Power of Flashers

[stumper1300]

Originally Posted by sfw1960

Yeah there is...
I run my HB 798ciSI in dual beam and even in less than 10 FOW I have no issues , it puts out 4KW P-T-P and it will run all day on a 12 AH SLA battery.
Of course that's only a SIM shot - I'm USING it on the ice, so no "on ice" pics yet... SRRY.


FWIW - you are not receiving 'watts back" you are picking up a ping off targets with the receiver. The higher power units can get a crisper echo off anything down there , and are less susceptible to interference.
Have fun with it - I know I do.

I just about pulled the trigger on an ice ducer for my 797 this season, just to have another ice unit if more friends come along. Are you using the ice ducer or the skimmer?

[REW]

Many of the depth finders have circuits in the units to change the transmitted power, based on the depth range settings of the unit.

You certainly need less power to see the bottom in 10 feet of water, compared to 40 feet of water.

For years, Vex, has sold a transducer attenuator which cuts down the power of the unit when fishing shallow water. It works very well when fishing in waters less than 10 feet.

Lots of research points out that when fishing in depths to 20 or 30 feet a very low amount of power is required for excellent display and target resolution.

Good luck
REW

[fishnutbob]

First Vex I owned was the Hondex or sitex Fl-8 first units to come out. The Fl8 I finally killed on Rainy lake one winter flew off the back of the sled. I now own a Fl-20 and have a Fl22HD coming this week all the units mentioned will work Bird, Marcum, etc I stay with Vexilars because of great customer service here in Mn and 50 years experience building these with the newer Vexilars you have power options to dial down the power.

The FL22HD is another fine inovation by Vexilar and the Leader in Flasher technology I believe hard to compete with 50 years of research.

[Robert M]

Marcum = Made in USA Do I need to say more?

[eye4aneye]

Originally Posted by stumper1300

I have used all the units other than the FL22HD. I honestly dont know what part of any of the units usable functions that "Watts" Play a part in. BUT, My observations are this, IMO, the unit with the highest watts has the clearest, crispest display, best target seperation of the batch. Some people like the thicker marks on the Vex units and Birds, I myself wouldnt drive down the road with windshield wipers that are 6 inches wide, why would I want my jig to appear to be 6 inches wide? Is it the power that makes the Marcum units that much better than the rest (IMO) than the others? Dunno, but if its not, the competitors better figure out what it is. Now FL22 owners can say whether this has been improved on, I havent used one on the ice yet, but hope to next week.

This of course is all just my opinion, if you like the unit you own,then its the best unit for you.

Same here, for the most part. I have owned and used most of them. you can't beat the versatility and definition of the LX5. The Bird has a bigger screen that is easier on the eyes at night or in low light. They're my second choice.

My biggest gripe about the LX5 is that if you are fishing right next to a couple or more of them, interference gets to be a pain. I keep a Bird and an LX5 with me, go to the Bird if I get too much interference or to check depths quickly. The Bird works nice for setting tipups too.

If I had to own just one, it would be the LX5. I did like the fl22 but it has limitations if you fish a wide variety of depths and suspending fish. It is by far the best of the Vex models though.

What does all of that wattage do for you? Beats me, I am no electronic engineer. I do know that I've used em all and the ones I like best are the ones that have the highest wattage output... probably not a coincidence.

[3M TA3]

Originally Posted by sfw1960

Yeah there is...
I run my HB 798ciSI in dual beam and even in less than 10 FOW I have no issues , it puts out 4KW P-T-P and it will run all day on a 12 AH SLA battery.
Of course that's only a SIM shot - I'm USING it on the ice, so no "on ice" pics yet... SRRY.


FWIW - you are not receiving 'watts back" you are picking up a ping off targets with the receiver. The higher power units can get a crisper echo off anything down there , and are less susceptible to interference.
Have fun with it - I know I do.

Actually, since you worked with this stuff for 20 years, you would know that the unit is receiving back the same signal that it sent out, only many many times weaker. It's a sound wave. That's all it is, however it's been attenuated by a huge amount. Except for that, it's the same exact signal. Also, the more power you send out, the more power you get back and the more likely junk in the water will reflect the signal, hence more garbage that needs to be filtered out. I would think that someone working in that field for 20 years would know that. Were you in the Navy by chance? A Sonar man perhaps.

[fishnutbob]

Originally Posted by Robert M

Marcum = Made in USA Do I need to say more?

I would say more Robert customer service at marcum hasn't been the best. Vexilar takes care of any service ? Fast. 50 years in the business

I use the Fl22hd very nice 1" target seperation HD means High Def return triple cone 8 degree cone a 12 and a 20 has depth settings down to 60ft in shallow water you can pick fish out of the weeds 400 watts of power with 10ft depth ranges you get a better pic of what your looking at the depth your fishing scale goes from 10 ft to 60 ft with zoom and low power settings when in the weeds or high power for deeper water zoom has a 6ft zoom or a 12ft zoom on the low power side or the high power side only thing I would like a deeper scale down to 100 ft for trout fishing in deeper water in Canada.

Bird marcum Vex all good look at the features and buy one that fits your fishing and with a company that has great customer service.

[hondo]

Originally Posted by fishnutbob

customer service at marcum hasn't been the best

I have to disagree with that, or at least clarify it.

Going back a few years ago Marcum was bought by Nature Vision, and 2 years ago Nature Vision went bankrupt and Marcum was bought by Versa Technologies (the company that manufactured the Marcum flashers). Customer service was usually good but not always the best when Nature Vision was in the picture.

But that ended 2 years ago. Marcum customer service is top notch now. They're manufactured and assembled and repaired right here in Minnesota now, and customers are able to walk in and get their problems taken care of and be on their way in a matter of minutes. And for guys who live farther away, it's usually just a simple phone call to get their problems taken care of. It's really rare to hear a legitimate complaint about Marcum customer service now that they're their own company again!

[fireboat]

I think the service with Marcum is great. I bought one at the end of the season, it's been over here in Nebr for a while. When I opened the box I noticed the red carry bag was starting to unravel. I called them, no recorded message-a real person answered the phone, told him about the bag and 3 days later I had a new one show up in the mail, no questions asked. I'm a happy customer.

[sfw1960]

Originally Posted by stumper1300

I just about pulled the trigger on an ice ducer for my 797 this season, just to have another ice unit if more friends come along. Are you using the ice ducer or the skimmer?

Sorry, just saw this....
I am using the trolling motor puck mounted on an articulating arm I made.
The ice-ducer would work fine, but I got the "DBK2" kit (power cord, transducer & Q.D. mount) online for a few more bucks than I could get just a skimmer for!

I use a 12 amp battery and it runs forever....LOL