Marcum LX-3 IR?

[Guest]

Bigguns1 drop me an e-mail please.
[email protected]

Thanks,

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Ed "Backwater Eddy" Carlson

Backwater Guiding
"ED on the RED"
[email protected]
><,sUMo,>

[CNY Tim]

Holy smokes I can't believe my ears...Last year Vexilar faithful were whining about patent infringements, and MarCum stole there I.R., this and that and now little snippets on performance what's next?
I told you guys competition breeds excitement. I like a little comedy, this is great but next time warn before I start reading with a coffee over the keyboard.@#@!()(&^%$*&$%)) 300 watts 400 watts oh my.

Who cares I know from my testing that this unit is the best in my opinion and more guys are making the switch and friends that have been running FL-8's the last 10 years are interested in seeing this unit this season.

Man I should get paid for this dis shtuff.
Take the time to compare the two. Stay an independent thinker and sit back and watch this competition to be top dog in the flasher business I assure you it will continue for years to come. This is Vexilar's first real test what can you do to top the LX-3. Bring it on I love new stuff.

[SCCO9803]

I think it's great that there is now another credible option to choose from when it comes to flashers. This will only promote future competition, of which the customer will see the benefits of a more improved product.

[Bob Horn]

I had to paid for my Marcum. Just bought it on sunday. I find it real funny that all of the vex people are quick to discredit what the Marcum guys have to say and most of the vex guys have never used a Marcum and most of the Marcum guys have used a vex. The guys that are running the vexs , find someone that has a Marcum and try it for a day then you will see why the Marcum guys are laughing at alot of these comments. If you try it for a day I will bet you own a Marcum next year. Fish On

[This message has been edited by bhorn (edited 12-11-2003).]

[Guest]

Just received an email from tom this morning. He sure does keep his emails short. Heres another point he made

"The Marcum Zoom actually gets bigger as you go deeper…makes a lot of sense doesn’t it. Just when you need resolution, they take it away. That is way they have 1 inch target separation (in twenty feet or less) and we can deliver 1/2” target ID at 60 feet."

Straight from vexilar.

[Note from Rick: Still looking for that good response on the 400-300 watts of transducer power and he throws something else entirely differant out there. Is he avoiding the subject? Is he even credible? If he's with Vexilar something smells fishy. I mean do you really believe him? Is he even real Bigguns?

Anyway we're all still looking for that good response on the 400-300 watts of transducer power.]

[This message has been edited by Rick (edited 12-11-2003).]

[Scott Steil]

Hey Bigguns, remember when you didn't want to upgrade from the FL-8 to the Fl-18 and I kept telling you it was better. Well, you finally did get an FL-18 and you admitted it was much better then the Fl-8.

What I am getting at is the LX-3 is an upgrade from the FL-18 in my eyes. You can stick with what you have, I am not telling you that you should change. Just telling you there is something better now.

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Mille Lacs Guide Service
www.millelacsguideservice.com

[Cyberfish]

I find that hard to believe these claims about the marcum Transducer. I checked one out at gander Mtn last week, and when I turned it on, the first thing I noticed was how much power came out of that ducer, I mean that thing sounded like a bowl of rice krispies when I touched it! Plus the problems that vex users are having with interference when fishing next to them, the evidence seems to be pointing toward them really putting out the power they claim.
One thing I wondered at G Mtn was if the fish will get conditioned to the noise they make in shallow water in a couple of years.

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simul iustus et peccator

><}}}("< ---><!>

[Guest]

I have no intent to switch right now. Maybe next year if the cash comes in.

Hey I get a kick outta this just as much as you guys do. No where in this thread have I defended vexilar or marcum.

