Jump to content
  • GUESTS

    If you want access to members only forums on HSO, you will gain access only when you Sign-in or Sign-Up .

    This box will disappear once you are signed in as a member. ?

Choosing a Flasher - MarCum or Vexilar


Matt Johnson

Recommended Posts

Quote:

RW,

There is now actually a x67c on display as well, but no 68... and the VPG's are supposed to be coming in soon...


Just giving you hardcore traditional flasher guys a hard time. Thorne had the M68c on display last year and I bought my X67c from them grin.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 274
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Joe, I never fished around too many people except during the Cool Cats gathering, but I had no problems with interference. I know Deitz walked up and plopped his LX-5 into a hole about 4 feet from me just to see what it'd do and I was fine. I also had a guy with an LX-3 next to me at one point, and while I could tell that he was nearby, the interference wasn't severe enough to hamper my fishing.

It's not as simple as pushing the IR button like on a flasher, but there are several settings that one can play with to get rid of interference.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dietz you must have a muffler on that LX-5 if you weren't messing up the icemachine . Just drill two lines of holes and each of yas keep plopping the ducers in covering different depths of water and hardness of bottom . RW will be stuck in no time adjusting ping speed etc as you keep on moving down the line of holes . wink.gif Been there and done that using an LX-3 for a test with the icemachine along .

TD

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Some of you flasher guys are real elitists. I know it's tough to admit that there might be something else out there that does a respectable job of finding fish. Granted, I'm sure the LX-5 is a better machine, but it also costs nearly twice as much.

I'm no pro, but I think the Lowrance units do a fine job. If you're on the ice 5 days a week, an LX-5 is a great choice. For my once a week excursions and a great little summer unit to boot, the X67c is awesome and helps me to catch more fish.

And now, back to your regularily scheduled Marcum vs. Vexilar debates.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have a question relating to the Marcum's. I do a lot of deep water jigging for lakers up to about 180' in many cases and with multiple FL-18's in depths of over 70' you have to really spread out to avoid interference nightmares. We need to fish about 100 yards apart in deep water to read our machines and I was wondering if anybody has actually used two or three Marcums in water over 70' say to 150' deep together in close proximity without significant interference issues. Flasher interference is greatly compounded in deep water with any flasher but just wondering if Marcum's "played nice" with each other in deep water because our vexilar's don't but I don't know if any flasher would! We can easily run several FL-18's real close in 20 to 40ft deep but once you get over 70' lookout and spreadout ooo.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Trapper- you are correct it has a ton to do with the depth and the type bottom. I will say this.. I think RW and I were in about 30' of water over a hard bottom. and we had the ducers in the same exact hole!

Dont get me wrong, I am not going to give up my LX-5 any time soon. But I thought the Lowrance unit was decent... I dont own one so I haven't done any huge testing on it.. I do now own an Aqua-Vu VPG that I am excited to get out on the ice...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Insurance guy - We fished 38' tight with 6 MarCums and the only thing I noticed were the LX-3's picked up a bit more interference than the NBT LX-5's and the LX-5's were clear as a bell. There is no better unit in 160'or less on the market that matches the power, precision and interference rejection of the LX-5.

Ralph - Now now flasher elitist??? I think it's more about bang for your buck. If I was in the market for an ice fishing fish finder that does a lot for less it would be the VX-1 for $249 with the $50 mail-in rebate. It is the deal of the century, no disrespect to the Lowrance at all but can they match that?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Quote:

Insurance guy - We fished 38' tight with 6 MarCums and the only thing I noticed were the LX-3's picked up a bit more interference than the NBT LX-5's and the LX-5's were clear as a bell. There is no better unit in 160'or less on the market that matches the power, precision and interference rejection of the LX-5.

Ralph - Now now flasher elitist??? I think it's more about bang for your buck. If I was in the market for an ice fishing fish finder that does a lot for less it would be the VX-1 for $249 with the $50 mail-in rebate. It is the deal of the century, no disrespect to the Lowrance at all but can they match that?


