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Waypoint Format, Backing Up and Exporting Waypoints Using an SD Card

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This article gives steps needed for backing up and exporting Waypoints using and SD card. 

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Waypoint Format Requirements

  • Humminbird units with GPS capabilities will accept waypoints from a SD card in the .hwr format for waypoints and routes and a .ht for tracks.
  • If the files are in .gpx format you would need to load these waypoints to HumminbirdPC to then load onto the SD card.
  • When looking at the content that is on the SD card from your computer, you will have a folder labeled matrix and within this folder will be a DATA.HWR file that is your navigation data.
  • If you have a file type that is not in the .hwr or .gpx format, there are some sites that will convert them to the .gpx type then transfer them into Humminbird PC to convert to .hwr. There is GPS Visualizer and sometimes you might need to use Easy GPS.

NOTE: you can easily corrupt the waypoint data in your unit by importing GPS data from other websites or individuals owning brands other than a Humminbird. You are responsible for cleaning up these corrupt files, this is not something covered by warranty.

Backing up or Exporting Waypoints Using an SD Card

Helix and Legacy Models

The software version on your unit will determine the appropriate steps to export waypoints to an SD card.

To determine the software version of your Fishing System unit follow the steps below:

  1. Power your Fishing System unit on. This can be done while on your boat in or out of the water or with power only connected to your Fishing System unit
  2. While your Fishing System unit is displaying the model number, press the MENU key. Example: your Fishing System unit is displaying “Humminbird 767 Fishing System”
  3. The display on your Fishing System unit should change to show your menu options. With the four way key, use the Down Arrow key to select System Status.
  4. The Fishing System unit will “time out” and will display the System Status view. The software version is listed under “Software Version”

If your Fishing System’s unit software version is 5.820 or higher follow these steps:

  1. Power on your unit.
  2. Insert an unlocked SD card into a card slot on your unit. We do not recommend using a pre-programmed map card for this task.
  3. Press the MENU button twice.
  4. Right cursor to the Nav tab.
  5. Scroll down to Waypoints, Routes, Tracks and press the Right cursor.
  6. Select Options > Select All and… > Export.
  7. Follow the on-screen instructions to confirm or cancel the export. After this is complete, remove the card from the card slot.
  8. After this is complete, remove the card from the card slot.

If your Fishing System unit’s software version is below 5.820 please follow these steps:

  1. Power on your unit
  2. Insert an unlocked SD card into a card slot on your unit. We do not recommend using a pre-programmed map card for this task.
  3. Press the MENU button twice.
  4. Right cursor to the Nav tab.
  5. Scroll down to Export All Nav Data.
  6. Right cursor and select Yes to confirm saved tracks, waypoints and routes.
  7. Remove the card from the card slot.

For ION, ONIX, SOLIX and APEX:

  1. Power on your unit.
  2. Insert an unlocked 16 GB or 32 GB(maximum size) micro SD or SD card (depending on model requirement)
  3. Press the "Home" key
  4. select the "Files" widget
  5. In the Export section, select "Nav Data".

Load Waypoints from Google Earth

HumminbirdPC uses Google Earth to display waypoints, tracks and routes, and Google Earth has the ability to open .gpx files directly. But Google Earth doesn't have a way to save waypoints as a .gpx file, so we don't have a way to import those waypoints directly into HumminbirdPC.

There is a work around for this situation. Please keep in mind: any waypoints you import into your Humminbird unit, from an outside source, have the potential to corrupt your waypoint data and cause problems with your unit. If you decide you would like to proceed, take the following steps.

While in Google Earth:

  • Once you have created the waypoints you wish to load to your Humminbird product, you will need to right click on Waypoints to obtain the following drop menu. Select, Save Place As…
  • Once you have, you will save this to a location on your computer to find later under the file type of .kml.
  • You will then go to GPS Visualizer, http://www.gpsvisualizer.com/gpsbabel/ , to convert the newly saved KML file to GPX, Garmin or Lowrance; a format that HumminbirdPC will recognize. See the example filled form below.

