Another flasher question

[EVAN NIM]

I'm looking at buying a flasher

I like the look of the digital garmin 5 striker but I want to know if the basic Analog marcum 3 is a better choice because of the power
I sometimes believe buying into a product that focus their energy at 1 thing vs multiple things is a better choice
What would you guys recommend?
The garmin has other features and a digital flasher but does the flasher do as good as job as say a marcum or vex?

[ToonFisher]

I just got a garmin striker 4 fish finder portable pack, intended as the backup for marcum lx5 flasher. After trying out for perch at blackstrap,  lx5 becomes the backup of striker 4 even though the garmin is about half the cost.

[canada]

I think I saw garmin on the costco site.  I dont know what its like but all the garmin stuff I have works great.

I have hummingbird ice 55   No complaints

[sask187]

I have a lx6 and wouldn’t say marcum is anything to brag about. They do work well but are not as convenient to use as other brands carrying case is to small and no proper storage for transducer cord is annoying. I’ve never used the lithium shuttle that would likely fix any complaints I have. 

[3300]

i won't go back to any mechanical flasher after using digital sonar even tho i still own a hb ice-55. the graph is a deal breaker and being able to choose from 6 charts that you can display 4 of at one time is also a deal breaker on the marcum digital heads. can be used year round with their high speed transducer.
i think the only thing missing from garmin is the gps. most of us have smart phones and don't need an extra gps.

marcum lithium shuttle uses no carry case so that is all you have to do for your lx6 now. the handle on your shuttle is where you wrap the spare transducer cable.

[ToonFisher]

I ordered garmin striker 4 portable kit for 299 delivered by ups within a week. Here is the side by side comparison with marcum analog lx5 flasher.

Garmin needs assembly of the mount and battery, and the instructions are very poor. Marcum works out of the box.

Both are overkill to find fish.

Marcum show echoes as thin bars, the larger the lure or fish, more bars. There are also 3 colors for strength of signal.
Garmin use an ovals to indicate objects. There is color for signal strength, depth and width of oval for size. In comparison, marcum show bars with the same width.

Both are readable outside shelter. Only garmin has brightness adjustment. Marcum is too bright and flashing for eye health.

Garmin has sonar history as it is a fish finder. Marcum does not.

Garmin can show both frequencies while marcum yxe one at a time.

Garmin looks and feels like an old Nintendo Mario game, while marcum only finds fish.

[ToonFisher]

I forgot something. Garmin digital striker has GPS while marcum analog lx5 does not.

Garmin remembers previous settings while marcum does not.

Garmin can be used on boat but the analog marcum does not.

[Mancaveburnett]

I have had my marcum lx5i for a few years now. If I was in the market i would look at the helix 7. Although what I love about the marcum is you turn it on and go

[jigapoolza]

I have a Marcum LX7 now and really like watching the graph instead of a round dial . If I was buying something new it would be a Humminbird Helix 5 or 7 for the gps and live mapping in the summertime and being able to watch a graph .

[3300]

I forgot something. Garmin digital striker has GPS while marcum analog lx5 does not.

Garmin remembers previous settings while marcum does not.

Garmin can be used on boat but the analog marcum does not.

marcum digital has save user profile in it's menu except for the lx9. i miss it in my lx9, but it always goes back to how i used it the last time, so it's not needed unless changing the battery maybe.

[EVAN NIM]

i won't go back to any mechanical flasher after using digital sonar even tho i still own a hb ice-55. the graph is a deal breaker and being able to choose from 6 charts that you can display 4 of at one time is also a deal breaker on the marcum digital heads. can be used year round with their high speed transducer.
i think the only thing missing from garmin is the gps. most of us have smart phones and don't need an extra gps.

marcum lithium shuttle uses no carry case so that is all you have to do for your lx6 now. the handle on your shuttle is where you wrap the spare transducer cable.

(Image removed from quote.)

Thanks for all the feedback
What unit is that photo of?

