marcum power? Need help!

[Snag]

I think an FL8 and an underwater camera will outfish both the Marcum and the FL18.

[Dark Cloud]

Marcum rule, they are the best!!! If you dont have one you cant catch fish! Blah, blah, blah... I dont know why I get involved in these topics??? I really dont! Probably just the nature of the cook in me - If you dont stir the pot then "stuff" sticks to the bottom. I could care less who uses what or what they catch...

Guys and gals - "its the person behind the trigger not the gun"!

Timmy - You better get the extra long linemans mask. In HS I perfected a move called the forearm shivver/throat punch. First snap of the ball you do that to the guy whos gonna try and block you all game and hes yours. When done right it looks like an accident. Never flagged once for it.

[Bob Horn]

BriBay, I had this same question back in november. I had a fl-8 dual beam and wanted to upgrade. I was a vex guy and changing companies scared me @%itless. I called both companies and asked questions on this forum. I bought a marcum ,IT WAS THE BEST DECISION I COULD HAVE MADE!!! I fished with a friend of mine last week and he has a fl-18, I started laughing inside when I seen his screen. What a difference in the two screens, the marcum is much more crisp and defined. One thing you have to remember is some of the people that are posting are guides and have a reputation to uphold and I don`t think they are going to give that up for any company. Good luck on your decision. Fish On

[This message has been edited by bhorn (edited 02-12-2004).]

[dec]

bribay, pls read my post in this thread (marcum's response to you). that should answer your questions. if not ask some more. the answers are all fact that can be backed up with scientific data and measurments, not hype. the real job of any depth finder is to display the best representation of whats down there. the marcum wins in this catagory hands down.

[Guest]

bribay your answer I think was posted by dec on 2-11 at 9:40pm it read as follows:

i would'nt say an answer that may not be accurate is better than an answer that is honest. one thing to remember about vexliar, they have no on staff engineers that i know of, their products are designed in japan with the designers having little or no experience in fishing (using the sonar unit in fishing situation's gives the designer great feedback). vexliar's response appears to be full of half truths.
1. yes the vexliar has 400watts compared to marcums 1500watts.

2. no the vexliar reciever is not more sensitive than marcums.

3. yes the marcum works as good in shallow water as it does in deep water. its not a function of power but rather a function of a well designed reciever.

4. yes marcums reciever has less distortion than vexliars. yes this can easily be measured.

5. yes marcums reciever design costs many times more than vexliars.

6.yes marcums transducer can handle 1500watts. hundreds of transducers have been life tested well over ten thousand hours at 2500watts (no failures).

7. yes vexliar dosent know transducers, they are not sonar engineers.

8. marcums transducer design is much more eficient than vexliars, this can be measured.

9.no 1500watts is "not" considered high power(except by veliar), virtualy every other sonar out there has more power. look at all the lowrance units that have 4000watts.

10. no marcum didnt copy the vexliars ir. marcum has a better way, which in the field can be verifyied (marcums ir works better than vexliars). marcum has applied for a patent on its ir.

i'm not trying to slam vexliar, just trying to correct the inaccuracy of their reply. this is my opinion, and is based on over 20 years of sonar design and extensive knowledge of both units.

dec knows his stuff he has twenty years experience with sonar. Now on with my reply...

As for formulating your choice in sonar just read the replys in this thread and form your opinion. I've used the LX3 for 3 years and without a doubt it is the best tool an ice fisherman has period. The argument to me is not Ford vs Chevy it's Ford vs Cadillac. Like all of you I once used a !@#ilar and it is a good unit but it is not as versitile and does not mark fish in more situations than the LX3 and it's not designed to work like the lx3. Why do they need a supression cable? Hit this link to learn about who is Marcum http://www.marcum.com/story/story_main.aspx. Get a fl18 and you'll get to work.... get the LX3 and you're driving a Cadillac. The LX3 makes it easier and more comfortable to get there. Marcum employees who answer the phone ARE SERIOUS ANGLERS who work for MarCum and darn proud of it!

[BriBay]

Sorry guys, I did not mean that my questions was not answered by you guys (your response has been more than I expected). My statement of not receiving an answer is regarding the fact that I emailed Marcum Customer Service Directly over a week ago and there only response directly to me was "I don't know but I'll get engineering to email you." Well, so far I have not received an email from them directly.

dec, I appreciate your informative reply. That was enough in itself, and because of it I am leaning towards the LX-3. I just would like to know that if I buy a Marcum and have a question or a problem, that they will get back to me sooner than, well so far, never.

