Marcum LX-6s

[TeamTwoSticks]

I just saw this on marcum's website anyone have any idea what the difference is between it and the lx-6?  I looked it over but haven't found anything different yet, other than cosmetics.

http://www.rapala.com/marcum/fish-finders-sonar/digital-ice-systems/lx-6s-digital-sonar-system-6-lcd-dual-beam/LX-6S.html?cgid=marcum-sonar-digitalIceSystems&start=3

[hardwater diehard]

http://usa.rapala.com/catalog/iceforce/#1


I think it includes a snow shield

last years specs

Technical Specs Data:

·        6 inch high-resolution waterproof display (640H x 480V pixels)

·        Dual Beam 8o or 20o transducer

·        4 color palette options (two 3-color pallettes, one 6-color pallete, and grayscale)

·        TrueTime sonar response transmits signal returns from the transducer to the display in .02 seconds (5x faster than eye-to-brain)

·        7 manual depth ranges and 1 automatic dynamic depth range setting

·        4800 watts PtP, 600 watts RMS

·        3/4 inch target separation

·        Target Adjust magnifies fish and lure signals without increasing gain

·        Patented Infinitely Adjustable Zoom, and Bottom Lock Zoom

·        12 levels of Interference Rejection (IR)

·        Internal LCD heater for use in extreme cold

·         Adjustable LCD backlight

·        Rechargeable 12-volt 9-amp battery and battery charger

·        Full 2 year warranty

·        Made in the USA
   

[TeamTwoSticks]

Good catch. I didn't see that they added the snow shield. I just checked the lx-7 and it is including the snow shield as well. Is this a new addition like the lx-6? The whole adding the "s" to the end of the 6 is bugging me. Like there is something else that hasn't yet been shown. But then again why would only the 6 have an upgrade and not the 7?

I think that I have been dreaming about ice fishing way to much lately and it's starting to get to me. I had better get to ice fish in a few months or I just might start coming up with all sorts of conspiracy theories!

[mushroom_capd_1]

I think I read it has a smaller footprint than last years model.

[mushroom_capd_1]

Yeah...I was just paging through the ice force catalog and it states "NEW reduced footprint".

[maddogg]

Can't find the footprint Dimensions.
Wonder if it will it fit in a 5 gal. pail?

[3300]

my lx-7 came with a shield. has been said (here on iceshanty) they are not water tight, so they include the shield. is used in open water as well. some one had to get water out of thiers last season and added a bead of silicone to the top seam before closing it back up after removing the water.
the shield is hard to use with sunglass's and is off mine in the bright day light and back on in low light and night time fishing. the screen could get scratched when wiping off water marks/spots that may get removed wrong scratching the screen while on the ice. the screen is soft material.

they could easily reduce the screen frame size and make a smaller base/foot print. PC monitors have been doing so.

some thing in their description on their web site ;
TITLE: LX-6s Digital Sonar System 6" LCD Dual Beam
DESCRPTION: "The LX-6i delivers the digital fish-finding goods, and with all the goodies serious anglers expect."

that should keep the confusion/chatter going for a while until some one calls them.

[bluefin75]

im calling them tomorrow to find out I will post back tomorrow

[OldSailor]

This question was asked, and someone said it was the snow shield faceplate! Let us know what they say!! Thanks!!

[3300]

i have chris on the horn right now looking up the specs for you. he said the lx-6s is all the same as old lx-6 other than the foot print/shuttle was the same as the lx-7/9 and was too big, so they made a new one for it. so it has a smaller pac and foot print.

they also removed the inside plastic handle.
the old specs were 9 3/4 deep by 9 1/2 wide.
new specs are 7 3/4 deep by 9 1/2 wide.
its the same shuttle the lx-5 is on.
thanks chris!

[TeamTwoSticks]

Thanks for the info 3300! I almost bought a lx-7 last year but I have a fl-18 ultra pack and a x67-c. I decided that I could wait another season. with your valuable experience with the lx-7 I would like to know what your thoughts on the lx-6s would be. I think that I maybe leaning towards the lx-6s now with knowing that it has a smaller footprint which will be nice when packing down my sled heading out onto Lake Erie.
 

[Chris338378]

I noticed that the LX6 has 3/4 inch target separation where as the LX7 has 1/2 inch target separation and the LX6 has a smaller display.  From looking at them quickly other than these differences and the LX6 being smaller they seem to be pretty much the same machine and have the same display features and control set ups.