[CNY Tim]

Bigguns1 - Saying is one thing and displaying is another. You can throw text back in forth and blah blah this issue to death. If it's true in zoom at .5" like you say why does it still look blobby compared to the LX-3's display? Clear separation and definition in the target area does not relate to numbers to me it's what you see on the screen. ITS WHAT YOU SEE ON THE SCREEN... I saw it all last season. I own both. The LX-3's thin line display qualities are superior. The I.R. on the LX-3 kills the FL-18 plain and simple. Those are facts.
I will say this again until you fish these two units side by side everything is hot air. Seeings believing...
The LX-3 is truly an amazing and exciting unit. Vexilar has history and darn good customer service, they have been great to me and no doubt they will do something about this, they have too.
Just sit back and watch this competition it's definitely worth the price of admission.
Heck I'm waiting to see reports on the Lowrance the literature looks great but I'm looking for someone that can do independent tests and I am taking a year off doing that so someone else is going to have to be the guinea pig. In fairness to Vexilar I will be taking the FL-18 with my Version 2 upgrade out and will report how it performed in zoom mode. Last year I had problems with the zoom jumping up 4' off the bottom. If it's fixed I'll say it's fixed. I like both of these units and fish both. There are things in both I like. Take the time to email both companies and ask what improvements and enhacements you want to see. Let them know what you as the customer want. Both customer services are great. There are tweaks in each unit nothings perfect but the LX-3 is darn close.

[Guest]

Sorry Tim I'll shut up

[CNY Tim]

Bigguns1 - Don't apologize it's good to have passion.
What I want to know if any of yous ice heads are gonna run the LX67C through it's motions and report??? Cmon somebody elses turn to take a whack at it.. I would not know what to compare it too, that could be a toughy but a task none the less. Any takers??

[Dan Wood]

CNY Tim,
Go ahead and send that LX67 my way and I'll be glad to test it out for you... I'm curious to see those in action, seeing as it is their first real attempt at an ice fishing unit...

[Dan DAN the fisherman]

Bigguns1,
1/2" target I.D. is not the same as 1/2" target separation. You might want to read up on that one!
Dan DAN

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[Guest]

Just to clear the air on the ducer issue from earlier, the MarCum units can handle the 1500 watts. The LX1 and LX3 are designed to easily handle the power. They are life tested with 2500 watts of power. The 1500 doesn't max out the ceramic in the unit either.

[Guest]

Dan I don't know why you would say something like that. I think you need to start reading up on the previous posts and realize that I'm relaying info from the vexilar staff. I have not posted any personal findings. Stop pointing your guns at the messenger.

[bigguns, we're all messengers here. You made the choice to be a messenger. It's the honesty of the message and the messenger that counts. If he's a Vexilar staffer, as you say, and you are truly his messenger, then I would be upset about something other than Dan's message.]

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

[CNY Tim]

2500 watts holy smokes maybe they should have equipped the LX-3 with a fire extinguisher I probably would have needed to wear ear protection on that test...

Mr Wood: Nice try

[Bob Horn]

Bigguns 1, That was cool of you to let us know what the vex staff told you but I would post his emails and take the heat off myself if I were you. If the vex staff did say that to one of there customers that`s a shame. I can see one of us(the consumer) getting a fact wrong but when you go to a company for the truth on how something works and are told something far from the truth that not right at all. It`s good to see all the info on the board and if one of us gets something not just quite right on a fact there is aways someone to help clear it up for us. Fish On

[Dan DAN the fisherman]

Sorry Bigguns1,
I thought you were agreeing with this staff member.
Dan

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[SCCO9803]

Since this is such a hot topic, I was wondering what other companies, if any, make flashers for ice fishing?

[Guest]

Vexilar's target resolution compared to target ID.

A 2.65" target resolution means that two targets need to be at least 2.65" apart before they will appear as two distinct targets on the display. Also, given a perfectly flat bottom, a fish or bait must be at least 2.65" off of the bottom before it separates from the bottom.

The FL-18s display can draw thin lines that represent 1/2" of water depth. This spec is similar to pixel count on an LCD depth sounders.