[picksbigwagon]

I used to fish with an Tom Mann Humminbird 60 up until this year. We took a cold trip up to Duluth and I bought a LX-1. Now before anyone says it, I didn't want to spend the extra money on a 3 since I had also bought a clam 6800. All I can say is that the bottom seperation helped me actually catch fish that trip. Now we didn't slay them, but my eyes didn't hurt like they did the time I rented a FL8 on Mille two years ago... In fact, the guys thought I was nuts buying a new depth finder until they saw the fish come up off the bottom and watched reel them in. My question would be, Marcum says that their units will run for 22 hours on full charge, is that true or false..........

Now, since my wife and I are buying a new house, I guess my ice fishing will need to be stored away until next year. and no it is not for sale

[Guest]

bribay my appologies I thought we answered you. Rest assured we strive for complete answers and complete customer satisfaction. Should you choose the LX3 and need support you'll get it and we do respond fast. If you need any further clarification please email us at [email protected].

[Dennis Steele]

jrsue58
I cannot tell you about using the Marcum or the Fl18 in the boat.I haven't used either one.I have always used LCR's on the boat.I have used units by almost all the major manufacturers.I am running a Garmin on one of my boats and a Vex Edge II on my River Pro.Yes... Dark Cloud... a Vex I like that Edge very much,its my favorite.

------------------
Minnesota River Guided Fishing
www.mnriverguidedfishing.com
[email protected]
NPAA #863

[Northlander]

I just went from a Vexilar to a LX-3. I like both units. The FL-18 is nice. But now that I have used the LX-3 for several trips and getting used to their colors I love it. Much better botttom seperation and I can zoom into any 5 or 10' zone in the water colomn. That is nice.
One thing I will say is if you are older or have bad eyes I would get a Marcum. Especially if you fish a lot of bottom hugging fish like walleye. The lines are much crisper and as I said earlier the bottom read gives you better seperation.
Also I dont know how they do it but there IR is much better. When I had 2 Vex at my sides they were no problem for me but they were for eachother.

[ghotierman]

From a retailers perspective:

I like selling the Marcum LX-3 as value added packaging. you can argue the engineering and function forever. Both units are fine flasers. Bottom line...for the same price as the FL-18, the LX-3 gives you a digital on board charge indicator/recharger and a very functional sharply designed snow pac cover. The vex cover is and additional $34-39. the lx3 is just a more attractive package...best value.

my two cents...

[andy j]

I agree Dark Cloud, The differences between the 2 are very small. They are both quality products and both will perform the way you want them to. I would research the 2's warranty and return policy, this should be your diciding factor, I think Vexilar is probably more proven, they have been around longer, older units seem to just keep going, resale value is great for vexilars because of the vexilar name, Just take a look on hsolist. Just thought of something, I work retail in fishing and have had some costumers say that the marcums power causes a lot of interference with other units. I have nothing against marcum but I have had no problems with vexilar, not to make this harder, but the lowrance ice machine is a great unit, so much easier to look at, no bug eyes, great for open water also.

[andy j]

Good point ghotierman.

[CNY Tim]

On both the FL-18 and the LX-3 when you put the unit in zoom the screen splits thus giving the FL-18 6' bottom zoom and on the LX-3 you have 5' or 10' zoom window that' s adjustable. Both zooms are displayed on the left hand side of your screen. On the right side of both units you have the entire water column from top to bottom.
Most of the time I see most fish in zoom mode but on occasion I'll catch a yellow flicker on the right side outside of my zoom parameters. I don't miss many if any while fishing with zoom. Last season when I caught my first white fish I was in 27' of water catching perch tight to the bottom when all of a sudden I saw a big blip on the right side of my screen around 15' I cranked my jig up to it an whammo a nice 22" white fish. There's a few more examples fishing bluegills during the witching hour when I ran into some high flying crappies maybe it's an eye training thing I don't know but you'd be hard pressed to find an ice angler with eyes worse than mine.
Regardless what unit you buy take the time to learn it and the best way to learn is by putting time in fishing.
I own both and I have used both my choice between the two flashers is the LX-3. Customer service on either unit is a non issue there both great.
The two things that I like about the LX-3 over the FL-18 is it's ability to display targets crisply and the larger zoom window.
Other than that you can't go wrong with either unit. Good luck fishing

[Surface Tension]

Dark Cloud, So what your saying you don't need the added features the MarCum has over the Vex and we shouldn't either? How about Vex's problem with interference, should we ignore that also? One question on shallow water using a Vex. How far apart is your jig away from a fish when they both show up as a 1/4" hot gob? What about when your gain is set to 0 and tops of weeds show up as red(bottom).
A much better IR isn't "hype"
Crisp detail isn't "hype"
Variable zoom isn't "hype"
Digital Charging System isn't "hype"
Competitively priced to the FL18 isn't "hype"
Two Year Warranty isn't "hype"

[Duffman]

Just wondering if youse Fishing Pro Staffers would be singing the same song if Vex was a sponser of this site?????

