Reviews on RT 9

Was hoping to have some real feedback on the RT 9. Anyone on here have one and use one this winter?

I’ve only found 1 review online and it complained about terrible battery life and glitchy software…these sound like easy fixes, but we all know how Marcum handles software updates

(LX-9 owners have been waiting 3+ years now)

I’m sorry, but for the price and the fact that they were hyping it up and never launched it over a year ago, and now not so great software, they should just discontinue it and try again.

The price for it is just silly. $1700 and you don’t even get the camera part to it, not a chance! You can get an HDS9 along with all the mounting hardware everything and still be at a lower cost.

I’ve never used one. I’ve asked people that have used them what the deal is and was told that I didn’t want to go there. Truth is, I really don’t want to either. An RT5 sized digital with a couple 1/4-20 female threads that utilized the recon sized camera would be an infinitely better offering; I’d probably have two of those. The added modules are a turn-off. The protracted release was epically comical. The shuttle and bloated case remind me of my Lx7, which I hated and sold. The only good thing I’ve seen is the promotional video.

I’ve heard that the GPS works great. I’ll try and borrow one for the Mille get together.

I have an RT-9 and have been using it this winter for about 2 months. It’s an impressive unit in concept, but the software use-ability still needs refinement. Each screen has a number and menu selections for each screen can be changed to either sonar, GPS or camera. The visibility of the menu buttons is very difficult to see, especially the numbered screen which is how selections are made. Go to a retailer and you’ll see what I mean, don’t buy this unit without trying it out at a store firsthand to see if it works for you. The menu navigation is fairly straight forward but again, visibility is difficult since the font is tiny, especially in an ice house. Secondly, the battery life with a lead acid battery is about 3 hours, not very good, and less with the GPS and camera operating. I went to the K2 Energy lithium ion battery and improved my battery life dramatically. It’s very important with the lithium ion battery to buy the charger for the K2 battery as the Marcum charger that comes with the RT 9 does not charge this aftermarket battery properly. Once I bought the K2 charger, the battery life extended to at least 8-10 hours on Sonar mode. The RT is very expensive and even more so with the K2 battery. You can achieve the same results with the LX-9, with no GPS. It’s working for me and I like the integration of three options.

All the guys I have talked to on the ice say they would just buy a lx9 and separate GPS if they where to purchase again

That’s a good approach, if you have an iPad, download the Navionics Lake Maps App, use it for navigation and finding locations, then use the LX-9 to fish. The RT-9 is an much more expensive option to do the same thing. Until they enhance the software for ease of use and visibility, I’d wait to buy one.

I own a RT9 and used it all last season and the issues mentioned about glitching and battery life were not an issue for me. I made sure the tablet and external battery was charged and it would power the sonar and camera for about 7 hours. I used a 9 ah for the external. I recently found 4 12 ah batteries that I got for free so I will use them in the shack to avoid adding weight. I also used it this summer with an ice ducer and the sonar was fine when jigging on the boat. It was a hot summer and caught more walleye jigging with my Rt then i did spinning. It will glitch but a quick power down and it is good as new again. The camera is amazing to have the control on the tablet and the ability to quickly record video is a great feature. The price is a bit high for some but i compare it to a boat or golf clubs. I wouldnt spend 100 dollars on a set of golf clubs because I would only use them a couple times a year. This purchase made sense for me as I am always on the ice and like the convenience of a map sonar and camera all in one amd dont have to worry anout dropping my phone down the hole trying to use an app.
To each their own.