Marucm digital firmware update news 02-26-16

[3300]

i just called them. their engineer's have the firmware out in the field testing it with pro staff. they found more issues with the firmware update that are being worked on before they release it to the general public. they don't want to release an update that needs a quick fix to follow up like last time.

he wanted me to know they have 3% failure rate and have over 160,000 units in the field and 80,000 are digital. the release is coming as i knew they were working on it, but some wanted more info. being it has to be on ice to field test and the ice hasn't been here that long means it hasn't been tested that long either.
he did say that many people don't fish 5 feet of water. i do only to see if they moved into shallower waters or not, but i know the limits of sonars too.

[maddogg]

Will the new firmware only address the shallow water issue? Mine works fine in 10' so I'll probably not install the firmware if that's the case.

[3300]

as far as i know that's all, yep.
they will post what changes it will have when the do finalize it.

[varmonter]

i just ordered one of th lx7 from marcum...do you think it will come with the mew firmware

[muskyon46]

I'm running the 3.17 firmware that came with my LX7 and have been very happy with it since day 1. The only thing that has bothered me is the whole 5ft thing, not that I'm fishing in 5fow but when I'm fishing deeper and want to see if anything is cruising in that 5ft zone. Many times here the muskies will cruise right under the ice looking for pannies that have not made the journey back to the bottom and them muskies get easy pickings under the ice. I usually keep a rod shallow trying for them but have not been able to connect with one YET. I don't want to create any unessesary issue with the bullet proof unit I have so I hope they can get the firm ware bugs worked out   

[3300]

they do come stock with current firmware.

i got a call from marcum and i was told they got the shallow water issue done. they need to beta test it on deep water before releasing it. he said no time frame for the release date.

meanwhile, the missing water is 2.5 feet when used in open water mode and when you keep the ducer just an inch in the water like it should be, you are missing what ever 2.5 feet is minus the ice you standing on is. so one foot of ice means your missing 1.5 feet of water.
i get clutter on my hb ice55 in that area and is worthless data and not fishable information. so i am curious if their fixed shallow water will show clutter now also. i'd rather is not show any thing instead of clutter.

looks like the end of the season is approaching fast any way. too short of a season, but at least we had one for a few weeks. good thing these work on boats and kayaks!

these are the links, but it's still 2 year old firmware.
lx-6
http://marcumtech.com/lx-6-firmware

lx-7
http://marcumtech.com/lx-7-firmware

lx-9
http://marcumtech.com/lx-9-firmware

[3300]

I'm running the 3.17 firmware that came with my LX7 and have been very happy with it since day 1. The only thing that has bothered me is the whole 5ft thing, not that I'm fishing in 5fow but when I'm fishing deeper and want to see if anything is cruising in that 5ft zone. Many times here the muskies will cruise right under the ice looking for pannies that have not made the journey back to the bottom and them muskies get easy pickings under the ice. I usually keep a rod shallow trying for them but have not been able to connect with one YET. I don't want to create any unessesary issue with the bullet proof unit I have so I hope they can get the firm ware bugs worked out   

you might want to know about a newer firmware for yours if yours is using that old of version 3.17.

LX-7 Firmware
 LX-7 Software Update v4.07 (Release Date. Jan. 20th 2014)
System requirements – PC only computer with 2.0 USB port and a 2.0 USB cable. Do not attempt upgrade without 2.0 port or cable.

This new version (4.07) will update your LX-7 to the most current system performance improvements.

Manual Dynamic Range – Adjustable in one-foot increments.

Transducer offset added in one-inch increments.

Default to 6 color mode.

[icecaptain14]

slow day on the ice so I played around with the lx-7 and came to realize I did what ppl have said bout the shallow water feature I had my transducer 2 inches down the hole turned the mode to open water set my offset to 2 inches and I had my lure reading at 2.5 ft below the water you may have to turn the sensitivity up a little bit

[Deal Ninja]

Guys, I asked Marcum about the firmware update on their fb page last week.  This was the response I just received today(Thanks Marcum!). - "Due to ice conditions last season MarCum was unable to get the amount of testing we would typically perform to ensure with 100% certainty there were no bugs or problems with the new firmware. A release will be available for the upcoming ice season. As of now we do not have a scheduled release date, but it will be available before the lakes ice over."

Mark

[3300]

thanks for the report mark!

that's what they were saying all last ice season. i understand why they don't want to release code that has more bugs than fix's. it's expensive and they don't want to pay the developers that huge amount of money if it's buggy.
being able to test it fully is why it hasn't been released (in their words). their testers have not said it was ready for release and so they probably are reporting more bugs that need to be worked out, presumably.
what i was told is that the majority of top issues have been resolved, such as the shallow water issue, but that it is not known if it caused other issues as of yet.
marcum saying it will be released before ice seems strange to say the least. this would mean they could have released it all of this year or ending of last ice, if they don't feel the need to test it any further.

i can fish mine with out the update, but would be a nicer unit if we didn't have to use the "work around's".

[Loudmouth879]

totally forgot about the update for the marcum... good thing i noticed this thread. Finally got a good understanding of how to use the unit at the end of the season can't wait to use it this year