Marcum LX-3 IR?

[Bob Horn]

Thanks Rick. I think I am going to make the switch to Marcum. Then next year buy the dual beam transducer. Fish On

[Guest]

Good info Ed. Reminds me of a time last winter fishing for big gills in 8 feet of water. I had my FL-18 set on regular mode and was placing my transducer down several holes and noticed fish targets that would spook off as soon as that signal would start making noise. I needed to use the unit on the LP mode. Even 400 watts of output was spooking these big bulls. I really dont think I could have caught those fish without it. And a flasher was a must have to work these shy biters.

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Mille Lacs Guide Service
320-293-3287
www.millelacsguideservice.com

[This message has been edited by Derek Johnston (edited 12-06-2003).]

[Surface Tension]

I wouldn't be to concerned about a transducer spooking fish. I was fishing lake trout and lost signal from my sounder.
Turns out a lake trout had his mouth around my transducer while it was pumping out 3000 watts.
I'm from the western end of lake Superior. The DNR uses electrified probes as a barrier in the Superiors tributary's to control lamprey migrations. These are designed to stop lamprey form migrating upstream but fish are unaffected by the current and does not impede fish migration.
Besides that I cant tell you how many times I've parked on a school of crappies with 3000 watts beating down on them. Come to any conclusion you want but I've never found that a sounder spooked fish.
We can play a watts game but the Navy's active sonar ping will break your ear drums with all its power. There is no Naval low power, low watt sonar. Its a Passive Sonar that dose not have any ping. All it does is listen.

The MarCum 20 degree transducer with 1500 watts will out perform the Vex 19 degree transducer in deep water situations.
You'll find the Vex has to depend on the 9 degree transducer to be usable in deeper water situations because of its low watts, thats the reason for the 9 degree transducer folks. Also the dead spot in a transducers cone is not quite as Vex would have you believe. First off cone angles are not a cone shape but rather a bell shape. Further more the the dead zones power from the outer edge of the cones angle is far less in watts then peak wattage. With any sonar it takes experience to interpret these readings,doesn't matter what brand you have.
Lets talk about plankton during the witching hour that completely wacks a Vex. Whats the witching hour? Thats the time we all stick around for from sunset on. When that plankton rises the the Vex is useless.
Its the low watt high sensitive receiver that doesn't not work under these conditions.
Sure you say turn the gain down till the clutter goes away. Hey there goes my jig too. No use for that poor performance when I need it most.

[Guest]

ST. Genetron has proven transducer noise does spook fish. You say that a Vex 9 degree cone is needed for deep water? Can you explain how a Genetron can mark a walleye laying in mud in 30 feet of water with only 15 watts?

And how did your LX3 work when you tried it during the "witching hour" Wouldn't more watts show more plankton? I mean more watts are better for marking fish right? Then if thats the case you would think more plankton would show up on the screen? And since the gain control does nothing to control the watt output, I would think your going to see those plankton regardless of where its set at with 1500 watts?. I can turn the gain down on the FL-18 and use the LP mode and it works just fine, you dont get rid of it all but it helps.

Plankton can be a problem at times. I have never had a problem were it was so bad that I couldn't still see my jig. Using jigs that hold more lead like the Fatboy will solve this.

The reasoning behind the 9 degree cone is to allow anglers to fish for fish underneath them meaning with a 19 or 20 degree cone as soon as the fish enters the cone which could be 10 feet away, your thinking its directly under you. With the 9 degree you get better target separation. Not all anglers choose this option, but its certainly not there because the 19 cant penetrate deep water.

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Mille Lacs Guide Service
320-293-3287
www.millelacsguideservice.com

[This message has been edited by Derek Johnston (edited 12-06-2003).]

[Rick]

Derek,
You said:
The reasoning behind the 9 degree cone is to allow anglers to fish for fish underneath them meaning with a 19 or 20 degree cone as soon as the fish enters the cone which could be 10 feet away, your thinking its directly under you.

No offense Derek, but that is not good reasoning. I can certainly tell when a fish first enters my transducer cone (MarCum=Yellow Vex=Green) and when it is directly beneath me (RED-RED-RED and even with my lure/bait] and I can do it with whichever of the 4 transducer cone angles you're talking about.

I believe you could do it too Derek? If you set your gain properly. Most anglers can. Wouldn't you agree?