  • For "Try to output ALL types of data (W,T,R), select yes.
  • Once the form is filled and you click on Convert the File you will see the following. You will then Click on the underlined file showing the successfully converted file.
  • With using Internet Explorer, a pop up will appear at the bottom of the screen asking what you would like to do. We would ask that you click on the arrow next to Save and choose Save as…. See below:
  • You will need to save the converted file to the same folder/location as the original KML file for ease of access.
  • You will then open HumminbirdPC and click on File and click on Open.
  • Once you have the Open box up, click on the drop arrow for Files of Type and select Garmin or Lowrance, whichever was chosen for the conversion from GPS Visualizer.
  • Browse for the folder/location of the file and select this file. Click on Open.
  • Click on Yes to finalize the conversion to Humminbird Format.
  • You will then be able to open the converted file to view the waypoints that originated in Google Earth.

Cleaning Up Corrupt Data

When corrupt nav data is suspected of being the cause of issues with your system we would like to take the following steps to check for this and clear out any possible bad information.

  1. On the affected unit, export your nav data to a SD/MSD card.
  2. You will then need to insert the card into your computer that has HumminbirdPC loaded. If you do not have this program, you can download Humminbird PC here.
  3. Upon opening your HumminbirdPC program, you will click on the Blue Down arrow under the icon of the SD card. This will download your data
  4. You will then have a .gpx file name appear beside your Computer icon that will be expandable. You will expand this and click on waypoints.
  5. Some things to check are:
      • Confirm that the names of all waypoints are accurate and that all waypoints have a name. They can be no more than 11 characters and cannot contain any Invalid Characters. Approved characters are as follows: , !, ', (, ), +, ,, -, ., /, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, :,?, A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z, a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, q, r, s, t, u, v, w, x, y, z, À, Á, Â, Ã, Ä, Å, Æ, Ç, È, É, Ê, Í, Î, Ï, Ñ, Ó, Ô, Õ, Ö, Ø, Ú, Û, Ü, Ý, ß, à, á, â, ã, ä, å, æ, ç, è, é, ê, í, î, ï, ñ, ó, ô, õ, ö, ø, ú, û, ü, ý, Ā, ā, Ą, ą, Ć, ć, č, Ď, ď, Ē, ē, Ĕ, ĕ, Ė, ė, Ę, ę, Ģ, ģ, Ī, ī, Į, į, Ķ, ķ, ĺ, Ļ, ļ, Ł, ł, Ń, ń, Ņ, ņ, Ň, ň, Ř, ř, Ś, ś, Š, š, Ť, ť, Ū, ū, Ů, ů, Ų, ų, Ź, ź, Ż, ż, Ž, ž, Α, Β, Γ, Δ, Ε, Ζ, Η, Θ, Ι, Κ, Λ, Μ, Ν, Ξ, Ο, Π, Ρ, Σ, Τ, Υ, Φ, Χ, Ψ, Ω, α, β, γ, δ, ε, ζ, η, θ, ι, κ, λ, μ, ν, ξ, ο, π, ρ, σ, τ, υ, φ, χ, ψ, ω,
      • Confirm that the latitude and longitude of the waypoints are valid as well. Some things to look for will be values that are mostly zeros(0s) and maybe one additional digit. As an example: N00.00.01 W000.00.000 would not be a valid waypoint.
      • Click on the track list to expand this and confirm that there are no tracks listed with more than 20,000 points as this is the limit to our track data on the Humminbird systems.
      • Our units are limited on the number of routes that can be used so we would also need to confirm the number of routes if any are being loaded.
  6. Once you have checked for the items listed, you can then click on the .gpx file to select this.

  7. Then click on the Green Up arrow to upload the corrected/fixed nav data back to the card in the computer.

    • This will ask if you would like to Add or Replace the current data. We would ask that you Opt to Replace so that the corrected information is being loaded.

Note: Prior to inserting the card back into the Humminbird system, we would ask that while the unit is powered on, navigate to the Setup menu tab and scroll down to Format Nav Directories. This will clear all of the currently stored nav data in the system. This will allow you to then insert the card and upload the newly refreshed information that was loaded to your card.

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