ICE-35 Zoom?

[Zugunruhe]

I'm looking at a Humminbird ICE-35  for my kids since it appears it will play nice with my Vexilars.  I have a question about the ZOOM feature on this unit though- the way it is described, it has a "10', 2X zoom" that is adjustable throughout the water column.  My question is this though, if I'm fishing 15' of water, can I only zoom the depth range from 5'-15'?  What if I only want to zoom the area say 5' off the bottom, from 10-15'? 

If the Humminbird will only zoom in 10' sections with the bottom being the lower limit, I don't really see that advantage.  Honestly, the zoom feature is most advantageous when targeting bottom hugging fish or those in some sort of brush or weeds- all of which are typically situated at or near the bottom so the 5' zoom window of the Marcums or the 6' zoom window of the Vexilars makes more sense.

Long story short, I like the idea of the ZOOM feature as none of my other Vex units have it- and unfortunately it costs another $100-$200 over the price of the ICE-35 to get it on a Vex unit.  If the feature works to what I need on the Humminbird, great, for the price I'm not sure I can go wrong and I know it will not cause interference in the same hut with one or two other Vexilars.

Please don't try and sell me on the Marcum VX-1, I'm sure it is a very good unit and is in the same price range but my prerequisite is that the unit has to play nice with two other Vexilars.  In my experience that just doesn't happen.  I'm also smitten with the large flat screen on the Humminbird and Vex units.

[jdeck]

I have used my 35 for two years , I have not needed to use the zoom feature,it does not get interference from a vex,I like my 35,no issues.sorry no help on the zoom. The only con in my opinion is the float is not on the transducer wire,a little modification and all is good.

[hnd]

well #1, my vx1 pro played well with all my buddies vexilars for 3 years.   

the zoom with the ice 35 is not really that advantageous until you are fishing in over 20 ft of water.  then on one side you are 0-20 and on the other side you can dial it in to 10-20 ft in zoom.   the only issue with the bird's zoom is that its just blowing up the image so the separation is the same. 

thats where marcum's and vexilars zooms shine.  zoom enhances the separation as well as magnifies it. 

[Kevin23]

Never had a problem with my vx around vex's either.. but choice is yours of course

Remember the bird zoom is not a zoom but an optical enlargement. It just blows up the image, it does not actually do anything extra for viewing fish (target separation). Its still 2.5" in zoom mode, where as marcum's zoom in to 0.75" (not the vx). You could get a lx-3 TC for not much more than a bird when on sale. It would be very very useful to have better than 2.5" target separation when fishing schools of panfish.

FYI a bird will not get interference from a vex or marcum, but it will mess with the vex/marcum like no other. Your buddies will likely have to leave the area. Its easier to tune out another vex/marcum than to tune out a bird if you get cross talk across the frequencies.

[Zugunruhe]

Not having been around a Humminbird, it is my understanding that they are on a separate frequency than Marcum or Vexilar, so don't create any interference with either of those units.  Vex and Marcum share the same frequency, thus the interference.

[Kevin23]

Not having been around a Humminbird, it is my understanding that they are on a separate frequency than Marcum or Vexilar, so don't create any interference with either of those units.  Vex and Marcum share the same frequency, thus the interference.

That is what they say, but I have fished next to one and had to move. Way too much interference on my marcum. I've also had interference when fishing next to a zercom using a 170khz transducer. I was able to tune out the zercom though.

[hnd]

have not really run into the issue with a bird and my marcum or vexilar.

[Knoodles]

To answer your questions specifically the HB zoom can be moved around to any 10' area.  So you can always get the bottom 5' if you want.  There are some quirky depths that you only read the bottom 6' or so as when adjusting the zoom it will go past the "bottom" of the screen.  So basically you can always get the bottom but not always the full 10' water column (I hope that makes sense). I have never had an issue zooming the depth column I want. 

[polartippah]

I have 'Bird Ice-35 and Marcum troller and get no interference from one to the other.  I also fish my Bird next to a Vex Fl-8 with no problems.

[hamms]

If you want a unit with great zoom for panfish schools or bottom huggers the LX-5 is awesome. I imagine the lx3tc is good too, The SFL is exactly that and you can drop your jig to the bottom and lift it up a half inch and see the flicker and 3/4 " and there is your bait. Not like the competition where you have a lot of guessing... I have owned the fl-8se the 18,the 20 and now the LX-5 and by far the LX has the advantage. My dad fishes with buddy who has lx-5 and dad runs vex fl-18 they have ZERO interference issues. Btw a showdown runs more power then a lx5 and no one compains about them blowing people out of the water. Hope you find one you like. Took me a while and had to get over my stuborness thoughts of what brand I had was best ...I found out otherwise. I have used the bird very little but of what I did, I was able to make my decision quick.

[Svengalli]

Hopefully I can help.

The zoom on the HB flashers is adjustable and not necessarily in 10foot increments.  The increments depend on the depth your set to display but rest assured you will always be able to zoom into the bottom if thats where you want to be.  Approximately looks like this:
When set to 20FOW the zoom areas are :
1-5, 6-11, 9-14, 12-17 or 15-20
when set to 40 FOW the zoom areas are:
1-10, 6-16, 12-22, 18-28, 24-34 or 30-40   

As for interference, absolutely none b/w a HB and Vex or vice versa. Well let me correct myself, absolutely none b/w a HB ICE FLASHER and a Vex because HBs other units like the 385ci function on the same freq as MarCums and Vexs so they will give off wicked interference but not the ice flasher series like the 35.  I fish in the same tent regularily (100's of trips now) with Vexs and MarCums and I don't give nor get any interference from them.