Vexilar Question

[poorbiker]

Have a question on the vexilar. Would a FL-8SE be a good enough finder or should I spend a little more and get the FL-18. Would a Marcum LX-3 be better than the vexilar? Thanks

[gvg_uwec]

the fl8 will get you by if you arent interested in the zoom and bottomlock, i personally love the separation i can get with the zoom feature on my fl-18, though it cost more i think it was worth it, just my opinion

[rscabin]

I agree with you gvg_uwec, it cost more but well worth it

[Deitz Dittrich]

It really depeds on your style of fishing and the fish your after. If the majority of your angling is just crappie and bluegill I think you can get away with the FL-8 or the Marcum LX-1 I believe its called. Its when you start fishing walleyes or perch or other fish which are more bottom dwellers that the Zoom then becomes valuable. If you do a lot of walleye fishing the LX-3 or the FL-18 become much more important in my opinion. If you have the money to spend, I think the zoom feature is well worth it.. Its not a gimic!

[Deitz Dittrich]

As for the debate between Vexlar and Marcum.. its been dabated on this site quite a bit. I think they are both wonderfull units. You cant really go wrong with either of them. With that being said... The Marcum variable zoom is more versitle than the Bottom lock feature of the Vexlar.

[loebs93]

I have the Fl-8 and it is awesome for ice fishing. When I bought it I was told by the salesman that it's all you need. This is true; it really is all you need to catch way more fish than with nothing at all. However, I would have to agree that spending the extra amount of money, for some people, is worth it because you get the zoom and bottom lock. When I bought it the difference between the two in price was $100. These are also nice when you decide to mount it on your boat for a windy day.

Another thing that the salesman told me was unless I am fishing in deeper water all I need is the 8. I told him that I usually don't fish in water deeper than 30-40 feet so I bought the 8.

[rpaulson7]

I disagree loebs93.

I went to Cabela's in October 100% set on buying the Vexilar FL-18. I'd fished with an FL-8 for two winters and was sold on the Vexilar brand name. Saw the Marcum sitting there, and got curious. Talked to the salesman about the difference between Vex and Marc.

His first statement was "Why are you buying the FL-18?" Of course I said "because of the zoom." It was a loaded question, I know. He explained the adjustable zoom and that MarCum has 1500W of power vs. 450W for Vex.

I fish crappie all winter in a metro lake in 35 feet exactly. I can find the exact spot every year based on 3 landmarks, no GPS. The crappie are more than 6 feet off the bottom. The Vexilar zoom would be worthless, and my $150 extra for zoom not well spent.

Say you went to a car dealership and had two choices, the V8 limited to 1500 rpm or the V8 that ran wide open, same price. Which would you choose?

Get zoom, it's a sweet feature. Get MarCum, not all fish are within 6 feet of the bottom.

[76k20]

What is the iceducer angle on a marcum anyways? I think its 20 degrees. Do they offer different angles, I dont like the idea of bieng limited to a 20 degree cone even if the zoom range is adjustable

[EBass]

Quote:

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Have a question on the vexilar. Would a FL-8SE be a good enough finder or should I spend a little more and get the FL-18. Would a Marcum LX-3 be better than the vexilar? Thanks

---

FL-8 or LX-1 are good enough. Should you spend the extra 100 for the zoom? Well it depends on what you fish for, but it sure is nice.

Is Marcum better than Vexilar? It depends on who you ask.

I own a FL-18 and have no reason to trade it in for a Marcum. But Marcums are sweet to. Either one you'll be happy.

[rod bender]

The cone on the Marcum is 20 degrees. I also agree with much of what has been said about the ajustable zoom. If you're fishing crappies, which are frequently suspended, a bottom zoom won't do you any good. The target seperation on the Marcum is 2.5" in it's regular mode, but down to 1" in it's zoom mode. So if you're fishing in 24' and the crappies are coming in betwen 14-24, you can zoom the bottom 10', if they coming in 13-8, you put your zoom in that 5' range. You can still see the rest of the water column on the other side of your display so if a fish does come in outside of your zoom range you can push the up/down button and ajust your zoom within seconds. It's a great unit that you'll be glad you spent the extra few bucks on.

[Lundman]

I'm not sure why everyone seems to think that more power is always better. I agree being able to zoom at various levels is a nice advantage, but buying it because it has more power really shouldn't be that big of a deal. A Vexilar has all the power you would ever need. Even in deeper water it has no problems. There are a lot of times where you will need to turn the power way down on both a Vex and a Marcum to not pick up all the clutter in the water. With A Marcum you can only go so low with your gain. The Vexilar FL-18 has LP (Low Power) mode to reduce the power in these situations. This works especially well in weedy conditions as well. It helps filter out a lot of unwanted clutter. Personally I'm a Vexilar Man, and like the Three-Color Display differences of the Red, Orange, and Green compared to Marcums Red, Orange, and Yellow. The Orange and Yellow on a Marcum seems to blend together so there tough to distinguish the two colors. The Vexilar is just easier on my eyes, but that's my opinon.

