Saving waypoints from a lowrance elite 5

 Hey all

Im trying to save and back up my waypoints to a sd card from a lowrance elite 5. Has anyone had any luck in doing this, do i have to do every waypoint or can just to a complete dump on to card.  I tried it but cant open it on my computer as i dont know what program  to open the usr file with any thoughts or help would be appreciated cheers

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ranmar850's picture

Posts: 2702

Date Joined: 12/08/12

Its not hard

Fri, 2020-01-03 09:34

 You just need to save all data from a menu on your Lowrance. From memory, it just says Save My Data(?), or something like that. It isn't very clear that you are saving everything, IIRC.  If you don't want to save any track, just delete it first. This will dump everything onto the SD card. You can then just copy it to a folder your PC/laptop to save it. You won't be able to open the .usr file in your computer, unless you get a program such as GPSU or GPS Babel. I use GPSU, paid version, very powerful, not real easy to use. I am told GPS Babel is easier. But you won't need to open the files on your PC once you have backed them up there, unless you want to edit something? When you look at the file size, it might only be 10kb, if you don't have a lot of marks, which can be worrying, but marks take up very little space.

Good idea to have them backed up on your PC, as well as an sd card, as they tend to go missing, in my experience.

Posts: 108

Date Joined: 14/05/13

Lowrance elite

Fri, 2020-01-03 09:41

 My old Lowrance Elite used the "export" function in the waypoint menu.

Dunno if its the same for the new ones.

However if you are seeing a .usr folder on your PC you have backed "something' up - what i do is change the name to "Backup_mm_yy" so i know which is the latest on the card - they take up stuffall space. Also wise to export as a .gpx file so if you change to a different gps manufacturer you can import them - most take .gpx files.

ranmar850's picture

Posts: 2702

Date Joined: 12/08/12

Sounds about right, couple of years since I did one

Fri, 2020-01-03 10:52

 But I don't know if it will give you the option of exporting as .gpx files, probably only .usr. So, you would need conversion software such as GPS Babel or GPSU--all you do is imprt them then save them in the format you want.