Zercom Colorpoint Flasher ???

[Guest]

I'm new to ice fishing and just bought a Zercom colorpoint flasher for 200 dollars. It was a display model. Was this a good deal and a good flasher?? Thanks for any information...

[Fisher J]

Well, as far as I know, they do not make them anymore. We had one and it was a piece of dump. It never worked right even when we first got it. When you turned it on it took forever to get a accurate reading of the depth. Last season, after numerous trips to get it fixed, it finally died. My friend and I are going to get a vexilar this year to replace the zercom.

[iffwalleyes]

That is alot of money for that thing. They are worth about a $100. You can find Vexilar FL 8 that worth $200 but colorpoints aren't. So in my opinion you paid to much for that unit.

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Grip it and Rip it

IFFWalleyes
I Fish For Walleyes

[CNY Tim]

shanna - Having a flasher is better than having none at all. If it makes you feel better I got $280 for my Colorpoint 2 years ago one hsolist... However for that $200 you spent I agree that you could have found an FL-8 used which are pretty much bullet proof. I owned two of the Colorpoint Flashers and an FL-8SLT, sporadic interference issues with reguards to the Colorpoint. No matter what I did other unit's would scramble it pretty easy but other than that it worked fine. Now that you have a Colorpoint and you use it get comfortable with it for a couple years and down the road you find yourself wanting an upgrade. The MarCum LX-1 w/o zoom would be an inexpensive option at $279 or you can really step-up and get an LX-3 with zoom for $399.

[Captain B.R.K]

Ouch to your pocket book for a piece of equipment that is out of date!

I sold my vex Fl-8 last year for about 50 more ($250 total) and I tell you what, that is a better buy than that color point.

Running the two side by side, the colorpt. will give you problems because of the inter-ference factor.

My buddy had one and liked it, I just frowned at him because there were better options than the color pt at the time.

GL

[Guest]

$150 might have been a more fair price.

They are a pretty good unit. So if it was a NEW display unit, never seen a day on the ice, wellllll....$200 might not be too outrageous then.

Like some of the other guys have already suggested there are deals on used units to be had every season.

Vexilar has sold thousands and thousands, and thousands of units and many folks upgrade to newer models every season. Most used units are perfectly good, it's just folks like New & Improved so they go for it if they can afford to.

A bad point about a Zercom is they freak out if your too close to a Vexilar. It's a signal phase whatever something or another type thingy...they just plain don't play well together.

The Vexilar equipped with the IR can tune it out, but the Zercom has to deal with it. Many guys dumped the Zercoms because of this signal interference complication.

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BACKWATER GUIDING
701-281-2300
[email protected]
><,sUMo,>

[Guest]

It is a new display model. I've tried to buy a used vexilar but living in NE Nebraska not many people have them. What is a good way of buying a used one? On HSOList, they go for alot more than 150-200$$$

[Beckman]

The Colorpoint is a good unit, don't let people scare you too much. People have alot of loyalty to their Vexilars, so don't expect to hear many good things from them. There is the interference issue with them next to a Vex, but it still can be used. The display is superior to a FL-8 and also target separation is better. I don't think you got ripped off at all.

[fishtrap2]

the color point is a good unit. I have never had problems with mine. As long as there is nothing wrong with it, you will love it. Don't listen to the vexilar loyalists who call them junk.

[Surface Tension]

It's your's now so enjoy it. You will get interference from a Vex but sounds like there aren't many Vexs in Nebraska anyway.

[Guest]

I did not call them junk, just stated a known complication they do have. They still serve many ice and open water anglers very well.

Shanna you asked for other sources to locate good used units. I think I can help you out there. If your interested drop me an E-mail and I will share it with you.

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BACKWATER GUIDING
701-281-2300
[email protected]
><,sUMo,>

[Northlander]

If you can get your $ back and buy a used FL-8. You can get them under $200 all the time. Heck Ill sell ya my pro pack for $200.

[Guest]

BackwaterEddy my email system can't connect with you... Can you email me the information about obtaining a new or used vexilar. Where should I buy one???

[Paul Waldowski]

Shanna,

You will need to post your e-mail addy.

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Paul
[email protected]
Marcum
Otter Outdoors

[SCHAAKATTACK]

Just curious, When you guys say there is interference. How close would the two units have to be? Thanks.

[Scoot]

Colorpoints are great flashers, but Ed's absolutely right, they have a very large flaw. Without IR, they go wacky around other flashers. However, if you're not going to fish around other electronics, they're a great unit.
Scoot

[Guest]

Be sure to use my [email protected] address and it should find me ok. All the darn spam main on the net has no problem finding me.

What often happens is the font on peoples computer reads the number 1 after backwtr as a L or an i. So the address gets mixed up and ends up in cyber nowhere land or undeliverable. Thay may be what happened?

Give it another go and see if it finds me this time.

You also can try [email protected] and see if that finds me.

[This message has been edited by Backwater Eddy (edited 11-18-2003).]

