Colorpoint Flashers

[Norm]

Are these any good? I have an aquaintance that said he would sell me his pretty cheaply as he brought it two years ago and hurt his back right after he go it and only used it once....and doesn't think he will be ice fishing again. It comes with a zippered case and looks (even smells ) brand new in origal box.

[eyedoktr]

I bought a Zercom Colorpoint a couple of years ago and it has performed flawlessly. I have fished side by side with Vexilars and never had an interference problem that so many talk about. In my mind, if you get a good working unit (there were some that had problems) it is as good as an FL-8

[Wahoo]

I also have a color point and love it.IF you decide you dont want it tell your pal I might....I`d like to have a second one for my son so if anyone knows of one thats for sale reasonable let me know..Wahoo.

[s-bone]

I have a colorpoint and I am very happy with it. I bought it new 2-3 years ago on closeout for $179. the local Fleet Farm had transom and trolling motor transducers for $25.

[Pitts]

The colorpoint my buddy had at red lake mn would not work in the same house as my fl8 he actually thought I was going to shut mine off so he could see his.
what he got was rotating lines spinning around the display as interference and I think after carefull study he was able to read it for bottom and fish but he said it was very irritating.

Pitts

[Tom Nightingale]

Friend of mine bought a colorpoint.He used it 4 times on lake Mille Lac. Asked to use my fl-18. His colorpoint was broken and he was going to red lake.When he came home the first thing he said "I should have known better, tried to save some money and I`m stuck with this junk colorpoint. I wonder why the fl-18 and fl-8`s were all sold out".Three days later he owned the right and only unit to ice fish with.

FL-18



Nightie

[Birddog]

"Three days later he owned the right and only unit to ice fish with.

FL-18"
I really like my vexilar but the new Lowrance Ice Machine looks like a really sweet unit. I will be buying one next season if they don't have any problems.

BIRDDOG

FOR BETTER OR WORSE FISHING AND HUNTING COME FIRST

[Silentsixty]

Fish 30 fow on erie for eyes & perch, as shallow as 3 fow for saugeye, and 8-20 fow with smaller than average gill baits.

I bought a Colorpoint just before they were discontinued and it works fine. I've used a bunch of different non-color flashers and it's nicer for icefishing. I haven't seen a Sitex or FL8 in action for yrs so I can't compare them against it.

I'd consider that product support may not be around for the Colorpoint in the future (Hummingbird) & it will be for Vexlars. Then again, flashers are generally reliable, $179 closeout sounds right, so "pretty cheap" means...

Good Luck,
SS

[Todd_NE]

I know this has been beat to death on a lot of boards but I have to say the Marcum beats the Vexilar 18 in my mind. Take this for what it's worth, I'm still a ice newbie.

Three of us could use Marcum's in a fishhouse without Interference problems but the Vex was struggling. Ours were quieter, showed small jigs better, and had a moveable zoom which is nice for crappie or trout fishing suspended fish.

What I really noticed was how much quieter it was and how much easier it was to fish with for me. All I had to do was turn it on, hit the gain til I barely saw my lure (usually 2 or so in 20'), adjust the IR until I thought it was best, then turn on the zoom.

I would like to have green over the color orange though.

The other thing is the marcum can shoot through the ice with the power it has to read bottom according to others, I haven't done that.

I think the Vex is a great unit, I almost got one, I couldn't decide on a Vex vs. Marcum, but a buddy bought me a Marcum on summer clearance. I'm darn glad he did now after playing around with a Vex and marcum this past week.

Todd
How ironic, how incredible, that in the relationship between man and dog we should be given the role of God, for we are so woefully miscast. - Jameson Parker

[clm]

I used to have a colorpoint and now have the fl-18. I like the 18 better, but it's not really a fair comparison between the two. If you were comparing the colorpoint and the fl-8, I don't think there would be much of a difference. I never had any problems with mine and was happy with it's performance. If the price is good, buy it.

[Grampa_Joe]

Agreed,
I have used them all and I like the MarCum LX-3 the best.

Joe Carlson

[eyewall]

I'll say this, mine has a bad transducer and I wasn't able to find a replacement. I now have a FL8 and am happy. I do think the interference thing is less of a problem with the vexilar. I'd be a little leary of a 180.00 dollar investment without and sort of a gaurntee. I have all the parts, minus the ducer, if interested.

[Silentsixty]

Eyewall,

$180 was referenced as what they sold for at closeout prices. I was suggesting Norm's decision may depend on what Norm's friend considers "pretty cheap". Might be hard to pass up if it met my definition:) Based on a current thread on the swap board and what you said, there are no parts available and that is a consideration, then again there's a guy on the swap board that might pay $100 for a transducer.

Anyway, I mentioned a couple of potential options (might be long shots) for transducer replacement in the swap board thread that could potentially be of interest to you. Good chance they might not be practical if you just wanted a transducer to make yours more sellable but figured it wouldn't hurt to mention it. Your unit w/o a transducer might sell on the swap board if priced right.

Respectfully,
Silentsixty

[Backwater Eddy]

The Colorpoint will serve you well if it is indeed in good operating condition.

As others mentioned your likely to get cross signal interference in close proximity to other flashers. The unfortunate deal with the Colorpoint is you do not have IR Interference Rejection" to filter it out. You may limit this effect by only lowering the puck down far enough to read your bait. Sometimes this helps, others not.

If the price is right for you go for it. If the unit has sat for a considerable time it is likely you will need to replace the battery, maybe you can dicker the price down another $20 for that?

But Todd...My GOD...A "MarCum"...man I thought you had better taste then that? Let me guess..they suckered you in with the Mo-Power speech Eh? ;)

Ed "Backwater Eddy" Carlson

"ED on the RED"

><,sUMo,>

[Backwater Eddy]

The Colorpoint will serve you well if it is indeed in good operating condition.