[CNY Tim]

22 hours maybe under optimum conditions. To guarantee I had no issue with having the power needed to do a two dayer without having to recharge I told you guys about getting the 9 amp Helios at batteries.com
I run a sonar night light so I need more power. The 7 amp is fine but the 9 amp is better and where are you gonna go for $18.99. Cheap piece of mind if you ask me.
It's the same size as the battery that came with your MarCums and drops nicely right into the battery well.

[rockhardinmn]

Time for me to throw a monkey wrench it this discussion . i have the "Lincoln " of depth finders.. i also still have the "Cadiliac ".. so which is which? Lincoln is the Marcum.. the Caddie a Hondex fl8.. see i perfer to drive Fords to start with but drive a scrub( gm) product now .. why cause they are cheaper to maintain and build old fords ya just need to keep oil in them(Battery charged in this case ) and the run forever , hope the Marcum does cause i do love it , the Zoom has helped me in getting a lot more of those suspended fish . still have the old Caddie that i borrow to close friends or those fishing with me in a different house, it is now my kids unit mostly.
Realy now people ,, bottom line is this the Fl 8 and the Fl 18 WERE king of the hill.. All Marcum did was Kick the king off the hill at this time .real QUestion to me is this ,, When will Vex get a unit out to compete with the Lx3?Maybe they wont ever , or cant? who knows ,, but i invested in the Marcum and am extremely happy with it .

[This message has been edited by rockhardinmn (edited 02-13-2004).]

[fiskyknut]

Well I guess I'm using the Edsel of the sonar world then, my 12 year old Zercom still works most excellent for me. I do plan on getting something new, maybe thru summer when the deals on ice gear pop up here and there.

Fisky

[Guest]

Ok ive held it in long enough. Sitting in one spot with even the old color point (marcum's old flasher) at 600watts of power i would spook fish in 10 foot or less. Now with 1500 watts your going to spook them even faster. Yes I have used one and yes it did spook fish. After I would shut it down for 10 to 15 minutes the fish would come back and actually bite then turn the unit on and again they leave after a minute or two.

[Note from Rick: livebait, your facts are wrong. The Color Point is not and never was an old marcum. Those units are as differant as Vex and Color Point are. Not an accurate comparison at all]

[This message has been edited by Rick (edited 02-13-2004).]

[fiskyknut]

I don't by that one bit. My old Zercom throws 1000 watts and it does'nt spook fish. That is simply marketing hype you hear from 2 manufacturers.

Real big differance between 600 and 400 watts? No.

Fisky

[JWB475]

Isn't the Marcum power output based on where the gain is set.

The higher the gain the more power, the lower the gain the less power.

So if you are fishing shallow, and your gain only needs to be set at 1 or so to see your lure, you aren't throwing 1500 watts down the hole?

I thought that this is what I read previously..

Anybody know?

I have caught a number of fish in 10-15 feet of water and have never observed my marcum spooking fish...

[rockhardinmn]

be it the pro guys or guys like me new lurwe comes out and if we like it we buy and use it . if it catches fish we continue to use it , of course it becomes the new hot bait . same goes for depth finders and the discussions thats going on now , the pro guys may or may not have gotten whatever it is 1st or at a reduced cost. some do some dont simple as that .. for me the hondex i had worked just fine . its the new features that i liked the most and felt it was time to upgrade is all. it never had even the IR feature on it . so i went with what I FELT was Best in my opinion. if there was 1 magic thing to fish with the sport would be renamed catching, and everyone and their brother would be doing it .. Ps .. and if they get a kick back for promoting the product so be it

[This message has been edited by rockhardinmn (edited 02-13-2004).]

[Dan Wood]

Higher power has some advantages from everything I've seen. At least I can fish next to a Vex. without any issues. I was fishing next to a Vex. this past weekend. The Vex. couldn't tune out the MarCum, but I was able to tune out the Vex. fairly well.

As for spooking fish. 200 KHz can't be heard or felt by fish or humans, so I wouldn't be concerned.

[fiskyknut]

Gee Duffman, we better look at all the Rock 'n reel posts in the same lite too then.

I sure like mine.

Fisky