[CNY Tim]

Shaak - Any receiver signals from the bottom that crosses transducer cone coverage is gonna scramble the colorpoint. If you understand signal processing it will effect the ability for the unit at certain depth's and distances to interpret a clear signal. Thus the need for I.R. If you fish alone you won't need an I.R. it will be just fine. But if you have other units and get to close you'll see some interesting things on that display. Some situations you can fish through and some are just so bad you have to pack it up and move. I know I had two of em.

[Scoot]

You'll often hear that if the cones from two different units cross, you'll have interference issues. This is undoubtedly true. So, if you divide your depth by 3, this will give you an approximate diameter of your cone (with a 19 degree cone). Then figure out if the dude next to you is too close to cross cones or not.

All that being said, let me warn you that it's often not true. I've received interference from units 40 yards away while fishing in 20 feet of water. No other explanation- no interference until a dude started fishing with a flasher, then lots of interference. So the answer is, it all depends.
Scoot

[Surface Tension]

Depth and bottom content make a difference. A rocky bottom will send a signal bouncing in all directions. 75' away is fine in the worst conditions. This interference problem with a Vex isn't limited to the Zercom.

[Guest]

Interference is not unique to any one model or make of sonar, that is true. Any sonar may experience it under the right conditions.

An electronic power pack generates very short bursts of electrical energy which are sent to a transducer, which operates as a "loudspeaker" to convert those short bursts, or pulses, of electrical energy into very short bursts of high frequency sound energy.

After sending out a single burst of this high frequency sound, the transducer is switched over so that it now acts as a "microphone" to pick up the sounds of the returning echoes. The returning echoes of this short pulse of high frequency sound are received back by the transducer (operating as a microphone) which converts sound energy into electrical energy. These tiny bursts of electrical energy, now much weaker than the original signal, are then put through an amplifier which increases their strength to the point that they can be used to light a neon bulb, Light Emitting Diode, or to activate a pixel on an LCD. The location of the flashes on a dial or the location of the pixels on the display can then be used to indicate the RANGE, or distance, from the transducer of the object, bottom, or fish which have bounced back the echoes.

When one signal is received back as an echo, another sound signal is sent out and its echo is captured and amplified before the next sound signal is sent out. The time between these short pulses of sound will vary from unit to unit, but must always be sufficient to allow the returning echo to get back from the greatest depth range for which the unit is set to read. Some units operate on a number of depth ranges, so have to vary the timing of their sound pulses for each depth range accordingly.

Sound travels very rapidly in water, about a mile per second, so it doesn't take very long for one signal to get back so that you can send out another one. The short bursts or pulses of sound last for only a tiny period of time, and are expressed in terms of thousandths of a second (milliseconds).

The time between signals, called the sounding rate, must not only be long enough to allow the echoes to return from each signal, but must also be timed to coincide exactly with the speed of a revolving wheel. A typical sounding rate for flasher units may be 24 times a second, while for an LCD unit it may be as slow as once every two seconds. Some of the more common frequencies used with depth sounders are 38, 40, 50, 75, 107, 120, 150, 192, 200, 400, and 455 kHz.

Why different frequencies? The lower frequencies have less power loss and are used for deep soundings, and since the beam angles are apt to be wider, thus more suited to observe or view a larger area beneath.

In short, the transducer is the transmitter and the antenna of your depth finder.

The interference complication comes into play when two or more sonar units of varying frequencies overlap signals. One or more of the units pick up signals that the particular unit is not calibrated to receive and process efficiently.

This interference may take the appearance of a slow moving solid band rotating around the dial on a flasher unit, or in some extreme cases canceling out readings entirely on the flasher.

Interference may come from other source's as well. Sources such as an improperly grounded electric trolling motor, a shared power source, or just some electrical feedback from anything in or near the water. Most often under the ice it is another conflicting signal causing interference.

The ability to change the signal frequency slightly (as with an IR feature) allows for close proximity use of conflicting sonars and the ability to filter out rough electrical interference.

I am no electrical engineer and this explanation may have a flaw or two in it. Yet you may better get the idea behind how and why IR works and why it was needed.

------------------
BACKWATER GUIDING
701-281-2300
[email protected]
><,sUMo,>

[Nicholas_23]

Shanna , I have the colorpoint and it works fine for me ( 2 years). I've been around some vex's and can still figure out how to read mine just fine.
I think you'll be ok.

[Guest]

The color pt is an allright flasher, I wouldn't go as far as saying that it is the greatest. The interfernce that I have see on mine is a flash that travels all the way around the screen. In my opinion though, if you are getting lots of interferance, you are fishing too close to others.

[Turkeyhunter10ga]

Have had my Zercom colorpoint for 3 yrs now and haven't found any problems with interference, and usually my buddy's shack is within 6 ft of mine if not closer when we're on the fish. He uses a Vex and it hasn't interfered with mine at all

[knoppers]

I do not know much about the colorpoint, but my clearwater pro works just fine next to other units, in fact, my zercom would interfere with my buddies vex. with no interferance what so ever to my zercom, I would think the colorpoint would be no different.
I will be upgrading to the marcum lx3 this year. I here nothing but good things about this unit.