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Versa Electronics 

www.marcumtech.com 

Using your Sonar in conjunction with an underwater viewing system is a great way 

to learn how to interpret your sonar signals. 

READING FISH

— Fish will generally appear as separate targets from the bottom. 

Depending on the size of the fish and the location within the transmit beam 

they can show as any of the colors in the palette you are using.  RED 

indicates the strongest signal on all the color palettes, and this generally 

indicates a fish directly below the transducer.  Smaller fish or fish on the 

outside of the cone may appear orange, yellow, or even green or blue.  Fish 

moving through the transmit beam may change color as the return signal 

strengthens or weakens reflecting their location. 

Some fish, like walleyes, are notorious for cruising right on the bottom.  The 

Marcum Digital Sonar has target separation fine enough that it will generally show 

bottom hugging fish as a separate signal. However, fish that are right on the bottom 

can appear as part of the bottom. The best indication of a fish sitting right on the 

bottom is that the leading edge of the bottom return signal is a thin band of a color 

other than red, possibly dithering or flickering. It is important that the sensitivity be 

kept to a minimum when displaying a strong bottom return. Having your sensitivity 

too high will flood out the ability to differentiate targets and clutter the display. 

Utilizing the ZOOM feature can give you a magnified look at the bottom when  this is 

happening, and help you better learn what is going on below you. 

Schooling fish, like panfish, will sometimes group in large numbers suspended off 

the bottom. A big school of fish concentrated in one portion of the water column 

can show on your sonar as one large “blob”, and it can be difficult to pick out 

individual targets. Zooming in on the zone with the most fish will give you better 

definition, and switching to the 8 degree cone will eliminate signals from fish on the 

periphery of your area, improving your definition even more. 

READING LURES AND JIGS

— The Marcum Digital Sonar will pick up and display 

the smallest of lures and jigs. When tuning the unit to display your lure, lower it to the 

desired depth and turn up the SENS until you see the lure or bait on the display. It is 

important that the SENS be set so it displays the lure or bait as you raise or lower it. 

Once you have the SENS set where you want it, you can fine- tune your signals by 

using the TARGET ADJUST button. 

NOTE: When tuning the unit to display lures or bait, make sure that the objects are 

in the center of the hole and therefore in the center of the transmit beam. If there is 

current (some lakes and all rivers have underwater current or  movement) and the 

lure doesn’t weigh much, it may move to the outer edge of the signal or out of the 

transmit beam altogether. This will make it difficult or impossible to pick it up on the 

display.  You may find it difficult to mark your jig in shallow water, or when it 

is just below the ice.  See the section on shallow water fishing for more info. 

The Marcum Digital Sonar has sensitivity that will enable it to display the smallest 

ice jigs, as well as sinkers and swivels. The target separation of the Digital Sonar 

is down to 3/4". This means that two objects that are more than 3/4" apart can 

show as two separate signals on your display. If you have a strike and fail to 

hook the fish, you can even determine if you still have bait on your jig, or if you 

have to reel up and re-bait based upon how the signal appears. 

Summary of Contents for LX-6s

Page 1: ...LX 6s LX 7 Digital Sonar Marcum LX 6s Marcum LX 7 User Manual ...

Page 2: ...me to a stop as we usher in a new era in ice fishing electronics The Marcum Digital Sonar These units are the most advanced ice fishing sonars ever designed and now that you own one you re about to see why With a customizable dashboard display superior target separation 12 level interference rejection dual beam transducer adjustable zoom and much more the Marcum Digital Sonar is the perfect combin...

Page 3: ...as a transducer arm The adjustable transducer arm allows for maximum flexibility in positioning the Digital Sonar around the ice hole and can even be moved to the other side of the shuttle Using the Marcum Digital Sonar can be as simple as turning it on the factory settings will come on automatically and allow you to use the Digital Sonar in the most popular configuration Be sure to explore all of...

Page 4: ... the charger If the light is red the battery is being charged When your battery is fully charged this red light should change to green If it is time to go fishing and the light has not turned green go fish and try to allow a longer charging period next time Batteries are an expendable item and must be replaced periodically The batteries that we use are the Sealed Lead Acid variety they are 12 volt...

Page 5: ...ucer inside and close the protective soft pack FISHING IN SHALLOW WATER The Marcum Digital Sonar is designed to be an effective fishing tool in a wide variety of environments Most of the time simply turning on the unit at factory default settings is all that is necessary Shallow water 10 feet or less can be problematic without making a few adjustments If you are having trouble getting optimal perf...

Page 6: ... and a bar will appear at the bottom of your display Pressing the UP DOWN will adjust your sensitivity and the sensitivity setting will now be digitally displayed on the SENS gauge The best SENS setting is achieved by turning up your sensitivity until you receive a clear and steady bottom reading To see your lure or bait turn up the SENS some more until you just begin to display your bait without ...

