how are the new humminbirds working

[Eddie@Humminbird]

That port is non-usable for the consumer. It is for factory testing only.

[Eddie@Humminbird]

What exactly are you talking about on the "for color depth fish"?

Are you talking about the transducer etc?

I just looked at a couple of units and the connections are super tight.

[Dmo]

Eddie:

Thanks much for the string of replies and info.

I purchased an ICE 55 just as they were released, and love it ..

My concern is just how loud this thing is. Mine sort of purrrrs , and has some very small vibration in the head. Is this the norm? .. all this talk of fiber-optics and stuff has got me a bit confused.

d-mo

[Eddie@Humminbird]

d-mo, your 55 should not be extremely noisy. If you think it is abnormally loud, I would suggest you call our customer service people at 800-633-1468 and let them know about the noise. They will take care of you asap.

Most flashers I have been around flashers for some time i.e. the Humminbird super 60, Eagle flasher etc. and they all have some noise because of the spinning disc and also have that little humming or purring sound which is normal. I hear stories from some of the old timers that said Tom Mann named our units Humminbirds because of the humm the flashers make.

[Huey]

I think the 35, 45, and 55 all have the same transducer. They all are dual frequency.

I have the Ice35 and like it.

[riverrat56]

I got a chance to run an Ice-55 yesterday so I thought I'd post my thoughts on it:

(keep in mind I normally run an LX-3 and am very fond of it...)

2 things that I really liked were the large display and the 6 color mode. The display was very easy to read outside and also was very bright, although there was some things I didn't like about it (more on that latter) It was nice to have a flat screen so I could see it at all angles as well. The 6 colors were also very helpful in that they were easier to pick up changes in bottom content and fish location relative to the transducer. Another thing that caught my attention was the Auto Depth mode, while I was fishing a shallow lake and never came close to 20', if you were on a sharp break it would be nice. Other nice things are the adjusting depth numbers when in zoom mode, the dial to change depth in zoom (vs pushing a buttom numerous times) and the adjustable cone angle was nice to have when in the house and 4 total lines down for two guys and not an option on the LX-3.

Some things I didn't like was the support cable system, I know it's got something to do with patents but it is just way to cumbersom and the transducer will hang at an angle still without the float or the support cable on due to the bracket set up. Another thing is that although the screen is nice and large and the colors very crisp, there is alot of screen flicker compared to my LX-3, it gave me a headache to look at for a long time, very similar to the OLD fl-8's. On that same topic I felt the screen responded slower than my LX-3 did, this was proved when I put both depthfinders on the same jig, the Ice-55 did not read as fast and there was some carry over when dropping a jig and stopping it quickly it would flash a mark lower than it ever went, same when snapping the jig quickly up. Target seperation was also lacking IMO, I was using a small ice jig and with the gain set at 3 (lowered to 1 and 2 as well but lost signal too often) it was taking up almost 6" of depth on the screen, way more than the LX-3 showed with the same jig.

Some things I didn't like but only because of the change from my normal flasher were; How the zoom works, I am used to 2 split screens, the Ice-55 shows 1 screen with one part zoomed in and 1 part shrunk, but still shows the whole water column. I also thought that the soft pack could use some new designing, it takes a bit longer to get open or closed than the Marcum's do, you need to undo 2 zippers and then fold over the cover 3 times and velcro it to the top. Also there is alot more buttons/knobs and I was a bit confused but with a little more time with the unit it wouldn't be an issue.

My final verdict, it's a good solid unit and will help you catch fish, thats forsure. If you have never owned another flasher you wouldn't have picked up on some things I did and it wouldn't be an issue as they are not huge differnces, none of the differnces would have let me catch a fish with my Lx-3 that I couldn't with the Ice-55 or vice versa.

Keep in mind this is comparing the top of line Hummingbird to the mid-level Marcum, if you want the best flasher money can buy, get an LX-5....

[harvey lee]

Nick, I took the support cable off and all works just fine. Mine also plugs in hard but at least it does not fall out. if it was a very loose fit, it would not stay in place.

I have used the 35 and it seemed to perform very well for me. I'm now going to test run the 55 in a few weeks and see how well this unit works.

Lets try to keep in mind that with any new product, there may need to be some user issues to be resolved. These units to me look to be very nice with some nice features as well.

I do believe that in a few years, one will see birds all over the ice.

[riverrat56]

I do think they are a great unit, and for a first year of being used by the masses they have had very few complaints and are working prety well. I was being pretty nit picky in my critique of it. I didn't want to mess around with the support cable system too much as it was a friends flasher that I borrowed.

[Ed Carlson]

Nick, I took the support cable off and all works just fine. Mine also plugs in hard but at least it does not fall out. if it was a very loose fit, it would not stay in place.

Yup-Yup...Best move you can make on them.

The support cable is just a problem looking for a place to happen. It misdirects the cone angle, attracts ice formation, basically a pain in the keister, not needed at all.

Good call Harvey!

If the provided stop still gives you complications, pick up a 2-pack of the Vex rubber stops, and replace it with one...that will do it...can't loose it either as it threads on the ducer cable. You can keep the second as a spare stop for a underwater camera cable on a tri-pod or Marcum hole cover cable support..they work well for them too. The rubber stopper on top of the tri-pods are known to sink like a rock..Eh.

[hanson]

Hey guys, could someone go into more depth on the zoom feature, exactly what it does/what you'll see? Has anyone compared it to an FL-18 or FL-20?

As far as the function of the zoom compared to an FL-18, its the same. No wait, its better, its adjustable within the water column similar to a Marcum. You are still going to see the same thing on either unit however.

