1500 watts vs. 400 watts Marcum/Vexilar

[Judd]

Willl the Marcum run out of battery power 3.5 times faster than the Vexilar since it has 3.5 times more wattage output?

Selling my FL8 and going to the FL18 or Lx-3.

[jerkin'm]

Definitely uses more juice. Don't know how much faster you will fully drain the battery though.

[Bob Horn]

No!!!!!

[iffwalleyes]

haven't noticed a difference between my vex and marcum. I get about the same life out of both.

[Matt Johnson]

I've used my MarCum LX-3 all day and into the next without draining the battery. I don't know exactly what the hours are as far as how long a fully charged battery lasts, but I know that I've gone a couple outtings without charging last winter...

Good Fishin,

Matt Johnson

[augernaut]

I've heard many people say that the LX-3 does pull more juice than the FL-18. Not enough to really matter, but it is noticeable.

[Dennis Steele]

I could run my Vex for nearly two days on a battery.The Marcum would go about a day and a half.

I have always kept an extra battery anyway.

Still like that Marcum!

[Rip_Some_Lip]

I have been thinking of upgrading my fl-8 to a fl-18, but cant get past the price. How much does the Marcum cost?

[18 inch Crappie]

I upgraded from a FL-8 to a FL-18, the zoom is a cool tool, but you know what, I never use it. I can see at full screen what I see at zoom. What I do like is the brighter screen, that I will give it. It might not be worth upgrading to an FL-8SE from a Fl-8SLT but the new brighter colors are nice. Forgot For what we fish in Minnesota at Depth of not no more then 40ft 1400watts or 1000000watts unless you are fishing 200ft of water you do not need all that power. Now some say you get better separation with more power, but at 1/2in you can not get any better than that.

[Pete Riola]

The LX3 is around $400 the LX1 is about $300. The LX1 is an LX3 without the zoom, DCS or carry case it does have the same fish ID'ing power of the LX3. I've never run out of power on the lake with my LX3. It has a digital readout that tells you how much power you have so you should never run out of power. The DCS that comes with the LX3 will keep your battery charged just right...you can keep the LX3 on the charger whenever you're not fishing so you know you have full battery each time you fish...no guessing. As for the 1500 vs 400 the additional power allows you to ID targets better. This feature combined with superior engineering allows the Marcum units to ID targets better in both shallow and deep water with no need for a suppression cable. One last thing the LX3 has a zoom that allows you to zoom in on any place in the water column. So if you fish suspended fish or fish deep water or shallow water with regularity than you should give the Marcum LX3 serious consideration. Marcum products are engineered and manufactured right here in the USA.

[icedog]

Power consumption is almost identical between the LX-3 and FL-18. The specs say the LX-3 draws 300mA and the FL-18 is 275mA. The difference is .025A or 25/1000ths of an ampere.

I have both units and don't see any difference in battery life.

icedog

[aquafang]

If the two units draw the current that icedog says, then you will get about 25.5 hours on a 7 amp hour battery out of the Vexilar (both units come with one) and about 23.3 hours from the Marcum.

[Judd]

Icedog, you have both the lx3 and the fl-18? Which do you like better?

[icedog]

Judd, at the risk of taking a bunch of hits here I have to say that "in my humble opinion" I favor the LX-3 over the FL-8 & 18's. I am going to start off the season with the LX-3 again. I have been a long standing Vex fan, using FL-8's since they were marketed under the Hondex label, pre-Vexilar. I have also owned several of the Zercom units, CWC, CW-Pro and went back to the FL-8's. Then had to have the FL-18 about 3 years ago. Last year I wanted to see for myself whether there was a difference between the FL-18 and LX-3. Side by side comparison I still like the FL-8/18 display. The color spread of green/orange/red is just easier for me to make out versus yellow/orange/red of the LX-3. Now, as for performance, They both do a great job on the ice. I happen to fish for suspended crappies a lot and wanted to check out the LX-3's movable zoom feature....well, as they say, once you go movable zoom you never go back (or did I just say that? heh heh). The movable zoom is so handy in catching those suspended crappies that I stopped using the FL-18 (well, I let my girlfriend or sons use it when they go with me). So, again, my humble opinion, I really like the LX-3 for my style of fishing. To make the LX-3 complete I was after Marcum to put out their dual beam ducer. According to sources in the company looks like it has been shelved for another year....so, I took the initiative and made an adaptor to use a Vex dual beam ducer on my LX-3. Works great in the basement on my work bench...can't wait to see what this baby will do through the ice.

icedog

[Bob Horn]

You will love your LX-3. I was a vex (FL-8 dual beam) owner and swithed last year. I was a 100% vex guy but from reading the post on FM I switched. What a difference. The target separation is awesome and the adjustable zoom is used on almost every ice trip. If you can swing it get the LX-3 you won`t regret it.

[jphersh22]

Hey Icedog, I'm from Iowa City. You do your crappie fishing on Macbride and Coralville?

[Ray Esboldt]

Judd,

I too am a FL-8 to LX-3 convert. And mind you, I was a reluctant convert. I used a single color Si-Tex FL-6 for a number of years and was reluctant to convert to an FL-8. Heck, I'm pretty reluctant about everything.