Admit it Derek, you just wish you had Scott's MarCum to play with

[Guest]

Exactly! With a 20 degree cone those targets can begin to appear 10 feet away from your bait in 30 feet of water. With the 9 degree they begin to appear within 4 feet of your bait. So you can see how you can certainly wear out your batteries on your buzz sticks with such a wide beam. Thats why the dual beam 9/19 is such a good tool.

I'm not allow to play with Scott's toys.

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Mille Lacs Guide Service
320-293-3287
www.millelacsguideservice.com

[Rick]

Derek,
with all the dual beams 20 degree beams 12 degree beams can you say:

Beam Me Up Scotty

Exactly

[Guest]

LMAO Good One!

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Mille Lacs Guide Service
320-293-3287
www.millelacsguideservice.com

[opsirc]

ok I have a ? that I had not seen here; can you run both the 20 and 9 degree tranducers at the same time on the vex, or is it only one at a time. I have a hummingbird lcd that allows me to run both at the same time.

O

[Surface Tension]

Derek Santa hasn't come with my MarCum yet. One reason I like the wider beam is because you can see what depth the fish are on the outside of your cone angle before they react to your jig. Say your fishing crappies suspended over 65 feet of water which I often do.
If I'm fishing to high in the water column I'll see the crappies rise to my bait. If your using the 9 degree your missing vertical fish movement before they get to your cone angle.

[Rick]

You can only run 1 at a time on the vex.

You must be running 2 transducers to run both at the same time.

[Guest]

opsirc. No they don't work at the same time like the open water graph Vexilar Edge.

ST. I see your point. Your fishing uncommon scenarios that will work for you and others with the same situation.

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Mille Lacs Guide Service
320-293-3287
www.millelacsguideservice.com

[Bob Horn]

I would like to thank everyone who has responded to this post. I am now the proud new owner of a Marcum LX-3. Goodbye vexilar you treated me well for a couple of years now it is time to upgrade. I got a great deal 10% off (credit card offer). Thanks once again. Fish On

[Paul Waldowski]

bhorn,

Congrats!!!! You are gonna love that thing

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Paul
[email protected]
Marcum
Otter Outdoors

[Dan Wood]

bhorn,
You will be very happy with that unit. Now the fun begins in seeing all of those advanced features in action!

[CNY Tim]

bhorn - I would not say good bye to any one just yet. I strongly feel that these two companies will be competing with each other for years to come. The LX-3 may be on top technically for the moment but I would not write off Vexilar just yet. The next Vexilar that you see will have more power I assure you. If they wish to stay in the hunt to keep loyal users happy and to attract new business they will stop at nothing and will shoot for a thinner line display. Neither one of these companies will stand pat they will continue to strive to take over the entire market share. At least I would if I was running to be the top dog 3 color flasher. Stay tuned things will get interesting and better for ice fisherman. The LX-3 is something special and I am a proud owner. My FL-18 is also an extension of my FL-8 and that was and continues to be the work horse for all ice fisherman. The same passion that delivered the FL-8 will be doubly impressive when you see the FL-28. Both of these companies have great customer service and they were right on with the 2 yr. warranties. Believe me when I tell you this is just the beginning. Nope I would not say good bye at all it is an awakening. Enjoy your LX-3 you will absolutely love it...

[Guest]

CNY TIM. Vexilar has no intentions on misleading their customers into thinking more watts and a useless zoom will better sell their units. Sorry bud.

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Mille Lacs Guide Service
320-293-3287
www.millelacsguideservice.com

[This message has been edited by Rick (edited 12-07-2003).]

[Dan Wood]

No doubt this will be an on-going battle in technology. You may even start to see Lowrance become more serious about their ice line. Hopefully MarCum will do what it takes to make sure you remain a satisfied and returning customer in the future as things progress.

[Cyberfish]

I thought about selling my fl-18 and gettin' the lx-3 after reading all the positive reports on this forum. What made me decide not to though was hearing all the reports of the Marcums messing up the vexilars when in close proximity. All my friends and also GEM fishing club are equipped with vexilars and are not going to convert, so if I got the LX-3, I would have to fish alone!!!

Cyb

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simul iustus et peccator

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[Dan Wood]

Cyberfish,
Just give it a bit of time. More and more people are making the switch over to MarCum. Eventually Vexilar will do some things to improve their interference rejection to help on this as well.

[CNY Tim]

Yeah well I have a friend at In-Fisherman that assured me that the 9/19 deg. switch box on the FL-8 was not perfect at all and only worked 25% of the time. According to him the 9 deg. was the only ducer that worked consistently on his FL-8. Maybe that's why you hype the 9 deg. so much is that the only one that works?