[3300]

the lx6 can be had for 500 on black friday or was last black friday, so that's a plus. the lx6 being smaller display will give a longer run time and it may come with a smaller battery, but not sure on that one.
they are the same machine as chris mentioned other than the target seperation and now the 2 inch smaller foot print. redrock store has a nice review about them both and says for the money go with the lx6.
i bought the 7 for a few reasons, one being i want more graph time and more screen period. maybe some day we'll have the front wall of our shacks as a screen. no but really, i like bigger screens for a few reasons.
anotherr reason i went with the lx-7 is you can upgrade it to the lx-9 which is a lx-7 with a camera pack added. the cost to add that pack is another 500$, but they are limited to how deep in water they are useful, so i'm still holding out, but the option is nice to be able to have.
after you try either of the three units, you'll not want any thing else. the way it proccess's is unmatched and the way it displays is also unmatched. it has its faults, but are updateable via firmware which is also the only ones that are. so once you buy one, its not set in stone with the what you see is what you get.

their faults have work arounds. one being it has an ice mode, its faulty, you use open water mode to work around it.
 
another is auto lock, it gets jittery and keeps changing the bottom lock depth, so you use manual.

the last issue is the worst, it has a 3 foot dead zone from the transducer to where it can start seeing". the way you are supposed to use the marcums is with the arm and only no more than one inch of the puck goes in the water. so the good news is when theres 2 feet of ice, you only have one foot of dead zone. still very agrivating, but worth all of the added benifits. so thick ice is the only work around thus far. the advantage of fishing with the puck up so high is you don't get snags from landing fish like those who use floats and clog their holes with a giant hunk of foam or worse yet dropping the puck to below the ice plate. many do that to try to get rid of noise from the hole, but you tune it out with the lx-6/7/9's.
many of us are still hoping for a "fix" firmware from marcum. they are aware of all three issues. the firmware updates are free and come with the latest when you buy now. version 4.07 is current.

so if you know you do not want a camera added to your next marcum or you don't want more viewing  space then i would say go with the 6 for sure.

don't forget you can use these on your boat as well. they have high speed transducer that fit transome and or troller.

all three come stock with a snow/water shield.

the rt-9 is due out this fall/season too, but very pricey and uses a tablet with android instead with tons of options.

[DBV]

That is a really good summary.  So, for crappie ice fishing the Marcum Lx7 or Lx6 would be a bad choice, if it has a 3 foot dead zone - right?  Crappies seem like they are 3 foot or less under the ice in evening hours.   I have even seen perch and trout come up closer to the hole in daylight hours.  I am surprised they have not fixed the 3 foot dead zone.

I wonder if the Lawrence Elite 5 Chirp would be a better option then?

[3300]

well, like i said the ice thickness comes into play here with thicker ice helping eliminate some of that dead zone area. so for each foot of ice and your transducer is on top of the plate and down only an inch into the water, you get that much back in "seeing" under the ice plate. the past couple of years we've had 2 feet of more of ice, so only loosing a foot at that time. a foot in viewing diameter is very little area. as valuable as it is, its not much.
i keep a dead stick just below ice for those fish skimming the bottom of the plate at night when i'm on a lake where crappie run the top, but most crappie i catch are lower any way and in one lake they are on or near bottom (27 feet) working the bait fish that are working the plankton.

can't help on the lowrance, but i would want a graph and the flasher style like the marcum. so far i don't want just one or the other. the graph is nice to follow up on what you thought you saw or more so how big a return ping of what you thought you saw is and its movment. flashers can't show movement as well.

customer service is a big deal for me, so check that out too to help you decide who's is right for you.

HUMMINBIRD burned me   and cost around 750$ to find out they are horrable customer service/repair and
 
lie and cheat and steal. on the phone they are great, fixing what they make is a huge joke! they tell you if you send your unit in (175$), the tech will go over it with a fine tooth comb and repair every thing he finds and if he miss's any thing, send it back with-in 90 days and he will fix that too. sounds great until you try to make them live up to what they said. they will say can't make the problem occur in the techs room, so they won't fix it and send it back broken, again. theres no where else to send these things like a third party repair business. they won't sell the parts for you to fix on your own either. i wish i could have a "do over" on that purchase. so watch for that when making up your mind.

[grubberfishhunter]

The LX-6s has a smaller size and it comes with the snow shield. Fish307 just got their new marcum units in, they have all the models in lake george.

[3300]

the 3 foot dead zone (some had issues) is fixed with marcums new firmware to be released early january.

[moosehead]

Did they reduce the size sdo it can fit in a five gallon bucket? That would be a HUGE plus for me

[3300]

they reduced one side by nearly 2". so the other side is still as long.

you know the sonar can be used all year and the mount it sits on is aluminum and looks like a conventional fish finder mount once it's unbolted from the shuttle. has four holes in the bottom of it, two on each end to mount it. you could remount it to some else if you want one and want it to go inside your bucket. maybe a different sonar carry pack like cabelas makes or clam.

[maddogg]

Did they reduce the size sdo it can fit in a five gallon bucket? That would be a HUGE plus for me

I bought a LX6s with the hope of it fitting in a 5 gal bucket. It does fit if you put the unit in on it's side. So technically I guess it does fit. 

[misha]

Does anybody know what is the weight of the LX-6s???

[3300]

they weigh next to nothing. the battery is what has the weight. the bigger the battery the more lead it has.
the head unit is less than 2# is my guess. the puck seems to have more weight than head unit.
some replace the battery with li-on so the whole thing is lighter.

