Livescope vs. ActiveTarget, Mega Live and other questions

Looking at getting a Livescope or similar this year for icefishing and have a few questions:

1.) What is better, Livescope, Active Target, Mega Live, or other?

2.) When is the best time to buy, now, during a icefishing show, or later?

3.) Is the any other things I should he looking into?

Live target?

For most guys it depends what units are on your boat. I only ice fish, I felt the garmin livescope was the best for me. The factory shuttle is ok, not great. Neither is their pole set up. A proper lifepo4 battery is a must regardless of what unit you buy. There are better aftermarket shuttle and pole systems out there.

With shortages, I wouldn’t wait. With garmin they set the pricing. Buying used is risky unless you know the person, and even then who knows.

I saw livesight on a friends boat. It’s ok, I think with a few updates it will work fine. Garmin has been the leader in this field, they have a technology sharing agreement with lowrance. Mega 360 is starting to show up, look at all three and decide what’s best for you.

Go to Russel Marine on line and watch watch some of their you tube videos. They do a good job explaining the differences. Both Lowrance and Garmin a real close.

Ripjiggen wrote:

Go to Russel Marine on line and watch watch some of their you tube videos. They do a good job explaining the differences. Both Lowrance and Garmin a real close.

+1 They do an excellent job reviewing all new electronics and motors. Very good source.

Cameron white wrote:

For most guys it depends what units are on your boat. I only ice fish, I felt the garmin livescope was the best for me. The factory shuttle is ok, not great. Neither is their pole set up. A proper lifepo4 battery is a must regardless of what unit you buy. There are better aftermarket shuttle and pole systems out there.

With shortages, I wouldn’t wait. With garmin they set the pricing. Buying used is risky unless you know the person, and even then who knows.

Thanks!

What are some of the better pole and shuttle set ups?

What model Lifepo battery for this?

usmarine0352 wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Cameron white wrote:</div>
For most guys it depends what units are on your boat. I only ice fish, I felt the garmin livescope was the best for me. The factory shuttle is ok, not great. Neither is their pole set up. A proper lifepo4 battery is a must regardless of what unit you buy. There are better aftermarket shuttle and pole systems out there.

With shortages, I wouldn’t wait. With garmin they set the pricing. Buying used is risky unless you know the person, and even then who knows.

Thanks!

What are some of the better pole and shuttle set ups?

What model Lifepo battery for this?

Full disclosure, I distribute amped batteries in Canada so I’m biased. Most people want enough life to get through a day of fishing, I recommend a 30ah at a minimum. The 32 in 14.4 volt has been a great choice for most, but you get a shorter life out of it. Most get the 30.

Shuttles, summit makes a great system. I use their bag and pole system. I like the fact that it collapses short for the ice and for transport. We have a local guy that makes an aluminum shuttle that works really well, lots of good ideas and leads on the fb garmin pages.

Full disclosure, I distribute amped batteries in Canada so I’m biased. Most people want enough life to get through a day of fishing, I recommend a 30ah at a minimum. The 32 in 14.4 volt has been a great choice for most, but you get a shorter life out of it. Most get the 30.

Shuttles, summit makes a great system. I use their bag and pole system. I like the fact that it collapses short for the ice and for transport. We have a local guy that makes an aluminum shuttle that works really well, lots of good ideas and leads on the fb garmin pages.
[/quote]

So what is better for long battery life, 30 or 32?

I couldn’t find the name of the aluminum shuttle maker, what is the name?

TIA

usmarine0352 wrote:

Full disclosure, I distribute amped batteries in Canada so I’m biased. Most people want enough life to get through a day of fishing, I recommend a 30ah at a minimum. The 32 in 14.4 volt has been a great choice for most, but you get a shorter life out of it. Most get the 30.

Shuttles, summit makes a great system. I use their bag and pole system. I like the fact that it collapses short for the ice and for transport. We have a local guy that makes an aluminum shuttle that works really well, lots of good ideas and leads on the fb garmin pages.

So what is better for long battery life, 30 or 32?

I couldn’t find the name of the aluminum shuttle maker, what is the name?

TIA
[/quote]

Search arc lab motor sports in Winnipeg. He ships stateside.

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As for battery life, the 32 will give you longer run time, but you have to decide if it’s the right battery for you. They also have a 48ah that fits the factory shuttle for really long runtime. But not cheap. All depends on your budget.

Jay Seimens has a great video comparing Livescope and Livesight side-by-side, from the few videos i’ve seen of Humminbird Live View, imo it looks like an absolute joke, but at least they figured out how to get rid of the Black Brain Box (although you can see the limitations in doing so) perhaps it pushes Garmin and Lowrance to figure out how to remove theirs as well (this will result in needing much more powerful (and expensive) head units though)….

I run a 93UHD Livescope setup with the Garmin shuttle and an 18ah Amped battery and Summit 5′ pole system.

I’ll be using my Summit pole and shuttle system this weekend and will post reports on how it works.

I will need to upgrade batteries as I’m running two Marcum Brute’s….one for the graph and one for the Livescope black box. It’s what I have at home and wanted to get the system running before I buy another expensive component. I’m hoping to get close to a day (12 hours) on the black box. The graph will go 2 days on that battery.

I like the Summit shuttle and bag….it’s light and keeps the total weight down. With the black box the whole setup is HEAVY! The 3D printed shuttle is pretty cool and went together easy outside of reaming a few holes out.

Matt Moen wrote:

I’ll be using my Summit pole and shuttle system this weekend and will post reports on how it works.

I will need to upgrade batteries as I’m running two Marcum Brute’s….one for the graph and one for the Livescope black box. It’s what I have at home and wanted to get the system running before I buy another expensive component. I’m hoping to get close to a day (12 hours) on the black box. The graph will go 2 days on that battery.

I like the Summit shuttle and bag….it’s light and keeps the total weight down. With the black box the whole setup is HEAVY! The 3D printed shuttle is pretty cool and went together easy outside of reaming a few holes out.

So, you bought a bare Livescope and added the shuttle carrier vs. icefishing package that comes with a carrier?

I’m not answering for Matt Moen, but I pieced everything together individually for my Livescope summer/winter kit. Buying individually stopped me from wasting money on the heavy SLA battery and crappy pole system that comes with the Garmin kit. I was also able to find great deals during Black Friday weekend and even found several pieces tax free on the internet. I would personally wait a few months for the $200 LVS-32 rebate to most likely happen again this fall…I preferred the Garmin shuttle & case over the Summit Shuttle & case because it better fit inside my Otter Monster box and because it wasn’t a bunch of screwed together 3rd printed plastic pieces. Do know that Summit has great customer service if you ever did run into issues. My Livescope icekit weighs 20.5 lbs with everything zipped up inside.