Quinte Fishing

Hey guys,

I'm looking to buy a cheep entry level flasher, but I can't tell which one to buy. I see everyone here talking up the Vex, but I've also heard of the "show down", and the "MarCum". Just wondering which is the best and why? Also what is a reasonable price to spend on an entry level flasher?

Thanks.

Dan

You might have a hard time finding a Marcum right now. The company sold all that they made for this winter. A real good entry level unit would be the Marcum VX-1. It has most of the features of a Vexilar FL-18, but at a lot lower cost. It even has the zoom feature. They're around U.S. $250. I don't know what stores in Canada that have them, but I saw a site in the U.S. had them listed.

Well I have a vex and I love it, the Marcums I considered but without any customer support around here I went with the Vex. The Showdown is a little slower I have heard and seen with the guys that were using one when we were out on the water. Even with it on Ice Mode where it uses a pre heater for the system it seemed to be but a bit behind in timing. Not sure if the lag time increases over depth or not. 30 ft. of water 1/2 sec behind if it is slower over depth would that put you up say to 1 or 1 1/2 sec. ? I do not know.

FF

I bought the Marcum LX-5 a month ago and I love it but it is not entry level though. I cant speak to the LX-1 as I haven't used it. What I can say is USE EBAY !! Much cheaper in the long run and no tax or duty if it slips through and arrives right at your door. Check the Canadian and US ebay site. Sometimes the stuff on ebay.com doesn't show up on the ebay.ca site.

I used vexilars for 20 years but last year sold them and switched to Marcum. The main reason is they are much brighter, so much easier to see out in the open than a vex. The suppression level to knoch out the interference from nearby sonars is much better also. The price is lots cheaper. I now own a Marcum lx-1 and an lx-3. Both great machines. Gander mountain in watertown has a vx-1 on sale at $199.00. Very hard to beat that price for such a god unit. My 2 cents worth !

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Seaserpant

At the beginning of this year's season I had a Vexilar FL-8SE. When fishing two Vexilar units side by side, I would never have a problem with interference using the unit's interference rejection. When comparing a friend's FL-8 and FL-8SE, the FL-8SE had a much brighter output.

I sold my FL-8 and upgraded to an FL-20. This past weekend I had someone with us that had a Marcum unit. (Unsure of the exact model.)
I had read in the past that Marcum units interfere with Vexilars and that Vexilar users with Marcum users nearby will have issues. I can tell you that this was the exact opposite. My FL-20 didn't have any interference whatsoever whereas the Marcum unit always showed interference. We tried every combination of interference rejection settings available between both of the units. We were able to find a setting that was tolerable, but not perfect.

My vote is for the Vexilar FL-20. It is a phenomenal unit.

Jeff

Vexilar FL-8 SE.....You won't be disappointed. Vexilar has led the ice fishing sonar market for decades with few issues to report. Should you have an issue, albeit rare, Vexilar has an excellent customer service staff. I also own a Zercom Colorpoint which still works ok but is difficult to read in bright light conditions. I use it as a backup. Just my .02.

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LIFE'S TOO SHORT TO PUT A PRICE ON FUN!!!!!
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One word,

VEX

i used to sell @ a bps,buy a vex,better cust service and they will fix it or replace it.you may want to try their web site,and go to the recondition unit .same price and warranty as new but 40% off.also ebay,cant beat the price,but you get what you pay for;and so long 4 now;john