[redneckdan]

I was hole hopping today trying g to get away from the dink perch. The LX7 got heavy after a while. Might have to make a little sled for running and gunning.

[dstaples002]

Must be nice having ice 

[3300]

I was hole hopping today trying g to get away from the dink perch. The LX7 got heavy after a while. Might have to make a little sled for running and gunning.

get a seamstress to make a shoulder strap for it or make one and find the other half of the quick connect buckles marcum used on the top for their camera pack.

here's another idea, you just bought 7amp batteries and they should weigh about 2# less than the 9amp stock battery you can swap it out and keep the 9 amp for if you need a spare to use. that's what i do.
i didn't think it was any worse that any other sonar i have used for hole hoping.
a trick i use is to make holes on the way to the good spot with the sonar on the seat or in the sled and leave it and use the puck only to check for fish or won't have to move it as far checking for fish.

[misha]

I guess, my real question is what is the weight/size difference between LX-7 and LX-6s with the batteries in their factory configuration?
I'm debating between those two. 7 has larger screen and $100 more, but if they weight the same and have the same size I'd rather have 7 for extra $100.
Please let me know if someone ever compared those side to side.

Thanks.

[3300]

gander mountain has them on shelves. you could go there and get hands on.

you can call marcum and they would be glad to talk to you about any thing they make.

being the head unit is the lightest part of the unit, and knowing you can upgrade the lx7 into the llx9 but you can't do that with the lx6, the choice is clear, for me. that's my comparison to how i bought.
weight was never a consideration knowing the bulk of the weight is a lead battery and knowing i can make it MUCH lighter with li-on batteries. heavy boots and heavy sled full of 200 pounds of gear and hard walking in deep snow is all part of ice fishing, so a few pounds hole hoping is not a problem at all and is expected even. it's a fun exercise!
maybe a pound at best in difference of weight w/o looking weighing them for you, but i don't own both, so i can't do that.
i think maybe the lx6 might come with a one amp less battery, so it would be lighter in the box.

so if the lx6 is one pound or so less than the lx7, you would buy the lx6 because of that?

size difference is a lot. the lx6 used to come in the same shuttle as the 7/9 and they just changed it to the lx5 shuttle that is about 2 inches smaller foot print. when looking at them side by side like i did at gander mountain, the lx6 looks tiny.

if your problem in buying is weight tho, then you will not want to upgrade the lx7 to a lx9 as the added camera pack has some weight to it too and a larger foot print, but in the rear.

[misha]

Thanks for that info. No I wasn't going to upgrade it to use with camera. But the size is a different story. Also, I'm not so technically inclined, so would you mind elaborate a little on Li-ion batter swap? What battery size? Where to buy? Special wiring? Connectors?

[3300]

they are not cheap by any means. they need a strong charger made for charging too. the upgrade would cost just under 200$ at most sites.
you wouldn't need a different connector unless you wanted to keep the quick connector marcum has. those are inexpensive and can be found for about 10$ or less. radio shack , mcm, bh photo, cable 2 go and others all have that.
i use a different charger that works better than theirs called a battery tender jr i bought on amazon for about 20$ for my sla (sealed lead acid) batteries such as what comes with sonars. i do not use marcums quick connecter and i clip my charger directly onto the battery leads.
i do not have a site picked out for you to buy a li-on battery. i do know i looked at them a few times and i do know you want to make sure to buy one with built-in protection in the battery so it doesn't over charge or over discharge.

if you think you want a li-on battery, i will help you and other might too.

there was a sale on surplus batteries for under 70$ on ebay and they sold out fast. the key it to buy the same size foot print as the foot print that comes with the sonar so it fits down into its spot that is held in with 2 velcro strips.

i went on a quick search and found these so far.
http://www.in-depthoutdoors.com/community/forums/topic/ice_1285670/

http://www.amazon.com/12-Volt-Rechargeable-Lithium-Battery/dp/B00JK06CK8


    60% lighter than equivalent Sealed Lead Acid (SLA) batteries
    5 times longer life (2000 charge cycles vs. 400 on SLA)
    75% higher effective capacity than 12 volt 10 Ah SLA battery
    Made in the USA (Seattle, WA)
    Best Price for LiFePO4 battery in the market

quote
The weight difference between the 12v – 10 AMP lithium I tested and a gel cell 12v. – 9 AMP battery is very noticeable. A 12v. – 9 AMP gel cell weighs in at 5# 9 oz. A 12v – 10 AMP lithium weighs in at 2# 9 oz. If you’re a hole hopper, you’ll notice and appreciate the weight reduction.
end quote

so it says 5 times longer life. this means it will last the same time as 5 sla batteries. so sla battery in the 9 amp range are about 20$. so it costs the same in the long run, but with less hassle of replacing the battery and faster charge times and longer run times.

[misha]

Wow, very informative. Thank you again. I will look into it.