Vexilar pro view transducer

[Bartb]

I dont understand what advantage, if there is an advantage of a proview over a tri beam......I do understand the advantages of a tri beam over a proview. Vex trades a proview in for a tribeam when you buy new. Suprised more people dont do it.

I believe power and sensitivity, the proview has more of both.

So as to the side lobes, transducers don't have a true cone shape, it's more of a bell shape. More or less exaggerated with differnet transducers.  The proview can pick up its extended side lobes as you turn up the gain, giving you more "peripheral" view.  If you turn the gain down it's reading of the side lobes tapers off reducing your viewing area.

[Agronomist_at_IA]

I get how it works. I just see zero advantage to it. I would rather switch to a wider  beam to cover the area and havea clear screen then turning up the gain having a cluttered screen.

[Bartb]

I get how it works. I just see zero advantage to it. I would rather switch to a wider  beam to cover the area and havea clear screen then turning up the gain having a cluttered screen.

So...firstly I agree with you.  As I use the proview more I have been able to fine tune the gain to get the maximum view and reduce clutter.  Starting off, DO NOT use the full color mode on the flx28.  I think it's color #4.  It gives you 100% information.  It displays absolutely everything the proview sees.  If you use color 1-3, or 5, the flx28 uses its computer to decide what is false readings, or small algae, or other non fish in the water column. This really cleans up the display.  On non flx28 units the proview is gonna give you everything, causing a lot of clutter.  Could be why it comes on the flx28.

I was using it last night in 8 fow, my buddy has a fl8 with 9 degree, he was struggling to see anything.  My other buddy had a fl18 with a 22 degree.  He did see more than I, but I was clearly not blind and not out of the game like the guy with the 9 degree.  With that said, if we were in 25 fow, my buddy with the 9 degree woulda been in good shape but the guy with the 22 woulda been struggling.  I would have had no issue whatsoever. 

Yes the tri beam would take care of that issue, but with a dedicated area for a single crystal like on the proview it becomes more powerful and sensitive showing more detail when it counts.

That's just my experience.

I think we might be splitting hairs.  Getting sucked into the overhead cam vs. pushrods type debates.

[SpoonieLuv]

I just wish they still made the transducers you could flip a switch from 9° for deep water and the 19° for shallows. The best of both worlds and so easy to use. Thats why I brought this up again, think they would keep it simple.

[DTro]

I was out in 30ft of water last night on a body of water with a fair amount of “stuff” in the water (plankton, silt, small bait fish, etc).   There was a tiny bit of current…..just enough to push my bait to the outside of the cone.  I had my gain set to 0 and could get a faint blip when I jigged near the bottom.  Ok fine, I’ll just turn the gain up a bit…… yeah right…. I turn it up to about 2-3 and now my screen is completely filled with other stuff.    It’s a powerful transducer, that’s for sure, but I don’t need to see that other crap, in fact no need to see anything smaller than my bait.    Now perhaps the color thing is where I’m going wrong.  I’m using the 5 color palette, maybe I need to switch to the good ol 3 colors.   I will give that a try next time out.   However, as it is now, the more I use it the more disappointed I am.

[Bartb]

I was out in 30ft of water last night on a body of water with a fair amount of “stuff” in the water (plankton, silt, small bait fish, etc).   There was a tiny bit of current…..just enough to push my bait to the outside of the cone.  I had my gain set to 0 and could get a faint blip when I jigged near the bottom.  Ok fine, I’ll just turn the gain up a bit…… yeah right…. I turn it up to about 2-3 and now my screen is completely filled with other stuff.    It’s a powerful transducer, that’s for sure, but I don’t need to see that other crap, in fact no need to see anything smaller than my bait.    Now perhaps the color thing is where I’m going wrong.  I’m using the 5 color palette, maybe I need to switch to the good ol 3 colors.   I will give that a try next time out.   However, as it is now, the more I use it the more disappointed I am.

Not going to lie,  at first I hated the proview but it was on my secondary flasher so I just kind of fiddled with it when I needed to.(wife's flasher)  As last year went on I warmed up to it. 

This year I switched my main flasher to the 28 with proview and as recently as December was using the full color pallet(selection #4)Then I switched to the more traditional colors and it really came into its own.  Now I use the number 3 selection which is traditional red green with white for really big stuff and uses the algorithm to take out clutter and plankton at higher gain.  That's a deal changer.

