tried the "Reef Master help guide" but can't make heads or tails of it. It seems aimed mostly at Humminbirds.

Thanks

Hi,
Uncheck the option "Use Slg2txt.exe" in your import profile and try the import again. Slg2txt is only required for certain (older) slg files that ReefMaster cannot import, and is also a hangover from the days when RM couldn't import any Lowrance file formats natively.

For details on how to change a GPS equipment profile please see this manual page.

Hi Matt. I've tried that. (Unchecking) No go. Could it be the file size? Some are 50 to 80 Mb and a few are 130Mb.

I tried again. This time unchecked and got this: The selected GPS Sounder Profile setting 'Use Regular Track point Interval' cannot be applied to one or more tracks as these tracks contain explicit track-point timings.
This setting has been ignored. I found the Use Regular Track point Interval. The box is checked and set at 1 second.

Also noticed this under "Global Settings - Import/Export - Third Party Application Locations"

3 choices - wxtide.exe location, slg2txt.exe location, insight map creator location.

Each has a Browse button. If I knew the location of the slg2txt.exe, won't that solve the problem?

Thanks.

OK.... Some how I got every thing to load (Assets) with out warnings. I have no real clue how I did, but I did. (Maybe the checking and un-checking. That and I loaded the assets one at a time instead of in "bulk". Looks great and I'm heading up to the lake to make more recordings.

One more question though, There are several places on the generated map that show really deep spots where there are none. I'm sure that those are the locations in very shallow water where the HDS lost bottom contact. Apparently the Reef Master "fills in the blank" with Lowrance's weird readings. How do I clean those spots up? (Solution in the "How To" some where?)

Thanks

There's a few options for removing bad data points:

1. If you have sonar logs you can open up the track and edit the track points by dragging them to fit the bottom on the sonar viewer - see the sonar viewer manual page for more information.

2. Delete individual track-points or use the region select tool to delete a whole area of points.

3. Adjust the max/min depth filters on the track edit window and then click the filter Apply button to remove all track-points outside of the selected depth range - see the tracks manual page for more information on 2. and 3.

OldBassTard wrote:
Sounds like you are importing from a GPX file - is this right? You won't get sonar that way, as only depth and position is imported, but you can create maps. The interval is used to calculate times for individual track-points - it doesn't really matter unless you need accurate track-point times for tide offsetting, so you can safely ignore this warning if you are not.

No, no GPX files. Just the .sl2 files. Things are working now. I started from scratch and imported the "assets" one at a time, which worked fine instead of all at once, which must have been the cause of the problem. At the time I was trying to import 10-12 assets in sizes ranging from 80 to 130 Mb's each. For what ever reason the program just choked on that. All looks great now, as do the new assets I recorded at the lake this afternoon.

Next, I have to try to resolve that bad data points thing mentioned above. That ought to be challenging.

Thanks again for your help. I think I'm starting to get it now, though I'm sure there are more "learning curve challenges ahead. Maybe I'll have to retract my negative opinion's mention in the first post! (sorry about that)

Can't wait to record the rest of the lake, map it and add the shore lines and islands!