Marcum VS Vexilar

[Bob/Mn]

Power specks can be decieveing as power can be specified in peak to peak, peak and RMS. Peak to peak being the highest value and RMS the lowers value. Both equal the same power output.

When compareing units make sure you are compareing apples to apples.

You are better off with a unit that transmitts a lower power signal and uses a higher quality amplifier/electronics to process the signal.

In blue water conditions then more power may be needed.

[outdoor ran]

Marcum or vexilar? Who cares, they both help you catch fish. Use whatever YOU like. I think some people need to spend more time fishing then trying to get everyone to use the same thing they do.

[fisherman-andy]

 Originally Posted By: harvey lee

 Originally Posted By: Mike412

 Originally Posted By: Northdrifter2

Look at the power of the two units... this is what sold me on the Marcum...not the name... people getting caught up in the hype.. vexilar.... they are good but Marcum is farther a head in the technology and strenght...

I have the LX-3 which, which has 1500 watts, compared to the vexilar, with a max of 400 watts... If you fish deep water this is a point that need be addressed.. The Marcum will mark smaller lures with a better separation than vexilar at deeper depths... In shallow water there the same but out deep Marcun wins... also I do like the zoom features of the marcum better than vexilar..you can zoom any section of the water column.. and then have the whole column on the other side...

Look and research prior to purchasing and falling into the hype of a name ...

Too much watts can be a problem.

I had someone tell me the other day... They were fishing shallow waters, and one guy was using a marcum. As soon as he dropped the transducer in the hole, the fish scattered. But on the other hand, fishing with the Vexilar worked just fine.

I have used the MarCum products for years and have never noticed fish scatter when I place my transducer down the hole.

I am going contradict this. There have been times when I have notice only in shallow water 5-10fow that the fish may scatter or not come near the bait/lure even on lowest gain setttings. Even though I think its not entirely at fault it seems to play its part. If I take the Marcum tranducer out, bam fish hits it a little bit later. I put the I tranducer back in, nothing. Pull it back out and fish on again. I was stumped??? Doesn't happen all the time but more times enough that I notice. However I have not notice any problems in deeper water though.

[CNY-Kyle]

Just got home from the Trap attack at Silver lake NY. Not gonna weigh in becasue the usual has already been said. I do however have a quote from a FL-18 user that was partnered up with a buddy of mine using a LX-5, both were fishing about 30 yards away...

Sammys Quote: "Doug can you try and hit IR on your marcum or something, your scrambeling the [PoorWordUsage] out of my Vex...I cant see a thing" Doug's quote: Buy a Marcum and be done with it....

If your tournement fishing with a vex you can be subject to many issues with being scrambled, theres nothing you can do about it other than physacilly move away far enough to minimize interference. Unfortunatly in a tournement you cant be over 30 paces away from your partner, so in close combat tournement fishing your out of luck using a Vex...

you get around a buch of guys using 5's you will be scrambled with your Vex...

Thats only one element that goes into buying a unit, use whatever your comforable using, and that works for you.

[Shack]

 Originally Posted By: Mike412

Not worth arguing. I understand Marcum is a big sponsor here, so I'd expect that to be the favorite.

If you look back in this post, there are not many admin/Pro-staff chiming in. Most of what people are saying in this thread is real life (no sponsor’s having to back) info from their fishing trips out in the field. As you might have read in one of the other MarCum post’s that I chimed in on, I just bought an LX-5. For almost 2 months I have been trying to buy a unit, because I have been back and forth over the fence every other day. Both Vexliar and MarCum are sponsors of this site and I feel both of these machines (FL-20 and LX-5) are great machines to be using out on the lake. You are going to catch fish with either unit. Also I will say again, the morning of the day I bought my LX-5, I was going to by a FL-20. It is that close for me on how these machines are compared to each other. It came down to “2” simple facts about these two flashers, which made me go the way I did.

1) The charging system on MarCum stops charging when battery is full. The Vexilar does not. I tend to over cook batteries when I put them on a charger and sure would have the first time I charged battery. This does not do any good for the battery.

2)The buddies I have fished with and will fish with in the future all have MarCum’s.

