Fishing electronics - What to do?

[MNCPRGUY]

I seem to have the worst luck with my electronics! I have a FL-28 that I absolutely love. I also have a Showdown, Showdown Troller, and an Aqua-Vu Micro DVR that I get more frustrated with by the day. The full size Showdown works, but nobody wants to use it after using the Vex. More often than not, I let one of my family use my FL-28 and I'm stuck using the Showdown. The Troller doesn't seem to work well but I haven't spent much time with it. The Aqua-Vu has been one headache after the next! I had an original micro with the blue screen problem. They replaced it with no hassle. I sold the second one so I could upgrade to the DVR. That unit died after ~6 uses and storage through the summer. They also replaced that one with no hassle. Now on my 4th unit it suddenly begins telling me there is "no signal" for no apparent reason.

Here's what I'm thinking... Sell off the two showdowns and the micro. My wife has also pointed out that I have accumulated a lot of other ice fishing "stuff" that I never use and should be moved along. Thinking of putting it all on the list by some dude named Craig. Anyone have suggestions on this approach or previous experiences to share?

I'd like to replace it all with a camera/flasher combo unit. I really like having a camera for several reasons. It shows me what I am fishing over. It also helps me understand the fish and how they react to my jigging, and lastly, it captures some images/video that I would otherwise not be able to share. Weight isn't an issue as I'm not hoofing it 99% of the time and the micro camera cable is a PITA to adjust. Would like to hear from those of you using full size camera and anyone with experience using the combo units.

[bigblue]

My observations and only my opinion The Micro is a pain if you fish deeper than 6feet the camera is to hard to control. I have used the Vex fish Scout the last four years it has been great and can be had for $300 I didn't need the temp and direction of the DT 2000 at twice the price of the FS 800 . You can buy the tower as a add on and mount your FL 28 and camera on it and save a few bucks . As for the FL 28 I like it so much I bought a second one this year, The Fish Scout camera is Vex all the way bullet proof, My two cents have a safe and successful season.

[Jim Kusuda]

I hope that you may have seen my previous post. I choose to use a separate FS2000DT and flasher. The reason for this is that I sometimes painstakingly set the camera position, then grab the flasher to hole hop as usual. The Fish Scout is unwieldy enough when cradled for spot scouting, but the camera fits in small holes and I appreciate the large, sharp monitor. Not sure if the picture quality is superior to the FS800, but it is better than my previous FS1000. I now have a 32G micro card for the DVR100 and will learn to put it in the adapter and place it in a computer file. I don't know if I will be able to use it, but after seeing Tim Moore's use of the Fish Phone, I will probably have to try because it is exciting to show such good action. I wish you luck but remember that different anglers have different equipment needs. You may get the double vision case and a separate flasher case, moving units around which can be simple as undoing gimbal knobs and power cords. Having too many Vexilars never seems to be a problem because it seems somebody always would like to use one.

[Brad B]

the Vexilar Double vision is a nice combo set up. if you already have the FLX-28 then just buy the double vision that comes without the flasher and put your FLX-28 in it. It is offered with either the FS800 camera (no depth, temp, direction) for $549.99 MSRP (part # FSDV01) or the FS2000DT (depth, temp, direction) for $649.99 MSRP (part # FSDV01DT). Actual if you get the FS800 camera (MSRP $299.99) and then the Double Vision case without the flasher and camera (Part # FSDV-100, MSRP $99.99) you will have about $399.98 into it instead of $549.99 for the FSDV-01, so a saving of about $150.00. now on the other hand if you want the depth, temp, direction option then the FSDV01DT is about $50.00 Cheaper then buying the two pieces separate. but like Jim said there are certain situations where having the camera and flasher separate is better. I actually just took my Double Vision and made it into separate units by moving the camera over to a Genz Box and the Fl-20 went on a Genz Box of it's own too. come summer the camera will be moving over to my boat.

[MNCPRGUY]

Thanks Brad. Both Showdowns went on the C-list yesterday and we're sold by sundown. Still not sure what to do about the camera but I will start shopping for the vex now.