Author Topic: Marcum Showdown?  (Read 5057 times)

Offline icebuckboy

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Marcum Showdown?
« on: Jan 12, 2019, 05:23 PM »
Anyone on here own or have used a Marcum Showdown fish finder? They used to use it all the time on the In-Fisherman Ice Fishing Guide TV series. Thought it was pretty neat and lightweight. Looks like you can get one now for about $250-$300. I used to use 2 different Hummingbird ones for ice fishing. Don't really like the flasher types. Any help or thoughts would be appericiated.

Offline Fisherman 1

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Re: Marcum Showdown?
« Reply #1 on: Jan 12, 2019, 06:07 PM »
I had one a few years ago when they first came out, didn't take up much room in the backpack.  It's a pretty basic system, more or less a flasher straightened out into a vertical line.  After using it I found I had to watch it constantly, there's no "history" to see like on a regular graph.  Sold it and bought an X67c, much happier now.

Offline Iceattic

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Re: Marcum Showdown?
« Reply #2 on: Jan 12, 2019, 06:37 PM »
Look on eBay there is the 2.0 brand new for $185.

Offline icebuckboy

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Re: Marcum Showdown?
« Reply #3 on: Jan 12, 2019, 06:42 PM »
ok, thanks. I'll look on E-bay

Offline badger132

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Re: Marcum Showdown?
« Reply #4 on: Jan 12, 2019, 07:30 PM »
I have 2 of them- the first is just the base unit, less than #200 on EBAY. I built a wooden stand to prop it up in position next to the hole and manage the cable. I can get about 2-3 days fishing on a set of Eneloop rechargeable AAs. The second is the full deal with the neoprene case for the lead acid battery- I can't imaging how long that would run if I needed to. For my money, the simple setup with a home built stand is lighter, and works fine. I move a lot, and I can get all my gear on a small square rack on my snowmobile. Without a sled, I run faster and the equipment does not take a beating in a sled. If you ever have a problem, Marcum will fix them for about 60 bucks, and send it back in a week or 2. I would love a Panoptix, but it costs more than all of my snowmobiles and trailer, and looks like a big unit. I'm sticking with the showdown for now.

 :tipup:

Offline icebuckboy

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Re: Marcum Showdown?
« Reply #5 on: Jan 13, 2019, 05:47 AM »
thanks for the information and input badger132. good stuff.

Offline lefty2053

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Re: Marcum Showdown?
« Reply #6 on: Jan 13, 2019, 07:00 AM »
I own 2 of the 2.0 Showdowns. They are all I ever needed. I use the Zoom function to view the bottom 10 feet better and it works great for me and the wife. Had them for several years now. Had a problem with one of them and sent it in. It was fixed and has never given me any more trouble.
<===Lefty===

Offline metalligoo2

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Re: Marcum Showdown?
« Reply #7 on: Jan 13, 2019, 07:12 AM »
I had the 2.0 a few years ago and loved it. It weighed almost nothing and was easily removed from the bag mount to fit in my pocket if needed. I was fishing four to five days a week with it and have had it exposed to subzero temps for eight to ten hours at a time and it worked great. Had it buried in snow a few times and the heated screen stayed crystal clear when the Vexilar next to me had to be wiped off constantly. The only real difference that I noticed between the 2.0 and a Vexilar fl-20 was target separation, with the 2.0 your jig marks the same as a five pound walleye, but it still marks fish. For the money you can't beat it.

Offline icebuckboy

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Re: Marcum Showdown?
« Reply #8 on: Jan 13, 2019, 08:58 AM »
Thanks for the information guys. Think I'm gonna get one. Lefty 2053 when I used to live in Colorado I talked to you a few times on here. Used to ice Elevenmile, Antero, and Blue Mesa a lot. My screen name then was elkdeerbear. But moved back to my home state of Michigan and became icebuckboy.