I am very pleased with the LX-3 for all the reasons Pete mentioned. Does it cause me to catch more fish? I doubt it. Does it enhance my fishing experience? Yes. One of the things I really like is the brightness of the display. I like to fish outside (weather permitting), and I can actually see the display. I sure could not with my older Vexilars. Apparently, Vexilar has brightened up their displays quite a bit in recent times. I also like the finer grain of target seperation. Instead of a big blob of fish, I can see some definition amongst them. However, if you're in a swarm, it looks like a swarm. The Marcum's also have a very functional and practical tranducer arm setup. No big floats bobbing in your hole.

Yes, the power consumption is a little greater. Not a big deal, but noticable. One word of caution regarding power. If your buddies fish with Vexilars, they will not be able to use them in the same house with a Marcum. The Marcum functions fine, but make the Vexilars look like someone puked jellybeans on the screen. I've actually turned that into an advantage. No one hones in on your hot bite.

I would choose the LX-3 again in a second. Don't let the recentness (is that a word) of the product scare you. The guys that put the product together have been in the business for quite some time and know how to put together a usable, durable product.

Let us know what you purchase.

[Ed Carlson]

icedog are you sure that Vex duel beam ducer will hold up to all that power? It might just explode or something?

Seriously, your Duel Beam may not hold up if the crystal is not configured to work with the Marcum? Since they are both are 200 kHz they may not conflict? Another potential complication may be the processor, how will it interpret the information into the zoom, that may be way off too?

You might want to check with a tech and see before you damage it or your Marcum unit.

[Judd]

I've had a fl8-slt with dual beam for 3 years. I really like the dual beam option. I called Vexilar and they said they do not have any changes in the fl-18 in the near future. (Seems like every time I buy something the next year it gets upgraded.) Right now my Vex is for sale on hsolist.

Went to Iowa for Thanksgiving and of couse stopped by Cabelas on the way down. Bought the Fl-18, but can return it.

Right now, for the FL-18 I like the dual beam. And based on replies here, the colors might be easier to distinguish on the screen. I like the Ice float system because sometimes my unit is 3-4 feet away from the hole.

What I like about the Marcum is the adjustable zoom although most of my zoom needs are on the bottom. Many of my buds use a Vex, sounds like if I fish with the lx-3 I'm going to scramble their signal which might make me an outcast. Might have to go with the lx-3 just so I'm not overpowered by others although if that happens, we're too close anyway.

Just going to have to try both on the ice and see for myself. I do have a Marcum OVS 400 which works great so I know they make good stuff.

[Fishook]

Does the Marcum LX3 come with an adapter kit that would allow the unit to be mounted on a bow mount trolling motor? I know Vexilar offers a bow mount kit. Also, I thought I saw in a post that Cabelas sells the Marcum. All of my catalogs show nothing but the Vexilars. Is there a special Cabelas ice fishing catalog I need to get hold of? Seems funny they do not have the Marcums in the Fall Master Catalog (II), the Cabelas Gift Catalog or the Cabelas Christmas 2004 Late Edition catalog.

[rod bender]

Fishhook, go to the cabelas HSOforum. They sell the Marcum products but just don't have them in the catalog.

[who are those guy]

Just got back from Cabalas over the holiday. I had $350 in gift certs and went for a flasher. I too had looked in the catalogs, but only vexilar 18 were offered. When I got there, they had about 50 vexilar boxes out and about 5 lx-3 boxes out. I talked to the guy running the electronic dept - who said vex outsells marcum 10-1. I asked for his opinion, with myself acting unknowledgable. The sales guy gave me this pitch. "The vex is by far the better product. The LX-3 is harder to run, to read, gets more interference, cant read at all depths - due to solo beam." paraphrased. My reply was " Ill take the LX-3 then" He was a bit suprised. This site and other chats had sold me on the LX-3. Been looking for 6 months. Marcum does make the same openwater attachments as Vexilar. I am guessing Cabalas make a better margin on vexilars - hence the pitch.

[Fishook]

"Rod" and "Who are ..". Thanks for the replys. I found the Marcums out on the Cabelas HSOforum and now have that site bookmarked. I should have thought of looking there but did not. I appreciate the input you both gave me. Thanks.

[icedog]

jphersh22, you guessed it. McBride and CVR get a lot of my ice time because they are so close. Been busy re-learning McB since the restoration process. But I will also fish ponds, backwaters and any other ice covered waters in reasonable driving distance. How about you? Any secret spots you want to swap stories about?

icedog

[icedog]

Hey Ed, thanks for your conern regarding a Maverick like me taking on some unchartered water. I have a bunch of electronics training in my background and have spent many years in this industry. The first thing I did was to check with the people who really know these units within each of the respective companies to see if they thought my idea was feasible...turns out I am not the first to think of doing the Vex dual beamer on the LX-3 (dang, no original ideas anymore!). So, there are some finer points you need to understand (like the polarity of the ceramic and wire polarity)...but once these things are known it is a simple soldering task. When I have my first shot at using the unit this winter with a dual beam ducer on it I'll try to report back on my results. I was so pleased with the performance of the LX-3 last winter with the 18 degree ducer that I seriously doubt I will be disappointed with the new set up.

Thanks again for the concern.

icedog