That's a deal, alright, but my $300 got me a good ice sonar with all the fixings (soft pack, battery, charger, ice ducer) and a nice summer unit (Thorne Brothers gave a free skimmer transducer with the X67c Ice Machine last year). That is bang for the buck. The X67c just plain does things that no flasher can do.

To each his own, I guess. Like I said, it does the trick for me, but I know that a lot of you guys would never consider one. I sure don't work for Lowrance (wish I did grin.gif), but I think they make a good product for the angler.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Some are sick of me chiming in and supporting Lowrance, but that's OK. If someone is unhappy with me, I'm still alive. :-)

But things just keep betting better with Lowrance. Last year I had an interference-free season. Now, this season, Lowrance has released the kick-butt LMS-334c in an Ice Kit - and they are throwing in the summer skimmer transducer to boot. Full Lakemaster capability with GPS, excellent sonar for ice and open water.

For the avid solo or group hobbyist market (which the majority of us are) the Lowrance x67c is such a barn-buster deal, what with getting a world-class hard and soft water unit, there's hardly any way you can go wrong.

Personally, I'm trying to figure out if I can swing an LMS-334c, after years with an x67c.

I've left a trail of postings about using the x67c on ice in the past 1-2 years, search for them for more info.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm new here so don't hang me, but I have to give my 2 cents worth.(some may say that's all it's worth)

This summer I bought a Lowrance X67c. I needed something for the pontoon, and knew I couldn't afford 2 depth finders this year. I also am a bit color blind and could never tell the differences in the colors of a Vexilar type flasher, and have put off using a depth finder for 2 years because of it. The lowrance has a 256 color screen that I can see the color changes plain as day. The Lowrance can also change between a flasher, and a conventional LCD screen that I think willl be good for the learning curve of using the flasher. For my money the Lowrance lineup is the most bang for the buck.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well even though I like my flashers I will credit Lowrance with some things the X67c and X68c can provide especially when switching to the softwater .I prefer graphs on the open water more so because I have a chance to see the history that I have passed over out of the corner of my eye especially at high speeds when concentration is on many things as I navigate the boat . Sure flashers are great fast and instant in these situations too but if for whatever reason I'm distracted for a second and need to take my eyes off the unit I'm done because I have passed the area..... yet a graph allows me more time . As far as the GPS on the x68C I basically consider it just about useless in most of my icefishing scenarios if I used the unit for icefishing only and you are better off getting the x67c plus a handheld if you truly want to use it for icefishing only and I wouldn't spend the extra bucks to go in that direction if its ICEFISHING ONLY . Yes that new 334 c ? or whatever its called looks like a sweet unit but at 7 and change USD it seems like alot . Flashers are the unit of preference on the ice and justifyably so because them stationary are what they were made for . Sure they love running at highspeed across open flats but you need to be constantly watching them or might miss what your looking for . Your also less likely to run across interference issues that are hard to deal on the ice with a boat mounted x67c even though it can happen if you have a trolling mounted fishfinder and one at the transom too especially if waves are rocking the boat .Icefishing often is groups of people huddled close together and the x67c and x68c has some interference issues in this scenario . Manageable yes at times,,, and depends on how many other units are closeby ,water depth and type of bottom . My old Eagle magna 11 can do that even though its not TFT but rather LCG . It also has never froze up on me and neither did the lowrance that I tested and I believe that anyone saying the X67C will freeze up in cold temps or slow down is full of hogwash as they ovbviously have never tested it as I did . The X67C had no issues in this regard but if its set in amongst a group of marcums or vexilars the screen is going to get some busy .Even LX-3's will frustrate an x67 c owner at times . wink.gif

My graphs are open water and my flashers are best on the ice .Myself I prefer the right tool for the job at hand at the time . Enjoy your icefishing machines but at the moment there is nothing that can touch a Marcum LX-5 on the hardwater with a transducer in the hole . I'm even going to order a VX-1 so that I can test it as it allows more room for more friends to use them and make a decission on their own .

Link to comment
Share on other sites

MNTraveler - Take this from a happy Lowrance user - I'd rather have the handheld GPS, only because I want a GPS that I can fit in my pocket and also because I would use it hiking, driving, etc - not just fishing.