Offline lefty2053

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Re: Marcum Showdown?
« Reply #9 on: Jan 13, 2019, 09:51 AM »
Thanks for the information guys. Think I'm gonna get one. Lefty 2053 when I used to live in Colorado I talked to you a few times on here. Used to ice Elevenmile, Antero, and Blue Mesa a lot. My screen name then was elkdeerbear. But moved back to my home state of Michigan and became icebuckboy.
Cool I remember you as Elkdeerbear. You was on the Fish Explorer as well weren't you?
<===Lefty===

Offline Flint

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Re: Marcum Showdown?
« Reply #10 on: Jan 13, 2019, 12:10 PM »
I have one for my lite weight pack in unit. It works fine.

Offline Chris338378

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Re: Marcum Showdown?
« Reply #11 on: Jan 13, 2019, 12:32 PM »
I have the Showdown Dual Beam 5.0 for the past five years and like it a lot.  It's very simple to use and understand in that the top of the screen is the top of the water column you're watching and the bottom is the bottom and anything in between is either your jig or a fish.   I get two full days (8 to 10 hours) of fishing out of it and it still has power left.  The zoom feature is really nice in that you can zoom to any part of the water column but it doesn't have the split screen option, where you can watch the zoomed area and the full water column at the same time.  The main complaint I've heard guys say is it's not a three color display, just "black and white", but that doesn't bother me.  Over all I'm happy with it and would buy it again if I was starting out.  When I bought it I paid around $350-400 for it.  Now if money wasn't an option I'd buy the LX-7 because it has the 1/2 inch target separation and you can customize your display from a history, traditional flasher face, the vertical column display, or multiple combinations of them.  I just checked on Marcum's website and they don't show the Showdown so I'm guessing they stopped making it. 

Offline UNCLEFISHHEAD

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Re: Marcum Showdown?
« Reply #12 on: Jan 13, 2019, 01:59 PM »
I've been using my showdown dual beam for for over 10 years now. Bought it when they first came out. Love it. I'm thinking of buying another transducer for it before they become obsolete. Wish they still made the dual beam, I'd buy another one.

Offline icebuckboy

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Re: Marcum Showdown?
« Reply #13 on: Jan 13, 2019, 06:04 PM »
No, they don't make the Showdown anymore, but there are a lot of them for sale online. Lefty2053, I was also on Colorado Fisherman and Fish Explorer with the same name. Lived in Colorado almost 30 years, one of the main reasons we moved back to Michigan is so many more options for lakes and fishing and a lot cheaper to live here.

Offline Chris338378

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Re: Marcum Showdown?
« Reply #14 on: Jan 13, 2019, 07:11 PM »
I've been using my showdown dual beam for for over 10 years now. Bought it when they first came out. Love it. I'm thinking of buying another transducer for it before they become obsolete. Wish they still made the dual beam, I'd buy another one.

That's a good idea.  I might get an extra wire harness and gimbal bracket just to have if I ever need to replace them.

Offline jbird68

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Re: Marcum Showdown?
« Reply #15 on: Jan 13, 2019, 11:45 PM »
When did they stop making the Showdown? I still see them on FishUSA, Cabela's, BassPro and others.


I've owned one since they first came out and were being made by Aqua-Vu .It was called the VPG (Vertical Picture Graph). I've had the software updated twice and it is now a 5.6 unit, but not dual. I love it. But about 2 years ago I lost it. That's when my son started fishing with me. He is 14 now. I've been using a Lowrance Elite-5 that was on my boat. Do this fall, I started looking for another Showdown  and found a few on the facebook marketplace. But the sellers never responded to me. So, while also searching eBay I found a Garmin EchoMap 73dv for really cheap that I plan on putting on the bow of my boat after this ice season. It will replace the elite-5. I already have a 73sv on the console. Anyway I spent the money for a second Showdown on the 73dv because I couldn't pass it up. Maybe next year I'll get another Showdown if I don't like using the 73dv on the ice.