I will say I have not experience it my self yet, but hearing from friend’s and fellow FM members who own MarCum and have fished with others that had Vexilars, say they can not tune in the Vexilars when used next to a MarCum. I know some say they can, but for me enough people have said they could not. I would hate to be at an FM get together and not be able to tune the unit I bought in.

That is it for me.

If it had been vise versa, I would own an FL-20 right now, but it is not. I would do your research and go to the stores and play with both. You should take in the info from hear, but in the end make a dissention that is right and correct for you. The other thing one could do is, contact your favorite Pro-Staffer who has an e-mail in their signature area and talk directly to them via e-mail. I tell ya, not every Pro-Staffer on this site is going to back MarCum. There are some die hard Vexilar Pro-Staffers and they give some very good reason’s to go with Vexilar.

Good luck!

[Jimmy from Cottage Grove]

Yeah I don't think that marcum being a sponsor here has anything to do with the posts. I am sick of arguing with all you die hard vexilar guys. Get off of it!!! Give the Marcum a chance. I guarantee if you use the lx-5 you would love it. I know some of you say you have tried it, and didn't like it. You probably never gave it a chance!! You weren't going to like it, even if it pulled the fish up the hole for you. The fact is you made up your mind that you didn't like it, before you even put it in your hole. I like vexilar as a company. If they came out with a unit that topped the lx-5. I wouldn't hesitate to go out and buy it and switch back. At the current moment, the lx-5 is the best unit out there. Bottom line. You say that the transducers blow because they are over powered!! What gives you the credibilty to make that statement? I guarantee you won't be saying that when the next vexilar comes out with a ton of power. I guarantee you the next vexilar to come out, will have a ton of power.

[Coach1310]

I have had an FL-8 for about 10 years. It has been great to me. It has taken numerous beating in the sled, truck, sliding on the ice, falling of the wheeler etc. and still kept on running. It has been nothing but great to me.....that being said after seeing some Marcums in action and have the opportunity to borrow a friends, my next flasher will probably be a Lx-5. I say "probably" because I want to see for sure that the Marcums are as durable as a Vex and if Vex comes out with a product to give me everything the Lx-5 can. I know the Vexilar product will be durable.

[Coon]

I'm having a ball this year with my first flasher ever...a Marcum LX-5

[Schloogs]

Coon, same here, I got my first flasher after xmas (also a LX-5). I can't believe how much of a difference it makes.

[Kyle Sandberg]

(Note from Admin,please read forum policy before posting again,Thank-you.)

[DTro]

Have you see the record Northern Pike that was caught on Rainy recently

[NCLaker]

 Originally Posted By: shackbash

1) The charging system on MarCum stops charging when battery is full. The Vexilar does not. I tend to over cook batteries when I put them on a charger and sure would have the first time I charged battery. This does not do any good for the battery.

Shackbash - correction on this comment. Starting last year any new Vexilars shipped last year all are suppose to have updated chargers that are fully automatic and will not overcharge. Note: some FL8/18's may sold last year had the old charger but all FL12/20s have the new one. Got this info direct from Vexilar.

 Originally Posted By: shackbash

2)The buddies I have fished with and will fish with in the future all have MarCum’s.

I will say I have not experience it my self yet, but hearing from friend’s and fellow FM members who own MarCum and have fished with others that had Vexilars, say they can not tune in the Vexilars when used next to a MarCum. I know some say they can, but for me enough people have said they could not. I would hate to be at an FM get together and not be able to tune the unit I bought in.

I fish next to my buddy that has an LX5 with both my FL18 & FL20 inside a Clam 5600 and had no problems eliminating interferance.

I actually tried a Marcum, ended up having issues with it and had to bring it in to Marcum to get it fixed. Ended up selling it. Many other posts with the same issues. I love my Vexilar, in my opinion reliabilty wins out over some of the other things the Marcums may offer.

[H20fowlr]

It's this simple.

Marcum

Strikemaster

Thorne Bros

Otter

Tica

Cajun Red

JB Lures and Northland Tackle

Lund

Honda- Outboard and ATV

Chevrolet

Benelli

And oh yeah how could I forget THE PACKERS!

That should calm things down in here!