As others mentioned your likely to get cross signal interference in close proximity to other flashers. The unfortunate deal with the Colorpoint is you do not have IR Interference Rejection" to filter it out. You may limit this effect by only lowering the puck down far enough to read your bait. Sometimes this helps, others not.

If the price is right for you go for it. If the unit has sat for a considerable time it is likely you will need to replace the battery, maybe you can dicker the price down another $20 for that?

But Todd...My GOD...A "MarCum"...man I thought you had better taste then that? Let me guess..they suckered you in with the Mo-Power speech Eh? ;)

Ed "Backwater Eddy" Carlson

"ED on the RED"

><,sUMo,>

[Backwater Eddy]

You can adapt a FL-8 or the Fl-18 or any other Vexilar Ducer for that matter to work on a Colorpoint. Whatever cone angle you want, but I would do the narrowest cone puck ducer you can get, or better yet, go with the duel beam puck.

Ed "Backwater Eddy" Carlson

"ED on the RED"

><,sUMo,>

[Backwater Eddy]

You can adapt a FL-8 or the Fl-18 or any other Vexilar Ducer for that matter to work on a Colorpoint. Whatever cone angle you want, but I would do the narrowest cone puck ducer you can get, or better yet, go with the duel beam puck.

Ed "Backwater Eddy" Carlson

"ED on the RED"

><,sUMo,>

[Todd_NE]

Eddy,

I usually OVERRRRRR analyze anything related to fishing. This was a decision where I just let go....

A buddy called from a Cabela's in June and said. "Yo, they have two Marcum LX-3's for $219, ya want one?"

I said, "What's the catch, they are 400 bucks."

"No Catch," he says.

"It's not a LX-1, Zercom, or used and beat to death?"

"Nope", he says. "It's perfect, new and in the box. They also have a case for $5"

I said "OK".

Of course I found out late "His" LX-3 had the battery, charger, case etc for $219 and "Mine" didn't lol.

Sometimes Life just works out :)

I have zero allegiance to either unit but I got sick of my buddy a few weeks ago with his vexilar telling the THREE of us to shut off our marcum's cuz his was goofy!!!!

Bottomline, they are both pretty good I'd say but I'd take another Marcum. Especially if they add Vexilar green instead of orange:)

Todd
How ironic, how incredible, that in the relationship between man and dog we should be given the role of God, for we are so woefully miscast. - Jameson Parker

[Backwater Eddy]

HA..just needling ya bud. MarCum is a solid unit. The variable zoom is a big selling point and many find the display crisper for their needs. We could argue all day about if the extra watts really mean much but the extra watts can help to shoot though early ice.

Eh...Just so ya know Vexilar has a separate color scheme offered for their flasher displays now. It is configured for those anglers whom have difficulty with Red/Green Color Blindness. A common issue for males and is often referred to as Male Pattern Color Blindness. That option should help out a lot of anglers. I think the conversion costs around $59? Not 100% certain on the price, it is close though.

I may go with the new color scheme on my next unit because I am one of those frustrated color challenged individuals. For me it is the green that can get lost at times and this conversion will solve it for me. I have a bigger problem with the blending of the colors on the MarCum so that is a big reason it has not gained as high of a recommendation from me.

Ed "Backwater Eddy" Carlson

"ED on the RED"

><,sUMo,>

[Suzuki]

I love mine. Had it for about 4-5 years. Ran it on my boat for one summer. Flawless. Can't live without it.

[Todd_NE]

Eddy,

Dude, where do you find avatars. My god that is Farley doing the "In a van down by the river" speech

I am way too jealous.

can you find me a belushi from animal house. maybe the swiggin' of the jack?? lol

Todd

How ironic, how incredible, that in the relationship between man and dog we should be given the role of God, for we are so woefully miscast. - Jameson Parker

[Backwater Eddy]

Ya..only a few folks have caught the "Van by the River" connection so far. ;)

I'll see what I can find for you Jake. :D

Ed "Backwater Eddy" Carlson

"ED on the RED"

><,sUMo,>

[Todd_NE]

You do that Elwood

Are you making a like, I'm fat(jake), you are skinny (elwood) joke or just jealous of my carrie fisher before she went off the deep end connection?

We like the Blues Brothers so much in Nebraska we named a lake after Elwood. Well... It was a lake, not it's going to be a dirt hole in the name of corn. Of course when it's a dirt hole, no more irrigated corn either.

Did I ever mention the world needs more corn and less lakes!!! (Aye Carumba)

Todd
How ironic, how incredible, that in the relationship between man and dog we should be given the role of God, for we are so woefully miscast. - Jameson Parker

[Backwater Eddy]

Nooooooooooooooo....no insinuations. I'm more of a Jake in the winter too Eh.

I am Scandanavian..We crave Carbs...it's a genetic survival instinct type thingy....Don't ja know........Eh.

:)

Ed "Backwater Eddy" Carlson

"ED on the RED"

><,sUMo,>

[Cetto]

Ed,..What other colors are offered?

[Backwater Eddy]

I think they swapped blue for the green for a starter. They may be able to swap the color to fit your particular color perception needs. There are a few main types of color blindness so the needs can vary some from person to person. Drop the techs at Vex a call and they can fill you in on the options better then I can.

From what I understand it can be done to older units as an upgrade or ordered as an option in a new unit. The older units can be converted if you send it in or drop it off at their shop in the cities.

What I may do is pick up another FL-8 SE at the Vex factory direct and have it switched to the new colors. If the new colors do not drive other folks who are not color challenged nuts using it, then I may get my FL-18 done too.

Ed "Backwater Eddy" Carlson

"ED on the RED"

><,sUMo,>