As a side note I have talked with vexilar a couple times, once in person about proview theory and operation.  Every time I learn more.  Bottom line it's a powerful but complicated transducer. They always say the same thing, pros use the proview. If you just want to turn your unit on and fish, get a single or tri beam.  If you want to see more and do more, the proview is your tool...but....you are going to have to learn more about cone theory and operation.  So that's the big trade off,you need to learn how to use it, and that takes time and effort.  Not for everyone that's for sure.  Remember the first time you tried to read a side scan sonar image???  Poked like jibberish to me at first.

[hnd]

but i thought you could just drop vexilars in the hole and fish without needing settings and stuff, now i got to switch color palletes and all sorts of what nots!!!

fished with a proview apologist the other day in 8-20' of dirty water.  it stunk in shallow water and there was so much stuff in the water in 20' that he had an issue seeing anything clearly.  we still caught fish but i'm pretty sure he's all but ready to get a tribeam. 

[Bartb]

but i thought you could just drop vexilars in the hole and fish without needing settings and stuff, now i got to switch color palletes and all sorts of what nots!!!

fished with a proview apologist the other day in 8-20' of dirty water.  it stunk in shallow water and there was so much stuff in the water in 20' that he had an issue seeing anything clearly.  we still caught fish but i'm pretty sure he's all but ready to get a tribeam.

You sure can, but if you are using a proview, its not quite that easy. Ergo the name, Proview.   I can assume that's why Vexilar happily exchanges them for a tribeam if you dont want to mess with the settings. 

[hardwater diehard]

You sure can, but if you are using a proview, its not quite that easy. Ergo the name, Proview.   I can assume that's why Vexilar happily exchanges them for a tribeam if you dont want to mess with the settings.

Is Vexilar still exchanging them ? Thought an IS member posted last year/season that they stopped that exchange .

[slipbob]

I just wish they still made the transducers you could flip a switch from 9° for deep water and the 19° for shallows. The best of both worlds and so easy to use. Thats why I brought this up again, think they would keep it simple.

Yup.  I bought the Proview about 3 years ago as a replacement for my old FL-18's dual beam which just wore out and after spending more time with it I'll say it's just OK at best.  It's better in deep water situations jigging lake trout but shallow water panfish it's not good.  Makes it real hard to determine the size of the fish and with my old dual beam I could tell if it was a nice crappie or gill by adjusting the gain.  All the panfish in shallow water look like nice ones with the Proview

[Agronomist_at_IA]

I just wish they still made the transducers you could flip a switch from 9° for deep water and the 19° for shallows. The best of both worlds and so easy to use. Thats why I brought this up again, think they would keep it simple.

the tri beam has those with a 12* in the middle.... cant be any more simple.

[Agronomist_at_IA]

Is Vexilar still exchanging them ? Thought an IS member posted last year/season that they stopped that exchange .

I  believe so, They have always done it. But your proview needs to come off a new unit. you cant use it for a year and then exchange it. Might need a proof of purchase. I had a friend that tried the proview and needed a recent proof of purchase to exchange it.

I believe what they wont do anymore is an open water transducer for an ice one. I built 3vex units last year. 2-FL18 and a FL22. Got the open water vex units off amazon for about $180 shipped. I talked to vex and switched the 3 open water transducers for three tri beams and only had to pay the difference of cost in the transducer. Which was like $10 a ducer. Bought 3 genz boxes for $30 each. Ended up with two FL18 & an FL22 with tri beam transducers on genz boxes all brand new for about a total investment of about $230 a unit. My cousin got one and I kept two. Hence why I have an FL18, FL20, FL22, and FLx28 double vision. Nice to have 4 vex units in the ice castle so guys can just jump in and go.

Anyhow, I posted on this site giving guys the heads up about the vex open water units going on clerance every september on amazon for the crazy low price, and how to "exchange" the open water ducer to built a $350-$600 vex unit for $230. A bunch of people were doing it, and vexilar found out what everyone was doing so they quit exchanging the open water ducers for ice ducers. Which pretty much put an end to the deal because if you had to buy a $90-$130 ducer it then cost about has much has a new FL18 unit. I think a few guys were greedy and would buy like 2-3 units build them, and then sell them off as a new unit keeping one for themselfs an basicly making enough money on it basicly giving them a free vex unit. The deals were on FL8,FL12,FL18,FL20, and FL22HD open water units.