We were fishing 30' of water and I had the Ice 55 zoomed to the bottom and my solid red bottom line would get a quivering blue line (weak signal) on top of it. That meant a fish was at the edge of the cone. As I'd continue to jig, the line would get a bit bigger and return a stronger signal. My dad was using his FL-18 in the next hole and I had my Marcum LX-3 in my other hole just so I could watch and see how the different units displayed the info. They tell you the same thing.

The Zoom on the Ice 55 does display differently and that took the most getting used to as I didn't read the instruction manual before using the unit. I wanted to see how intuitive the buttons and functions were and I figured it out pretty easily, it just took 5 minutes to understand what the zoom was showing me.

Both Marcum & Vex split the screen. Left side of the screen shows the Zoom Window (Marcum is adjsustable zoom, Vex is the bottom). The bottom of the zoom window is at the bottom of the flasher and the depth obviously decreases as you move up the left side of the flasher. The right side shows the entire water column not zoomed.

This is where the Humminbird is different. The Zoom displays as a combination of these 2 views (zoom & normal) with 2 fine blue lines that appear on the flasher to separate the different views. The bottom always stays in the same place as in normal mode. I was in 30' of water in normal mode, switch to zoom and the 30' bottom return stays in the same spot. What the flasher does is adjusts the digital depth numbers to show what 5' or in my case 10' section of the water column is zoomed. You can then adjust this window from the top of the water column down to the bottom of the water column. I'll try and get some photos or images up later to maybe explain this a little better. Its pretty obvious how it works when you see it but it is different than what we are used to.

[harvey lee]

Thanks for the report Chris. I have found that the 35 is also a pretty good unit.

[aa8shot]

I just talked to customer service at Humminbird, and they are going to expedite a new unit to me. So hopefully I'll get it tomorrow.

[harvey lee]

Humminbirds CS seems to be top notch.

[FUZZ]

I have just bought a Humminbird Ice-55 and got to use it last Saturday night. I must say this thing is pretty cool and has lots of options, it was the focus and the class of the shack. I really do like the unit, the quality and design is very good.

[CJH]

I used my ice 55 for the first time this past weekend and was real happy. I had removed the support cable before I went out, so I didn't have to monkey around with the transducer not leveling properly or anything.

In about 15 ft of water, I was able to pick up a gill pill jig (which is tiny) with euro larvae on it with the gain below 10 (out of 25). I was pretty impressed. At the end of the night, we moved into a small perm with 3 different sonar's going: my bird, an x67 and an LX5. The only person that had trouble with interference was the LX5, and he was pretty much able to tune it out enough, that I didn't even adjust mine. We ended up catching some nice crappies and were out most of the afternoon into evening, despite the bad weather. Overall a good first outing. I will report back if I run into any issues.

Good Fishin!

CJH

[PSourasinth]

I purchased my 45 about 3 weeks ago and have used it about a half a dozen times. I was very pleased on how easy it was to operate and the digital display was very nice. I will never leave home without it. I ask myself at times why I waited so long to get one. I also have the Marcum VX-1, but prefer the 45.

[bigbad401]

I have had my ICE-35 for about a month now and I have fished with it 4-5 times. I like it a lot. For me, it has been a great improvement over the FL-8 that I used to own. The screen is easier to read and the zoom feature is awesome. No regrets about buying it.

[BassMan25]

Used my Humminbird-55 for the first time last night. My friend had his FL-8 with him and he was marveling all night at how nice my Humminbird unit was. He was very impressed with it. There was also no interference between the two, which was nice. I have heard and been reading that some people have been having problems with some of them, but so far(knock on wood) mine has been flawless. I have also heard that Humminbird has been pretty good about replacing units that have problems. I love mine.

Regarding the extra cable for the transducer: when I purchased mine, the salesman indicated to me that it was just an addition to the design so they could avoid patent infringement violations. He told me to basically disregard it and never use it. So I haven't and the transducer has been working great. I set the length of the cable so that the transducer is at the bottom of the ice. I'm sure that's what everyone does, but I just thought I would throw that in there.

[montifishin]

We have a bait store in Monticello, MN and we have been open since Oct 1st. We have sold 3 of the new humming bird Ice-45's and the customers love'm. I have not had time to try one out yet.(we have three stores and time with the kids has disappeared). Have not heard any bad feedback yet, just positive feedback. Good luck on your choice of flasher.

[evans]

hi eddie yes the new humminbirds are awsome i have a 45 and a 55 all in all i love these machines

[bigbad401]

Granted my ICE-35 doesn't have the LCD screen, but I have had not one problem with my Humminbird. A friend has the ICE-45 and also has had no problems. He has been out at least 2 dozen times with his 45. With my first hand experience I would recommend the Humminbird to anyone looking for a new flasher.

[CJH]

You can run them in the same shack, its called interference rejection. You would have that problem if you ran any two of the same brand. That's not a "problem", its operator error.

No problems with my Ice 55, pretty sweet. People need to read the directions before they start complaining that something doesn't work right. I am sure there have been some mechanical issues, but there are on Vex's and Marcum's as well. No machine has a 100% run rate. How they address the problem is just as important as the issue itself.

[walleyematt]

ice 45 works great me and my buddy also has a 45 fish side by side with litte to no interference

[aanderud]

I know for a fact that the vexilars are susceptible to interference when you get 2 of them in the same portable. Now, tweaking the I.R. on one unit at a time, you can find settings that make it very fishable. But, there is some interference nonetheless, at least with an FL-8 and an FL-18 together.

[Walleye Guy]

We run two FL8's, an FL18, an FL20 and a Marcum LX5 together in a 8 x 12 permanent and can eliminate virtually all the interference between the units. The screens are way past "fishable". We usually can get 4 of the 5 free of interference by pushing a couple IR buttons one at a time. The fifth one will have a very small amount of interference.