Choosing a Flasher - MarCum or Vexilar

[nitroant]

As for a case, I think I found a rubbermaid type box that is wide and tall enough, but a little longer than needed, but I am sure I can find a few "goodies" to pack in there to take up the extra space. I found it at home depot for like $6.00. That is my plan for now, just have to get the house out and see how it all fits in there now. Might have to do some new space planning for packing it all in is all.

[raymondk]

everything got covered real good except one thing I am looking for a christmas gift for my son i have a vexlar 18 and I am looking either at a marcom vx 1 or vexlar fl 8 gentz pack we will be fishing side by side alot i know both of them have interference rejection systems but if you put them side by side is there any problems or is it better to have both vexlars . another thing that i hear is that there is a great market for used vexlars not marcoms . I had my first vexlar for over 15 years ice and in my boat the brushs finely went bad i was goig to get it fixed but without the rejection it really didn't pa to get it fixed.

[Pary]

lost your # cny tim. just checking with all marcum owners. i recently bought the lx-3 reconditioned n i just want to see if my battery bad or what. i fully charged it but after just playing with it for like 5 min the battery indicator reads 90% i said okay shut it off, next day turned it on for like 10min n now it already reads 80% what is up? bad battery? just imaging going fishing for a few hours? is it suppose to read like this?

[trapperdirk]

I'm not really sure how to handle these posts discussing worries about the Marcum package .

It is the toughest ,nicest case out there bar none .Compare it to any other and all will drool over the LX-3 or LX-5 case .Mine likely takes a worse beating than most travelling by snowmachine or bike not that I abuse my rigging but it sure does not get babied by any means .

The LX-5 transducer sits solid where it should . The LX-3 one where it sits has some play and some folks give them a cushion but I've never particulary found it necessarry but each to their own and in no way have I ever worried or had it concern myself as I did with the vex setup or case .

Far as I'm concerned you have never looked at the vex setup or case if you have seen the Marcum one and are worried about issues because handsdown Vex nor lowrancex67c can touch the pack Marcums come in . Even a blind man could see it in a picture .

TD

[CNY Tim]

The VX-1 is a hot little unit our local Gander sold out of em in two weeks and are ordering more.

In regards to the DCS operation while it's running you must remember that the unit is under load and will always read 10% to 20% less then what the battery actually has when the unit is running. That's been the case from my observations since I started with the DCS on my first LX-3. There have been more than a few occasions I have fished the DCS down to 0% for two hours and still was fishing. The colder it is, the more these readings will be more ascue. On these occasions while running the DCS down to 0% packing up and leaving the ice I would place the unit in the van and drive home and while the unit was turned off after an hour or so of driving in a warm car the DCS would move up from the 0% on ice reading to 10%, 20% or as high as 30% because the battery had warmed back up to room temperature and wasn't under load. THE BEST READING IS WHEN THE UNIT IS OFF AND THE BATTERY IS AT ROOM TEMPERATURE... That is a normal operating DCS 100.

Having a back up battery on every trip is a nice safety valve to have especially if you think about how little they cost and the piece of mind there is in having a back-up., I have 3 back-ups, one for the camera, one for my LX-3 and one for my LX-5. Have I needed to use them not yet, but there right there if need be. Pary get the back-up piece of mind of a fresh battery, fish the old one and see how it fishes and if it seems weak and you have to keep jacking the gain up to show your jig when it's down around 0% then replace it with a fresh battery. I recharge my batteries after every trip after they have warmed up to room temperature because a warm battery will accept a charge alot quicker than a cold battery. I have never been caught on the ice without enough juice fishing and I have fished my LX-3 14 hours straight with a fresh battery. I hope this helps and you have email if you want to discuss this further.

[Rozman]

Used my LX-3 for the first time Sunday. I have done lots of open water fishing, but am relatively new to ice fishing and to using a flasher. All I can say is it was unreal. Very crisp colors. Seeing my jig working and that line(pike) coming up off the bottom and smacking it was cool. I know now what all the hype is over flashers and how fun and addicting they can be.

[Pary]

i'll check with marcum to see if they'll replace the battery cause i think it's bad. i've been inside at room temp. all this time playing with it. it reads 80% with 15mins of use n everytime after i use it i turn it off n unplug only the neg. terminal.

[TNFL]

I would wait before you send it in. Charge it up fully and spend a day on the ice. If it dies after a feew hours it is bad. If it last all or most of the day it is fine.

How long will a battery normally last? I have never out-fished my battery on my lx-3.

[aczr2k]

Well, after the last of couple of weeks reading all the comments on flashers I went and bought an LX5. I had already sold my FL18 and had planned on getting the FL20 but I guess I'll try this out and see how it works this weekend.

[FishingwithJake]

Why doesn't someone just publish a book about this topic.