[Agronomist_at_IA]

So...firstly I agree with you.  As I use the proview more I have been able to fine tune the gain to get the maximum view and reduce clutter.  Starting off, DO NOT use the full color mode on the flx28.  I think it's color #4.  It gives you 100% information.  It displays absolutely everything the proview sees.  If you use color 1-3, or 5, the flx28 uses its computer to decide what is false readings, or small algae, or other non fish in the water column. This really cleans up the display.  On non flx28 units the proview is gonna give you everything, causing a lot of clutter.  Could be why it comes on the flx28.

I was using it last night in 8 fow, my buddy has a fl8 with 9 degree, he was struggling to see anything.  My other buddy had a fl18 with a 22 degree.  He did see more than I, but I was clearly not blind and not out of the game like the guy with the 9 degree.  With that said, if we were in 25 fow, my buddy with the 9 degree woulda been in good shape but the guy with the 22 woulda been struggling.  I would have had no issue whatsoever. 

Yes the tri beam would take care of that issue, but with a dedicated area for a single crystal like on the proview it becomes more powerful and sensitive showing more detail when it counts.

That's just my experience.

I think we might be splitting hairs.  Getting sucked into the overhead cam vs. pushrods type debates.

I agree we are splitting hairs.

 I like the interference rejection on the pro view but that is about it. What I notice is I don't like that it takes way to much time and fine tuning to get a proview to work like it should, and sometimes it cant be done.. When I jump from hole to hole I dont care to spend that time adjusting it. Not only that, But from experiance a tribeam can do a lot narrower cone then the Proview. Which Is nice in the flipover in 30ft of water to keep your buddies lure off the screen. I can Also do a lot wider beam with less clutter in shallow, and I'm not fighting settings forever to figure it out. Now, I've never had an issue where I couldnt show my jig with the tribeam clearly in deep or shallow. The proview I have.

IMO if I have to screw around with setting stuff more then two seconds on my vex to show a clear display to fish then I'm going to get rid of it and go with the lx7/9 or rt9 marcum units..........if you've ever fished with a person who has one of them all they do is fiddle and screw with the unit settings all day..........it gets  annoying watching them and listening to them complain about getting it dialed in. keeping a vex unit simple and being able to get the settings correct fast is half or more of the appeal of the unit to me. All the proview does is cause issues on finding the correct settings simple and fast.

[Panfisher78]

I've been using the Pro View this year and so far really like it. I've fished with 3 other Vexilars right next and have zero interference. My FL-18 with the 12 degree ducer always had interference with another Vexilar next to it.

[carcus1]

Struggled with the proview in shallow water, great at 15fow and deeper, sold the whole unit and got a flx28 coming with a 12 degree

I mostly fish lake winnipeg, 5-15 fow, occasionally go for lakers and crappies, 20-65fow, the 12 does this very well

[Dan J]

I have a 22 and a 28 with the Proviews, also have 2 12 degree transducers. I just switch to the 12 degree if needed. I'm still learning how to use the Proview in shallow water. I'm not giving up on it yet. In 20 ft. + you can't beat it.

[DR.SPECKLER]

I have a 22 and a 28 with the Proviews, also have 2 12 degree transducers. I just switch to the 12 degree if needed. I'm still learning how to use the Proview in shallow water. I'm not giving up on it yet. In 20 ft. + you can't beat it.

my settings for shallow water being 9 to 10 ft is auto mode, lp mode.auto mode puts me in auto 15ft, lp cuts power gain on 2 or 3.nice non cluttered ,thin jig line screen.

[Bartb]

my settings for shallow water being 9 to 10 ft is auto mode, lp mode.auto mode puts me in auto 15ft, lp cuts power gain on 2 or 3.nice non cluttered ,thin jig line screen.

I do this too...but I was told by vexilar that low power kills the outer lobes no matter the gain....soooo.....if you can regular mode gives you a wider view.

I am stopping by the vexilar headquarters on Monday to have two 28s tweaked and I am going to ask a few more questions.....will report.   Lol

[DTro]

Did you learn anything new about the Proview Bartb?