I can guarantee the next evolution from Vexilar will be more power. MarCum is picking up speed and Vexilar sales are slipping. The MarCum LX-3 has created a panic and all I can say is, It's about time. I'll stick with MarCum's American Military Engineering anytime not Japanese, do they even ice fish over there?

[Toad]

Not gonna do some drawn out, overly technical explanantion, because frankly, super high-tech doesn't interest me when it comes to fishing; rather, simple to understand, obvious product features that help me catch more fish do. In over twenty years of icefishing, I've run at least eight different sonar units, beginning with an old Humminbird Super Sixty, moving to the original Hondex and Micronar FL-8 units (prior to the arrival of Vexilar), then to liquid crystal graphs for a time, then back to flashers such as Zercom's Clearwater Classic and again back to the Vexilar FL-8 & 18.

This year, I've just begun using the Marcum LX-3. And to do what I consider to be a fair comparison, I've done four trips now where both either an FL-18 or FL-8 ran simultaneous to the LX-3. Without question-- and both my fishing companions concurred-- the LX-3 offered a sharper, crisper display (that is, lure readout & bottom definition) and better noise reduction (the LX-3 more effectively tuned out the noise from the Vexilars than vice versa.) As to target separation (one technical concept that I actually understand ), the LX-3 seemed to hold a slight edge over the FL-8, but was virutally identical to the FL-18. Also, the "bottom lock" or zoom feature on both the LX-3 and the FL-18 proved helpful in a few situations, though the walleyes that hit ended up being small fish.

Finally, a couple other considerations that I really like (so far) about the Marcum LX-3. One, the carrying case design-- love the handle and velcro flaps. Makes toting and storing the unit really nice. Also, the digital battery indication monitor on the LX-3 is nice-- as is the charging system-- but I do wonder how much battery power is drained off for this device, which might otherwise allow you to fish that vital extra hour during a really long day on the ice.

The only other factor I wonder about on the LX-3 is the low frequency vibration emanated by the transducer (the transducer really rattles when placed on top of a hard, flat surface, like the ice.) The reason this makes me nervous is that I believe such "loud" transducers can, and often do spook fish-- even in 20 and 30 feet of water. Call me crazy if you want-- as I said, I'm far from a technocrat-- but maybe someone with more technical expertise can explain the difference in transducer "noise."

So far, I love Marcum's LX-3-- I think any ice angler will love the unit. It's helped me put walleyes on the ice at this early point in the season-- fish I believe I could have missed with other units. And that's good enough for me.

-a friend called Toad

[This message has been edited by Toad (edited 12-07-2003).]

[CNY Tim]

I performed the target separation test with split shots separated on a single line with .5", 1", 1.5", 2" and 3". Each shot size I had to progress in size from the top to the bottom. Both units performed identically "that was the Vexilar FL-18 12deg. ducer and the MarCum LX-3 20 deg ducer" marking each object, but was easily displayed crisper on the LX-3 both in zoom and off zoom. I should have probably posted it on last years thread but the test was identical as far as both units were concerned in regards to marking the shot.

Toad - I ran the LX-3 all last season and I fished it from 5 a.m. to 5 to 8 p.m. on a long day trip and never had a problem with not having enough power I also put more of a load on it cause I ran a dome light early in the a.m. and after the sun went down and had plenty of power. Most times I would put the LX-3 on the front passenger floor on the way home in my van and by the time the unit recovered from load everytime I would take it out of the van when I arrived at home it would read 40% on the DCS

[This message has been edited by Rick (edited 12-08-2003).]

[Bob Horn]

I don`t want to mislead anyone about my comment about saying goodbye to vexilar. I just sold my vex I am no longer a vex owner, so I was just saying goodbye to my Fl-8 dual beam and welcoming in the new(LX-3). Who knows in a couple of years I will own a vex again but for now the marcum I think will work best for me. Fish On

[Dark Cloud]

Derek Johnston - HipHipHorray on the useless adjustable zoom and your dead right that more watts(power) dosent equal better. If the power isnt being harnnesed, it is overkill. If they came out with a unit that produced 1.21 jiggawatts of power people would jump on it....

Timmy - I do believe that anyone that would put splitshots on a line at .5 increments and test units needs a hole drilled in thier head to relieve the pressure. Im heading up the river i'll give you a shout when I get back....