Old Electronics. The Good Ole' Days

Was talking to one of my friends Scott about some of the old crap we used. Funny to think back to some of this and the dam car batteries that we pulled on those sleds for miles on Mendota chasing perch. I sure do miss the Lowrance Green box.Caught a crap load of perch with that thing.

Few funny things from past years:

I was offered $100. cash on the spot for my old SiTex on Mendota. Considering I think I paid about $60 for it, I laughed until i got to the store to buy another one. SiTex wasn’t available anymore and I had to but this new company called Vexilar. Their POS F-8 cost me about $119. Gost screwed in that deal and forced into the color wheel crap LOL

I was the first person I ever knew of to take a “GRAPH” out on the ice. I bought a SiTEX graph (non-paper) for lake MI. Took it off the boat and set it up on a 5 gallon bucket. Was like carrying a dang old tube TV around.

Anyways, surfin the web today, I stumbled accross pics of electronics I used over the years on the ice. Oh, forgot the Eagle paper graph. I ran rolls of paper ice fishing back in the day

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Kinda funny how the FL-8 is virtually unchanged!

Ralph Wiggum wrote:

Kinda funny how the FL-8 is virtually unchanged!

Yea they are pretty much bullet proof.

who had the crazy idea of adding color??? That was bizarre to me the first time I tried it. Still like the plain orange!!!!!

I’m pretty sure I have a green box and the next generation box in the shed at my mom’s house.

Randy Wieland wrote:

Their POS F-8 cost me about $119.

C’mon Randy, My F-8 has been bulletproof, especially since it has not been used in about 4 years…LOL.

Loved using that thing on Mendota. Helped me catch a bunch of perch away from the crowds.

Sitex,Hondex,Micronaur,and Vexilar,think I ‘ve owned every version of the fl-8,gotta be the “870” of the icefishing world.I think only the old mod 30 jiffy has been in more icefisherman’s arsenal!!

diesel wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Randy Wieland wrote:</div>
Their POS F-8 cost me about $119.

C’mon Randy, My F-8 has been bulletproof, especially since it has not been used in about 4 years…LOL.

Loved using that thing on Mendota. Helped me catch a bunch of <strong class=”ido-tag-strong”>perch away from the crowds.

I was just pizzd cause the price jump for color. Who needed 3 colors to see fish???

Randy Wieland wrote:

I was the first person I ever knew of to take a “GRAPH” out on the ice. I bought a SiTEX graph (non-paper) for lake MI. Took it off the boat and set it up on a 5 gallon bucket. Was like carrying a dang old tube TV around.

I must have been close time-wise……
Back in the 80’s I took a Humminbird LCR…The one with 1/8″ pixels….used a motorcycle battery and used it on Green Bay for Perch….Used it mostly to find depth but it worked like a charm….

Randy Wieland wrote:

Oh, forgot the Eagle paper graph. I ran rolls of paper ice fishing back in the day

Whatever became of Eagle? I remember back in the 80’s and 90’s, they were one of the top brands. I lost track of what happened, not around at all today.

diesel wrote:

Loved using that thing on Mendota. Helped me catch a bunch of <strong class=”ido-tag-strong”>perch away from the crowds.

Speaking of “The good ole’ days”, Mendota and the Madison chain was famous for the #’s of jumbo perch available. That was a long time ago. I think by the early 1980’s they were all but gone. Have they ever made much of a comeback?

My dad had one of the Gen 2 Lowrance portables, the next version after the green box, it was that harvest gold color like the old appliances.

We were amazed the first time we took it ice fishing at just how much it showed when everything was still and no motor interference and the water is cold and dense. You could see your jig or ice fly go down, you could honestly see fish come up, etc.

I’ve wondered more than a few times how the old Fish Lo-ka-Tor would do in a head to head against a Vexilar. Yes, no pretty colors, but how much better did a flasher really get in 40 years?

Grouse

Whatever became of Eagle?

They became Lowrance.

I still remember getting kicked out of a small hometown ice tournament in the mid-90’s for using the Eagle Fish ID Plus from my boat mounted to a Genz Box. They said it was cheating, even though I had yet to catch a fish, and everyone else had a Vex.

https://www.terapeak.com/worth/eagle-fish-i-d-plus-finder-serial-number-jb-001-9145-fishing-boat-outdoor-usa/252597516433/

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

I’ve wondered more than a few times how the old Fish Lo-ka-Tor would do in a head to head against a Vexilar. Yes, no pretty colors, but how much better did a flasher really get in 40 years?

Grouse

I don’t think much from a generic appearance. I could mark tiny 5″ perch near the bottom in almost 60′ of water. Could mark my kast master spoon or a button on my line avove a mendota rig. Only difference now is the frequency, power, and separation. But then, I could tell the difference on my green box between 2 tiny perch looking and 1 big perch eating

munchy wrote:

Whatever became of Eagle?

They became Lowrance.

Oh…but Lowrance obviously was around back then too. Did Lowrance buy Eagle and then put their name on the Eagle fishfinders? I hade several back in the day and still have a portable version that used those big lantern batteries. Speaking of, can you find those lantern batteries anymore?

You forgot this beauty.Back in the days where you hand fashioned just about everything.And some stuff ended up pretty heavy.

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Walleyestudent Andy Cox wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Munchy wrote:</div>

Whatever became of Eagle?

They became Lowrance.

Oh…but Lowrance obviously was around back then too. Did Lowrance buy Eagle and then put their name on the Eagle fishfinders? I hade several back in the day and still have a portable version that used those big lantern batteries. Speaking of, can you find those lantern batteries anymore?

You mean 6 volt batteries like this? Easy to find.

milemark_714 wrote:

You forgot this beauty.Back in the days where you hand fashioned just about everything.And some stuff ended up pretty heavy.

Had 1 of those on 2 different boats. Thought I had died on gone to heaven when I got it. Woo hoo! Fish can’t hide now. They still could have lock jaw thought.

Just thinking about the old green box which was my first sonar device. Hard to believe I was able to swing it back then at over $300.00 in early 70s money. I was just married living in an apartment working 30hrs. a week and going to college three days a week. My wife was a sweet heart then and still is supporting my fishing and hunting obssesion. Used that original unit for many years and boats. First as a transom unit, then on trolling motor when LCRs came out, then soldered wires to the battery board and hard wired it to the console of my Monark bass boat. It went with the boat when I sold it. Wish I still had it for the shelf in my man cave just for the nostalgia.
Had a few Eagle units including a paper graph. First unit I could draw lines on the screen with my jig and could see the thermocline. Eagle was just another brand used by Lowrance to market a unit with slightly fewer features at a lower price point. My last one was a 5″ LCR with sonar that I sold to a friend. Bought his boat last spring so got it back plus the on board charger and power pedestal he bought from me over time. Sorry to say the green box was probably the first and last unit that I totally understood. Since then I think stuff has gotten way too complicated. Maybe now that I’m retired I’ll have the time to figure out the Helix 10 Chirp mega si gps g2n I’m planning to buy this spring.