[mntraveler]

Because (this is from someone that is in the process of shopping) aside from a few key differences, the ultimate output of each machine tells you the same thing. That being whether or not there's an interruption in the water column below your transducer. Any flasher is better than no flasher and what features you want depends greatly on what you will fish for. Bottom line. That being said, I think I'm going to opt for the LX5 even though my experience with the FL18 has been wonderful. I just feel the LX5 will be a more versitile machine for MY fishing style. Also, I don't have a boat so the X67 won't be as useful to me as it could be.

[Dahitman44]

I really liked a lot of the things on the old Marcum that my brother-in-law but they interfered with the vexilars sooooo much.

I have last year's FL-18 and I love it.

[raymondk]

I HAVE BEEN FOLLOWING YHIS REAL CLOSE AND I HAVE DECIDED TO STICK WITH VEXLAR THEY HAVE A GOOD TRACK RECORD AND THE WAY IT SOUNDS ALOT EASIER TO USE . i KNOW THE MARCUMS HAVE MORE POWER BUT IF YOU ARE FISHING LESS THEN 15 FEET 99 PERCENT OF THE TIME HOW MUCH MORE POWER DO YOU NEED . ALSO MY SON WHICH I AM BUYING THE ONE FOR IS MORE FAMILAR WITH THE VEXLARS, also i talked to quite a few people if you plan on fishing next to somebody with a marcum there is alot of interferance that can not be adjusted . Also i have a fl 18 which I will not trade up to anything untill it wears out.

[Beaver15]

Very quick question guys. I have an FL-18, my brother will be purchasing a LX-3tc. Will we be able to fish them side by side without interference?

[Dave]

YES

[CNY Tim]

Just to add to Dave's comments yes you can fish the LX-3 and FL-18 no problem but throw and FL-8 in the mix and the FL-18 will be doing hand stands Don't know why the FL-18 is so quirky when it come to interference...

From my experience the MarCum is a lot easier to maneuver out of the gate for a novice and Vex suggests a DVD unless you know someone that's experienced with the unit

That's the beauty of owning a MarCum from the adjustable zoom to hole hopping it's American Engineering at it's finest built by guys that ice fish. It's all about bang for your buck and MarCum has it from quality construction to performance, it's gain adjustment is tops in the industry, bar none. Take a look at the powerhead and you can see alone against the competition which design was built durable and tough. If my VS250 delivers like my LX's I will be more than satisfied with my purchase.

[Jim43]

Just picked up a LX-2 and it looks great, nice and compact

with the soft carry case. Charging up the battery getting it

readt to test this weekend. Can`t wait till tomorrow when I

can get some time to test out my new Trekker, Jiffy Legend

lightining and LX-2. My son is going to love it.

[nitroant]

Just thought I would pass this info on. I have an LX-5 and looked around and found that a Rubbermaid 18 qt. container holds the unit almost perfectly. The rubbermaids are not going to stop a tank from running over it, but its an extra layer of protection for $6.00. The one I have was found at Hoem Depot, but I say them at Target too. The size in inches is 16.2 x 11.1 x 9.9. Hope this helps a few of you out.

[JayS]

I am thinking about purchasing a flasher and after reading this forum I am leaning towards a Marcum LX5. Maybe someone can clarify something for me. Does the Marcum only interfere with the Vexilar FL18 and not the FL8?

Thanks

[Deitz Dittrich]

Any depth finder can interfere with any other depth finder... its just a nature of the beast. Actually the FL-18 should have a better chance to knock out the interference because it has more channels of IR.

[dovix]

I picked up the VX-1 from Scheel's ($169.99 after $50 rebate) and had a pretty good time with it this weekend. Shooting through the ice was no problem, and I could see everything pretty well. I just LOVE getting new toys!! Of course, I'm going to have to either quit for the season or pick up a power auger, my arms are killing me after hand augering a couple dozen holes through 8-10 in ice!

[311Hemi]

Quote:

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I picked up the VX-1 from Scheel's ($169.99 after $50 rebate) and had a pretty good time with it this weekend. Shooting through the ice was no problem, and I could see everything pretty well. I just LOVE getting new toys!! Of course, I'm going to have to either quit for the season or pick up a power auger, my arms are killing me after hand augering a couple dozen holes through 8-10 in ice!

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Was the unit on sale beyond the $50 rebate, and/or is it still that price?

[dovix]

Quote:

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Was the unit on sale beyond the $50 rebate, and/or is it still that price?

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It was on sale for $219.99 and the $50 rebate is the mail-in from Marcum. I don't know if the sale is still on or if it changed on Sunday. The had some problems with how prices were popping up on their computer at the Fargo Scheel's, so make sure you check the sign in the fishing department.

[rocky]

I recently sold my FL-8 in hopes of upgrading to something newer.The unit I sold was about 12 years old. What degree transducer would that have been? I believe they were all standard at that point.

[CNY Tim]

Probably a 19 degree rocky...