Page 7: ... the portion of the water column you would like to zoom in on The actual size of the Zoom window can be adjusted in the Main Menu The Zoom feature allows you to focus the display on a specific depth within the water column and can be a great benefit in a variety of fishing situations Seetheseparate ZOOMsectionbelowformoreinfoontheZOOM Whenever you are utilizing the ZOOMmenu keep in mind that it ti...

Page 8: ... the Sonar Footprint will change with it TARGET ADJUST This feature allows the angler to change the size of the signals being displayed without increasing the sensitivity The TARGET ADJUST feature will give you the smallest signal size at 0 and the signals displayed will get thicker as you increasetheTARGETADJUST This featureshouldbeusedin conjunctionwith theSENStofine tuneyour display Thosewhohav...

Page 9: ...ter performance if you select open water mode MAX PING RATE Adjusting this setting will increase the response time of signals from your transducer to the screen If fishing shallow water less than 20 feet use the lower settings Likewise you will see better performance with the higher settings in deeper water TRANSDUCER OFFSET This will allow you to have true a depth measurement no matter how far be...

Page 10: ...ackgrounds you choose which one you prefer here The Night option is great for low light periods or when in a darkened shack SYSTEMS SETTINGS is the third sub menu and it has the following features that may be adjusted LANGUAGE Choose between English or French UNITS Choose between feet or meters SIMULATOR The Digital Sonar has a simulator mode that will portray a variety of different depths and sig...

Page 11: ...he water This simulator represents an open water experience so the depths and signals will change as it goes through the simulation When using your Digital Sonar in open water in a moving boat it is typical to mark fish as a hook or arch shape When stationary as in ice fishing your signals of both your jig and the fish will show as lines of varying thicknesses You may also experiment with settings...

Page 12: ...e factory default screen open Flasher in center Vertical Display on left Vertical Zoom on right The area that is featured on the Zoom Display is indicated by the Zoom Indicator Bar a light blue bar on the right side of the Vertical Display When you press the ZOOM button a Zoom Depth window will appear at the bottom of the screen This is where you set the uppermost limit of the Zoom Display by pres...

Page 13: ...degree and the Sonar Footprint will change with it Conditions where the narrow beam will benefit you are 1 Fishing in deep water over 40 2 Fishing along very steep drop offs for bottom hugging walleyes 3 Fishing in big schools of fish like suspended crappies 4 Fishing in and around heavy weeds or standing timber 5 When fishing in a crowd the narrow beam will reduce interference INTERPRETING SIGNAL...

Page 14: ...tom A big school of fish concentrated in one portion of the water column can show on your sonar as one large blob and it can be difficult to pick out individual targets Zooming in on the zone with the most fish will give you better definition and switching to the 8 degree cone will eliminate signalsfrom fish on the peripheryofyourarea improving your definitionevenmore READINGLURESANDJIGS The Marcu...

Page 15: ...when you are on the ice but making this change will back off the gain curve allowing better performance in certain ice fishing conditions Finally you should also consider changing the color palette from the default six color palette to one of the three color palettes HOW TO DECIDE WHICH CONFIGURATION TO USE With 5 different sonar windows along with a plethora of other settings it can be hard to de...

Page 16: ...raph The interpretation of these signals improves with experience and use in the field BATTERY CHARGER TROUBLESHOOTING A majority of inquiries that come to our office are battery or battery charger related Battery failure can be caused by a fault in the charging system and many times the issue is with the fuse on the wiring harness If you suspect your battery is not being charged follow these trou...

Page 17: ...PLICATION The Marcum Digital Sonar is just at home on a boat as it is in your ice shack The Universal Transducer sold separately is designed to be mounted right to your boat s transom or to the lower unit of a bow mounted trolling motor This design makes it easy for you to use your Digital Sonar for high speed scouting work or for breaking down structure one piece at a time You will be able to ide...

Page 18: ... form included in the box with your unit If you enclose this form in the box with your unit there is no need to contact our office just include the filled out form in the shipping box Some people are more comfortable calling for shipping instructions During peak ice season we sometimes receive a high volume of calls making it impossible to get to all customers who phone in For this reason strongly...

Page 19: ...rotect your Digital Sonar from rain and snow with this clear snowshield Open Water Transducer Use your Digital Sonar all year This ducer mounts on the transom or trolling motor of your boat These items can be ordered off our website www marcumtech com The customer is responsible for shipping costs associated with returning the unit to Marcum Technologies Marcum will pay for shipping the repaired u...

Page 20: ...www marcumtech com MARCUM TECHNOLOGIES 3943 QUEBEC AVE NORTH MINNEAPOLIS MN 55427 763 512 3987 International 888 778 1208 MarCum User Manuals are available for download from www marcumtech com ...

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