[pointer]

I have the marcum lx5, love the unit only thisng is going blind from staring at bright colors all the time,,lol. Was recently fishing over brush piles on ice, was amazed to see colors flashing out of the brush comming to jig, was like watching piano keys being played, still have a zercom < great unit, not familiar with vexilar, just that marcums great, when useing i do prefer fine line though, finds wide line a little distracting so keeps it on fine,, guess its from using zercom,, what im used to,, as for marcum vs560 thats in shop for camera leaking,, hope to get that resolved soon.

[SP180]

Results:

This post has been put on 3 differnt forums this week. It is interesting to see what the non scientific results of this post showed: (Approximates)

Over 60 people responded

30 were MarCum users

20 were Vex users

the rest were multiple responders

12 people have switched from Vex to MarCum

2 people switched from MarCum to Vex and it was for quality issues (it broke and that made them mad).

This post was in no way related to sponsorship. I did not know that MarCum was a visible sponsor of some of these sights until it was pointed out to me in one of the posts.

One of the biggest complaints of the MarCum was the increase power. I bet 90% of the complaintaints have no equipment or know how to test that power and how it effects the unit.

The bottom line: compare units side by side on the ice and choose for your self what works best. Dont listen to the posts that tell why there unit is the best with out seeing for your self. I have compared side by side and i am happy with my purchase.

[Shack]

Thanks NCLaker for the clarification. I did the most in-depth research and question asking a couple months ago and the little I was on Vexilar’s web page, I did not see they are updating. I took what I have heard from others as fact on that one. I figure it is such an easy/small upgrade for Vexilar to do, it would be nuts for them not to upgrade the charging system.

As for the MarCum messing with the Vexilar, I still have read and heard to much from people for me side with it does not happen. I made my decision on the interference issue mainly from the word of mouth from the hand full of prominent bait stores in the metro area I called that sell both MarCum and Vexilar. They are the biggest deciding factor as far as my final decision on the interference issue.

I wanted my post to be as unbiased as possible and thanks for the update on the charging system.

You can not make a wrong decision when useing either one of these machines. To start a Ford verses Chevy debate over the MarCum or Vexilar is kind of silly. No matter what, they get you from point “A” to “B” in style. You just have to drop some ching to ride.

Good Luck.

[Jon Hanson]

I have a Vexilar FL-20 with a 12 degree cone and I have had no problems with it. I have had it for over a year now. I like the flat screen and the zoom function for the bottom six feet. My father bought one also. When we both use them in the same shack there is interference when we start them up. But all after hitting the interfernece rejection button it clears up. I think they both have 10 frequenceys to run on, so all you have to do is switch channells by hitting the button and it will clear up. I don't know very much about Marcum flashers but I have heard they work great also. I don't see what the big deal is here they both work great and help you catch fish. Marcum is probaly cheaper in price, but vexilar has been around for a long time and has been proven to be a good product that is why they are more exspensive. I think anyone would be happy buying either proudcut. Vexilar also has a models which feature a 9 degree and 19 degree cone with a flip of a swich for those people who fish a lot of shallow and deep water.

[Shack]

Welcome to FM Jon.

Thanks for the added info.

I have heard the reason why Vexilar's prices are the way they are (I am not shy when it comes to asking questions), but I do not think we need to get into that issue.

Good luck.

[NCLaker]

I couldn't agree more with buying which ever unit you are more comfortable with. Either way you should be happy and catch more fish.

ONE THING WE SHOULD ALL BE HAPPY WITH IS THAT THERE ARE 2+ GREAT FLASHER MANUFACTURER OPTIONS TO CHOOSE FROM. Compitition is a great thing and we fisherman are the benifactors in the form of product improvements that are better quality, features and price. Lets hope for our sake that this healthy compitition between these companies and others continues for a looong time.

[Jon Hanson]

I agree the competion between the two, will only lead to better flashers and price reductions in the future.

[Nozzlejocky]

While many have tried to convince me that Vex is better, I still stand by my Marcum VX-1. It has served me well and I have been nothing but happy with it. Bang-for-buck is great and performance is top notch. I am not bashing Vex, as they are great too. But I saved a ton on the Marcum, am very happy with it, and likely will buy another one when I give this one to my kid.