[3300]

it's a lx9, but will be the same for lx6 thru lx9. the lx9 just has a camera so the screen doubles up for the camera display. the lx7 and lx9 are the same except for the firmware and camera and both are an 8 inch screen where the lx6 is a 6 inch screen and 3/4 inch target separation and the lx7/9 has 1/2 inch target separation.

recommend getting a lithium battery if you go with the standard shuttle or any brand sonar. it is lighter and keeps a steadier voltage and has 2000 + recharge cycles.

something to think about is the marcum lithium shuttle has a power on/off. when you use this shuttle the head unit can not save how you used it last because the off switch removes power to the head completely like swapping out batteries would do.

[EVAN NIM]

Is there big difference in signal strength between something like a garmin striker with ice fishing transducer vs a marcum  ? Does this give you better signal and seperation etc?

[3300]

not sure. i never looked for any thing to replace the lx9. it does what i want it to do and then some. i don't want electronics for open water fishing because i always cat to shore so i don't need mapping or gps or sonar at all.
you can look up wattage and target separation on what ever else your thinking about getting into. things more important are interference rejection and graph and cone angles and if they are single or dual beam. dual beam is important to me and i prefer to use the narrow band the most.

check at garmins site for their info. i am looking forward to seeing what garmin does with their livescope tech. if they can miniaturize it more and make it less weight and bulk. that could be my next upgrade some day, but not they way it is designed right now.

i don't know anything about the garmin you have picked out, but if i had to recommend between a flasher or a digital sonar, i would pick the digital sonar. i do like gramin products too and looking forward to what they can do for us.

[saskbucks]

I have a Marcum LX7 now and really like watching the graph instead of a round dial . If I was buying something new it would be a Humminbird Helix 5 or 7 for the gps and live mapping in the summertime and being able to watch a graph .

I sold my ICE35 which was a great flasher and upgraded to an ICE HELIX 7 for the same reasons as above.  It can be used in the summer as well.  I’m really excited to use the auto mapping feature.

[EVAN NIM]

Im not 100% sure of the wattage, but i think around 1500?
I do think the target seperation is 2”
They use what they call is chirp technology, i believe it is a 19deg cone
But they have quite a few different cone size/degree’s

What is the benefit lf a dual cone?

[3300]

the bigger the target separation, the bigger the line it draws on screen and the target needs to be 2 inches away from another target before it can detect it. so smaller is better. for example perch like to hug the bottom and if they are stay under 2 inches off bottom you will never see them.
my humminbird ice-55 has a 2 inch target separation and it draws very thick lines to represent the tiny jigs i use. it reads as 3+ feet on the display. some call them blobs instead of fine lines.

dual cone means you can use the wide angle to look for fish say for scouting to sit on them and fish. then you can turn the cone angle to narrow band and weed out info that maybe not needed, more so on a slop or weeds or plankton or tree falls ect. it is also best for deep water.
19 degrees is wide angle for ice transducers and it is not what i would spend on. 8/9 degrees is much better most of the time, like 90% for me.

as you said about sonar made for specific jobs you are right, open water units are designed for open water, but they want the ice fishing people to buy their products so they now make ice bundles or packages or make an ice transducer available.

ice sonar are designed for ice and want open water to buy their products, so they offer high speed transducers.

wattage is like a dimable light bulb. the more wattage it has the better it can work and not have to struggle or work harder, but you keep it turned down to just see your jig and bottom. the fish will just show up when they swim in. this also depends on how sensitive the crystal is in the transducer.

you should research more about how you might want to use one and then watch you tube to see how they work when you have it narrowed down more. i think most videos won't talk about the shortcomings of what ever they bought and that is on you to try to discover what those might be and if it will affect your style of fishing with one or not.

also, go to a store that may have them on display so you can see them and get a better read on them or if you see other sonars on ice see if the owner cares to talk about his choice. don't be surprised if you see old school flashers on ice more than new digital units.
here is a poll done by a mod that may help you some.
https://www.iceshanty.com/ice_fishing/index.php?topic=331371.0

a word of advice, look into repair costs for out of warranty repairs. i think you'll be shocked.