It's going to come down to personal preference. I would suggest finding a couple people that have each unit and try fishing next to each of them and then make your decision on which one you like the best.

Now with Underwater Cameras I think hands down the Marcum 560 is the best that is out there right now. Using it in the boat proved it to be an awsome unit and I can't wait to see it in action this year through the ice.

Good luck!

LundMan

[Surface Tension]

I'm about to repeat myself here so fair warning.

Lundman, The LP mode on the FL18 is an added feature that the FL8 didn't have. In some shallow/weedy water situations the FL8's signal was to strong thus the need to buy a suppression cable to correct the problem. So instead of revamping their flasher Vex added the LP mode to fix that problem. Its also recommended to use a 9 degree cone angle transducer for deep water use. Why, not enough power. So with the Vex you have issues with to much power and not enough power. Thats one reason I believe MarCum to be superior over the Vex. The MarCum performs great in the shallow and deep water without any fixes. No LP mode and No need to switch cone angles for more power.

If thats not enough reason add MarCums superior IR function or variable zoom and better target separation.

I agree, compare both units side by side and under as many situations as possible but how realistic is that. After all how many people have friends with both a Vex and MarCum and how often could you get them on the ice for a demonstration.

FM is the biggest and most successful site out there and it attracts some of the best companies. MarCum is one of them, Thank God.

To the original poster. I would spend the extra money now and get the LX3. Better now then to wish you did later.

[augernaut]

The funny thing about the whole Marcum vs. Vexilar wattage is that the wattage really doesn't matter all that much. It's only half of the equation. The Vexilar's transducer is much more sensitive than the Marcum, the two balance out. Basically, Vexilar and Marcum take two different alternatives to get to the same end. Marcum has high output power and lower transducer sensitivity. Vexilar has lower output power and higher transducer sensitivity. Neither one is necessarily better or worse. You have to understand HOW sonar systems work. The Marcum is putting out 1500 watts ALL THE TIME - no matter what the gain is set at. The gain controls the amount of signal amplification that the transducer does on the return signals. Same with the Vexilar. For the record, I think they are both great units - but make sure you don't just buy into that whole 1500 watts vs. 450 watts argument, because it is a moot point. The best fishfinder in the world - Genetron - only puts out fifteen watts.

[CNY Tim]

Get the MarCum you won't regret it. I owned both the FL-18 and the LX-3 and I tested both units two years ago and the MarCum won outright. You just get more bang for your buck with the LX-3. To get the same effectiveness with the FL-18 you'll need a 9 and a 19 deg. transducer so that means you have to spend more money with there products accesories to compete with the stock MarCum LX-3 Ice Fishing System. Why would you want to spend more money when you can have it all with one unit? The choice stands clear it's MarCum. The three things that the LX-3 blew me away with and continue to impress me with after fishing with both the FL-18 and LX-3 were:

1) Display - (3 C's) clean, crisp and captivating... I have never seen a unit this crisp ever.. The thin line technology is truly amazing in a downright surgically precisioned display. The display on my FL-18's zoom window (left) looks no better than my old FL-8 (signal clutter is still an issue) as it relates to display, actually I preferred viewing the non-zoom side of the Vexilar more than the zoom side because it was crisper on the right which shows the condensed entire water column.

2) Zoom Options - Larger, mobile and lethal. FL-18's standard target separation 2.65" to zoom .5" My study determined the FL-18 and LX-3 to be about 1" the same. However, the MarCum has a 2.15" separation in non zoom which is better than the FL-18's 2.65". And of course the larger zoom windows as previously stated., in various depths you can go from 5' to 40' depending on your depth. The LX-3 is the top unit for suspended crappie, high flying lake trout and perch, because of the larger adjustable zoom windows.

Mobility in zoom - Not mentioned here but should be noted. The LX-3 can be locked in zoom at your first hole fished, and you can move from hole to hole aggressively (hole hopping) without touching a single button with the LX-3. You vex boys try that and you'll find that each time the transducer looses water surface contact you have to reprogram the zoom each time you change holes. That's a pain. More time fishing with the LX-3 and less time adjusting.

3) Interference Rejection - Never have interference problems again you'll find it only in the MarCum.

Now cosmetic things that come standard with the LX-3. These standard things often have to be purchased outside the base units cost with competitors units to receive what a cheap bag. Please...

1) Quality built padded soft pack with mesh side webbing pockets for extra spikes, jig box, what ever... (Standard)

2) MarCums DCS 100 digital display fully automatic battery charger. The MarCum DCS gives you full time battery status in an easy to read LCD read out in 10% increments. Ease of charging no more clips and leads, plug into the DCS female adapter and the wall and walk away it's fully automatic and recharges your battery faster than any charger I have ever owned. (Standard) I know vexilar users that prefer the MarCum DCS charger over the stock Vexilar chargers, because of the quicker battery recovery time.

Two year warranty with great customer service.

Now let's just say you like to buy American well there's another reason to buy the LX-1 or LX-3. American military engineering (that ice fishes) designed these superior units and American jobs put this product together. You can't say that about the competition.