If you find a good deal on the showdown I would get it. You won't be sorry. It's super easy to use and the battery lasts foreverrrrrrrr! Color is not a deal breaker for me. It has 16 levels of grayscale. The darker the bar the harder the return.
jbird68





Offline lefty2053

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Re: Marcum Showdown?
« Reply #16 on: Jan 14, 2019, 11:56 AM »
<===Lefty===

Offline johnb340

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Re: Marcum Showdown?
« Reply #17 on: Jan 14, 2019, 04:40 PM »
I've used a Marcum Showdown 5.6 dual beam for 8 years, same battery, and like it alot.

Offline jbird68

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Re: Marcum Showdown?
« Reply #18 on: Jan 14, 2019, 10:16 PM »
There is a guy who makes the transducer arm out of aluminum. I got one last year after breaking the plastic one for the second time. It was like $35 but not going to break aanymore. He sells them on Etsy.


Also,  my bag was getting a little beat up from freezing to the ice. So I bought some rubber spray paint and painted the bottom portion. I have yet to use it because of the lack of ice here in Illinois.
jbird68





Offline johnb340

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Re: Marcum Showdown?
« Reply #19 on: Jan 15, 2019, 09:35 AM »
I second what jbird said about the aluminum arm.  I picked up a fancy red aluminum arm on ebay 8 yrs ago, might be the same guy on etsy.

Offline lefty2053

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Re: Marcum Showdown?
« Reply #20 on: Jan 15, 2019, 11:50 AM »
There is a guy who makes the transducer arm out of aluminum. I got one last year after breaking the plastic one for the second time. It was like $35 but not going to break aanymore. He sells them on Etsy.


Also,  my bag was getting a little beat up from freezing to the ice. So I bought some rubber spray paint and painted the bottom portion. I have yet to use it because of the lack of ice here in Illinois.
Etsy??
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Offline lefty2053

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Offline johnb340

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Re: Marcum Showdown?
« Reply #22 on: Jan 15, 2019, 01:16 PM »
MasterCraftFishing all run together in the search box of etsy.  He makes different arms for different machines.

Offline jbird68

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Offline Chris338378

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Re: Marcum Showdown?
« Reply #24 on: Jan 16, 2019, 07:52 PM »
https://shop.marcumtech.com/product/showdown-troller-2-0/

Never stopped making them.

That's the Troller 2.0 model, the one that I was talking about that's discontinued, at least as far as I can tell because it's no longer listed on Marcum's website, is the full size one.  Some places still have them for sale and I'd buy another one without a second thought.  I don't know why they stopped making them because they are a good machine and super simple to use. 

Offline jbird68

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Re: Marcum Showdown?
« Reply #25 on: Jan 17, 2019, 09:21 AM »
That's the Troller 2.0 model, the one that I was talking about that's discontinued, at least as far as I can tell because it's no longer listed on Marcum's website, is the full size one.  Some places still have them for sale and I'd buy another one without a second thought.  I don't know why they stopped making them because they are a good machine and super simple to use.


Yes, I see that now. They are still available on other websites (Cabela's, FishUSA, BassPro, etc.). Maybe only until they are out of stock. I really like my Showdown. Like you said it is simple to use. 
jbird68





Offline fishinator

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Re: Marcum Showdown?
« Reply #26 on: Jan 17, 2019, 09:40 AM »
Nothing wrong with the troller model. I have the 1.0 and love it. My buddy had a 2.0 and its even better with the bottom zoom. Can't beat it for the price.
Dude.....Dude!! Greg! Wake up! You're on fire!

Offline icebuckboy

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Re: Marcum Showdown?
« Reply #27 on: Jan 18, 2019, 06:45 PM »
thanks for all the input and info.

Offline metalbender

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Re: Marcum Showdown?
« Reply #28 on: Jan 22, 2019, 03:53 PM »
Have a 2.0, does what is needed, easy to visualize like others have pointed out. Quick to drill and get a depth. Still use it when the Deeper pro + craps the battery run time. Four years on mine, no problems

 



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