I was out on ML this weekend with my proview and was fishing in about 26FOW.  I decided to use the 3 color selection.    I still pretty much couldn’t turn my gain up from zero or I’d get clutter.   What was interesting was that I had a mark come in on the bottom just like the walleyes had been, but it was different.  I got it to move up a foot or so a few times and then it would slowly drop back down and stay there.  I played this game for about 30 min and finally dropped the camera down to see what was going on.   I discovered a big crayfish below my bait.   I was pretty impressed that the unit clearly picked it up in the rocks, but really I guess I’m not sure I need to see a crayfish down there. Especially with my gain at zero.  It might be too sensitive….

[DR.SPECKLER]

I would use auto mode,and if you really want to turn up the gain and eliminate clutter throw it in lp mode.lp is not just for shallow water it eliminates clutter and lets you widen the cone angle in deeper water too.weed mode does the same but eliminates weed clutter on the bottom.if I thought the crayfish was a fish hugging bottom I would use 6ft bottom zoom.

[Dan J]

I do this too...but I was told by vexilar that low power kills the outer lobes no matter the gain....soooo.....if you can regular mode gives you a wider view.

I am stopping by the vexilar headquarters on Monday to have two 28s tweaked and I am going to ask a few more questions.....will report.   Lol

I don't understand what the advantage would be with the Proview if the lobe is not adjustable in low power. Wouldn't you be better off with the Tri beam? I figured out how to put the FLx28 in low power so all functions would work in the low power mode, but if the gain won't widen the cone angle it kind of defeats the purpose of the Proview. It's great in deep water, just wish it was easier to use shallow.

[Bartb]

Did you learn anything new about the Proview Bartb?

I was out on ML this weekend with my proview and was fishing in about 26FOW.  I decided to use the 3 color selection.    I still pretty much couldn’t turn my gain up from zero or I’d get clutter.   What was interesting was that I had a mark come in on the bottom just like the walleyes had been, but it was different.  I got it to move up a foot or so a few times and then it would slowly drop back down and stay there.  I played this game for about 30 min and finally dropped the camera down to see what was going on.   I discovered a big crayfish below my bait.   I was pretty impressed that the unit clearly picked it up in the rocks, but really I guess I’m not sure I need to see a crayfish down there. Especially with my gain at zero.  It might be too sensitive….

That's very interesting in the crayfish.

I didn't learn much more other than changing to color pallets 1-3 or 5 is really where you want to be unless you are an absolute pro is right on.

They did say to use weed mode for the absolute best target separation. 

Beyond that just keep the lobe theory in mind when adjusting the gain, but a gain of 1 is very typical.  If your past 3-4 on the gain with a proview you are doing something wrong.  They reiterated the sensitivity of the flx28-proview combo and said they understood it being a bit harder to use, but you just gotta trust the equipment.  He said you might just be seeing stuff you never have seen before and you think it's a false return.

[Bartb]

I don't understand what the advantage would be with the Proview if the lobe is not adjustable in low power. Wouldn't you be better off with the Tri beam? I figured out how to put the FLx28 in low power so all functions would work in the low power mode, but if the gain won't widen the cone angle it kind of defeats the purpose of the Proview. It's great in deep water, just wish it was easier to use shallow.

Keep in mind the lobe is not adjustable, but the receiver is to it.  So as you turn up the gain (sensitivity) it increases your ability to see the outer lobes or otherwise weaker signals.  Low power mode actually produces less power from the ducer so thus smaller lobes or secondary signals...ergo...you can't see what's not produced.

It's just the nature of the beast.  I guarantee you if you use a proview next to almost anything over a year you will notice the proview picking up marks that you are absolutely blind to. 

I had an ice 55 that I used next to my wife's 28...she was always marking stuff, and I thought it was trash on her screen.  Then she started catching the trash over and over, trip after trip, she would catch 10-20% more fish than I would.   So...after on season of consistently outfishing me, I got a 28 with proview and now we are back to 1 for 1.

Coincidence in two years???  Doubtful

[Old Goat]

Team Pro View Here it works great

[hnd]

don't you have 2 S cables attached to it?

[Agronomist_at_IA]

To each is there own...Hate the Proview love the tribeam

[Old Goat]

I like all the vexilar transducers