Lowrance ice machine

[andy j]

What do you all think of this unit, I have used it a few time and it has worked fine, I am concerned about the transducer, the rod is not long enough to get the transducer below the ice in ice thicker then foot and half of ice. I have used it with out the rod but the cable is not as limp as marcum and vexilar cables so it doesn't always hang down straight which is not good i would think, It is a 20 degree transducer, I think I would rather have the 12 degree on the fl-18, what do you think, AJ

[MetroEye]

Andy,
I put a vexilar float on my ice machine transducer and it works great. You are right, the metal rod setup is brutal!

[rod bender]

My buddy bought one and I fished next to it last night with my Marcum. The Laurance has some cosmetic issues (cable, arm, base, size of screen) but seems to do the same thing the Marcum and Vex's do. I'm used to seeing a fish come in red, he had his Ice Machine set for blue and black, kind of ugly but it's what you get used to. We did have some problems with interfierence when in 16' of water? He wasn't sure if the Ice machine had an IR. I could read my Marcum fine, but it really screwed up his Ice Machine. Maybe he's missing something.

[cwmn]

I just hang the transducer off the side into the hole it works fine. Yes the screen seems small but I think it's easier to read then a flasher. There are probably six color combinations to choose from, including the classic red orange yello. The one thing I don't like is the pack, it's too big and bulky.

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Have a good one!
CWMN

[Smallmouth]

I have had pretty good luck with my Ice Machine from Santa. I am getting used to the colors. I fished/tested my unit next to a FL8 about 6 feet away in 12' of water and did have some interference. But the icemachine does have an auto-sensitivity setting to adjust for this. Turning down the gain on the FL8 helped too.
Everyone I talked to wonder what Lowrance was thinking with the rod setup???? Glad to hear a Vex float or just hanging it will do the trick.