The FL-18 can produce 525 bits (individual lines) around the display. On the 20 foot range (normal mode) each line represents less than 1/2 inch of actual water depth.

When set on either zoom mode, the zoom side display resolution represents less than .3 inches of actual water depth.

Target resolution and display resolution are not related. However, the display resolution should be equal to or greater than your target resolution for a good sonar design.

Target ID is a new type of specification. The Target ID specification is only possible with multi-colored display units.

What Target ID means is that a target only needs to be 1/2" away from another before you can identify that it is a different and unique target.

It may not separate completely, but by using the change in color, you can see that there is something very close to the bottom and that another target is present. This level of performance has always been available in the FL-Series, but only now is Vexilar actually specifying it.

On the topic of transducers. All I will say there is if any transducer is bombarded by more then it is designed to take, the failure rate will go up significantly and life expectancy of the component will decrease exponentially. It's like taking the RPM Governor off a diesel engine and over reeving it constantly. Something will in time let loose and fail because design specifications are exceeded.

So no matter what type, make, brand, color or creed, of the sonar you use, knowing the actual design parameters is critical to understand the true and realistic life expectancy of that particular unit or component.

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Ed "Backwater Eddy" Carlson

Backwater Guiding
"ED on the RED"
[email protected]
><,sUMo,>

[This message has been edited by Backwater Eddy (edited 12-12-2003).]

[Dark Cloud]

bhorn - You said "try it for a day and you will own a marcum next year". No thanks, I have used both and neither is gonna catch me more fish than the other. Your talking about getting a 99.006 or a 99.007 on a test. After that its all marketing and propaganda.
The past reliability and costumer service is more than enough to buy a vex.

Timmy - Dont even think of bringing that Marcum to the Crappie Derby this year. We invented a new game called marcum tether ball. That 30 ft flag pole we fly at the derby, we were thinking of playing tether ball from it but decided tether marcum with baseball bats would be more fun....

[CNY Tim]

Eddy - Nicely done... The specs on the MarCum in regards to target seperation are 2.15" and 1" in zoom as it relates to the 20 ft. depth scale. I dont know what makes the display that much crisper on the MarCum all I know is that it is.
Transducer life is an interesting subject. I had a miss hap last season when I bounced my LX-3 transducer onto the asphault face first. I thought I was screwed. Was pleasantly surpised that it even worked afterword. I know the vexilar ducers can take the abuse too. There both pretty good in that regard.

[Bob Horn]

Dark Cloud, That`s great that you got great customer service but I didn`t. I called and emailed several time and got vague answers and the people I talked to which was Steve and Mitch I thought were short with me and rude.I hear about there great cs but I didn`t get it so I boughta Marcum and got great help from Marcum so far. Not everyone will like everything but I think if they just tried a Marcum more people than not will like them than not. Fish On

[Guest]

Good info ED, I would like to add to the transducer/power theory.

When you hit a transducer with more power than it can handle, the extra power is wasted. It also can cause premature transducer failure. If the power gets too high, you can even get distortion, similar to driving a stereo speaker to hard.

A good example is the high powered Lowrance locator's. There are features built into the unit that are needed to filter out excessive noise. This excessive noise is caused by the high power output. Without these filters, your screen fills with clutter. These filters also do not filter all the noise or do they work 100% of the time.

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

[Dennis Steele]

"The Marcum Zoom actually gets bigger as you go deeper…makes a lot of sense doesn’t it. Just when you need resolution, they take it away. That is way they have 1 inch target separation (in twenty feet or less) and we can deliver 1/2” target ID at 60 feet."

If I understood everything correctly...Target seperation and target ID are two different things.Right?
Then why does the Vex Rep compare these two different things in the email?
I do not believe that the Vex Rep said in his email that the Vex can identify a target better than the Marcum.If I understand correctly he didn't say much at all concerning the comparison of the two different units.
Like many have said.Get out and try them both.I absolutly loved my FL 18.I sold it.I needed the money to get a Marcum!