The bottom line is you get more with the LX-3 at a reasonable price. YOU GET MORE!

Vexilar has a history of great customer service and a solid product line and will work to better the LX-3 but right now the clear choice for the most advanced 3 color flasher in the ice fishing industry is the MarCum LX-3. It's converted Vexilar faithful who have owned FL-8's and FL-18's and continues to gain market share in the industry and MarCum is putting that money right back into research and development. This company also carries underwater camera's as well.

Listen I took alot of heat from Vexilar fans for even doing my tests on Fishing Minnesota. Vexilar wanted the world to think that MarCum was another Zercom Colorpoint and failed miserably with there lies and allegations of patent infringements. It was all a big scare to stear people away from the LX-3. I have one question... Well it's been two years and MarCum is still selling record numbers of top flight flashers and growing every year. Who's scared now?

Fishing Minnesota has been a champion for the MarCum LX-3 because it delivers plain and simple the most technically advanced 3 color flasher in the industry. I don't come on this site as much as I'd like too but I appreciate the forum here. It's been of great value to me personally and I wanted to just say thank you to Rick and his staff.

Won't be long boys till we get some ice and I can't wait. We finally got an Ice Team Trap Attack here in New York so if any of you guys are out this way I'll see you on Silver Lake for the TA.

[76k20]

I just picked up a fl-8 pro pack with the dual beam iceducer and heres the reason why, the reason vexilar has the narrower beam isnt the units lack of power at all, its to reduce the size of the cone in turn reducing the size of the dead spots when fishing on structure (where i spend most of my time fishing) I like a wider cone for shallow water where it is mostly flat, and the narrow beam for deeper stucture or on breaklines, for instance if you are over 35 fow the bottom of the sonar cone is about 13 feet across with a 20 degree transducer. Now throw in a sidehill, one side of the cone is 30 feet the other side is 40 feet the flasher reads 30 fow and all fish hugging the bottom deeper than 30 feet are lost in the bottom signal, that is why sometimes it appears the the fish magically rise out of the bottom. The deeper you are the bigger the bottom diameter of the cone. I can cut the size of the dead spot in half with the 9/19 degree, I have not heard of the marcum units having adjustable angles, or even different set angle transducers, but I could be wrong. I know its the old ford chevy debate here and they are both great units I am just stating the facts that influenced my decision to go with a vex.

see ya on the water,

Kyle

[tisch008]

CNY Tim,

Thanks for your very thoughtful review. You stated that MarCum is made in the US and that the same cannot be said about the competition. However, Vexilar is located just down the road from where I work. I'm not sure what you meant by this statement. Can you help?

I'm about to buy either a Vexilar or a MarCum and could use some help in deciding.

Thanks again!

[augernaut]

I believe Tim is referring to the fact that Marcum is a US manufactured product. Vexilar, while an American company, is manufactured overseas.

[Jeremy airjer W]

I have a vexilar FL8. Will not fish without it. In fact last year I was almost to the fishin hole (about an hour drive) realized I forgot it, turned around, and went home). My uncle has a marcum. Will not fish without it. He doesn't leave the house unless he knows its in the truck. Point is no matter wich one you buy you will be able to see whats going on and were the fish are. Its an essential tool!! I dont't think you can make a mistake with either. I'm actually thinking about upgrading to the FL18.

[Riverfishin]

Would you recommend buying one used off hsolist, i don't know if I want to spend that much on a new one.

[CNY Tim]

You can get some pretty good deals on Vexilars on hsolist right now if you can't afford a new one. There always available there from Fl-8's to FL-18's. Sometimes you can get super deals. However I believe I would check Vexilar Direct first I believe they have reconditioned units with warranties so I would check there first.

[Riverfishin]

Thanks, anyone else?

[Cooter]

I've done limited fishing with Vexilars that my friends have. My question is how many walleyes am I missing out on not using any sonar at all? I like to jig Raps and the soft Storms - am I missing out big time or what?

[Northlander]

If you arent using a flasher you are missing tons of great fish catching info! It would be #2 on my icefishing list behind a Auger.

[jphersh22]

There's a lot of talk about the FL18 and the LX 3, but I fish for panfish and usually in ponds and less than 20' deep so I don't think I'd need the zoom feature. Any differences not already talked about between the FL8se and the LX1? I like the idea of getting the FL8Se with the dual beam in case I do get into fishing deeper water sometime (doubtfully more than 30' in my region).

[Ed Carlson]

A zoom is a handy feature but not a critical feature. The FL-8 SE is a very nice unit, the FL-18 is a handy package with many extra tools. It really all depends on what you see your needs to be?

With either package I would highly recommend the Ultra Pack case as it has many sweet features that really bring the on ice system all together and make things convenient as well as efficient.

They mentioned buying from hsolist. That may be good and you may get a decent deal, you never know? If you buy from the Vexilar factory outlet you get a full 2 year warranty on all units new and reconditioned alike. For my money I would opt to get a used unit from a supplier whom the units are fully checked over first and full 2 year warranties just in case. A full warranty on anything is worth it alone.