If I was made of money, after I got that, I'd get a graph with a GPS and lake maps chips for convenience for when I go fishing...

Also, beware, the Lowrance m68c does not handle lake map chips.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here's some more good info from one of MarCum's Engineers just restating basically what we have known all along on the ice.

MarCum Technologies LX5 VS: Vexilar FL20

Receiver sensitivity :

Receiver sensitivity is the measurement of a sonar receiver’s ability to detect an input signal. This measurement tells just how small of a return signal the unit is able to pick up and display. The LX5’s receiver is more sensitive.

Measurement:

LX5- 24uV

FL20- 40uV

Receiver Gain:

Receiver gain is a measurement of the total system gain or amplification. Typically the more gain a receiver has the smaller signal it will be able to detect.

The LX5 receiver has more gain.

Measurement:

LX5- 89.77db

FL20- 70.89db

Receiver distortion:

Receiver distortion is a measurement of the sonar receiver to filter, amplify, detect, and display a return signal. A receiver with less distortion will give a more accurate display. The LX5 has less distortion.

Measurement:

LX5- less than 1%

FL20- more than 40%

Transmitter power:

Transmit power is a measurement of the output power into the transducer. This is usually defined in Watts peak to peak or Watts RMS. In the sonar world more power means a better return signal with less noise and less filtering. The LX5 has more power.

Measurement:

LX5- more than 2000 Wp-p or 300 Wrms

FL20- more than 400 Wp-p or 50Wrms

Conclusions: The LX5 surpasses the FL20 in every sonar measurement that was made. With these measurements it becomes clear that the LX5 is a superior product in respect to its receiver/transmitter design. These measurements were made on off the shelf units using an industry standard tester.

What this means to the ice fisherman is that with the LX5 you will get a clearer, less distorted picture of what’s below the transducer. We at MarCum believe that these measurements reflect what LX5 users have been seeing on the ice. The MarCum Technologies LX5 is truly the best and this can be backed up and verified by scientific measurements.

Duane Cummings

Chief Sonar Engineer

MarCum Technologies Inc.

Note: measurements were made on an EDI sonar tester.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have a LX3 and find it very usefull, the reason that I chose it over the FL18 is the zoom can move thruout the water colum. One thing that I do not like about it however is the orange/yellow/red colors are hard to differentiate as compared to Vex's yellow/green/red. Currently mine is at Marcum getting the Tc upgrade. I do hope that it makes the color definition as good as Vexlar. The sensitivity realy has not lived up to its potential for me yet because I couldn't see it!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am looking at buying either a Vexilar or Marcum flasher, and have read all the comments on this thread-----which are very informative, by the way. But am wondering where the new Marcum VX-1 fits in. I see it's priced at $199. Which of the Vexilars does it compare with, and what is a person giving up with the VX-1 as opposed to the LX-3?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Deitz, you might want to unpack that vpg and check it out. the two units i tested had some major design issue's. i'll give you a couple that you can check out at home.

1. turn unit on, hang xducer so unit picks up the floor. do the same with one of your other sonar units. set the two units next to each other. see what happens, it's ugly for the vpg. your other unit (vexilar or marcum) will easily knock out the vpg's interference.

2. with both units running turn on the vpg's noise control. try to block out the interference (the unit can't tune out the interference at any level) knocking out interference in the air is usually quite easy to do.

3. with the noise rejection level set at 5, move the xducer up and down while its pointing at the floor. something quite odd happens. the unit starts trailing any return echo's that move, making the unit virtually unreadable. this trailing effect can be seen in all the noise supression modes, some are worse than others.

if you could, pls check this out and see if your unit does this. let us know what you find with a post here.

thanks

duane cummings

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Duane- Thanks for the heads up... I dont put a ton of credit to dry testing, but I do trust your knowlege. As soon as there is walkable ice I will have it on the ice to try out. I do have a MarCum LX-5 and a Vexilar FL-18 to test it up next to.

I will post results as I have time to get out... COME ON COLD WEATHER!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.


×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.