Can someone attending the St.Paul iceshow please ask the Marcum guys where the hell is the LX9 software update? Last update was January 2014!!!!! Are you serious Marcum?!? There’s tons of things to fix in the LX9 interface and screen views!
Their firmware update page says it all, I’d be embarrassed to list the last LX9 upgrade date as well!
IMG_6273.png
Yeah – no word from Marcum.
On a related note, looks like 2 of the most prominent folks from MarCum that highly promoted the LX-6 thru LX-9 line (Steve Hanson & Jon Marshall) have departed MarCum to form their own Sporting Goods marketing company (Marshall and Hanson), and MarCum isn’t one of their partners.
I wonder, with these recent departures does that mean the MarCum line is going to get less attention?
Personally, I’d like to see humminbird buy them. As long as they continued to service them locally, I’d be pretty happy.
Well that seems like big news…maybe things have been in a tailspin internally for some time…this might explain why things seem to move at a snails pace over there. I’ve suddenly lost faith the LX9 folks will get any love this short winter season that is about to pass us by once again.
Somebody at the show please put them on the spot! (I’m unable to attend this year)
I was one of the early adopters of the LX 7 and got tired of of waiting for updates. I sold my LX7 end of last season. I do have 3 other Marcum ice sonars. I think digital is the future but i will wait till I here people loving the LX7 and LX9 and maybe i be back
If I was an LX9 owner I would be upset. If I go to the show I will light em up a bit (professionally of course)
Bob
Hello Marcum!
No response from the IDO promotion Department for Marcum Products here? must be a sign.
Any they want folks to pony up $1,600 for an silly RT9 tablet after showing how they treat the folks who purchased the LX9 for $1,200? Fool me once…
That is why I am a Vexilar guy myself. No software updates, simple and extremely trustworthy. Never had a problem with my fl-20 or flx-28. Relatively cheap and durable.
well, to be fair, Marcum’s analog flashers works just fine so the Vex comparison is moot imo…Digital offered hope of an ever expanding list of capabilities and enhancements AFTER you opened the box, Marcum just hasn’t fully delivered on that promise…
Any they want folks to pony up $1,600 for an silly RT9 tablet after showing how they treat the folks who purchased the LX9 for $1,200? Fool me once…
Maybe I fell down on the ice a few too many times as a youth to figure this out. My LX-9 performs perfectly. I had updates made available to me when I first got it. 1st thing out of the box, it had a couple glitches. Ran the updates and issue resolved. No problems, no issues, no need for another “update”. So if there is no problems with my unit and it operates perfectly, why would there be a need to be upset that there isn’t a “Current” update?
I don’t see it any different from my Plantronics headset. It had a couple of bluetooth glitches when I first installed it. Would randomly drop or not answer calls. I ran the Plantronics update patches for it and it operates flawlessly for over a year. Do I call Plantronics customer service and complain that they didn’t provide me with a newer update because nothing is wrong?:???::???::???:
Did your Plantronics headset market it’s ability to upgrade in the future as one of it’s main selling points? Promising that new enahancements and features would be “frequently released” after your purchased it? I’m focused on the promised enhancements, not issues, as fixing defects should be a requirement by a company if it has the means to do so, Marcum Digital series does via USB…
There are many things that could be improved with the LX9 interface (I and others have documented them in other threads and passed then onto to Marcum years ago)
The last LX9 update was released on: LX-9 Software Update v2.31 (Release Date. Jan 20th 2014) not very “frequent” ?:?:???::??
I guess your right. Plantronics didn’t use the term “enhancement”
MyHeadset Updater
Get the latest firmware, change language, sensor, and other settings on your headset using your USB cable, laptop, and the easy Plantronics MyHeadset Updater online tool.
What enhancements were promised on the LX-9? I know a lot of us expressed our wish list. Myself included. I wish they offered 2 or 3 user programable buttons for using a pre-sets, similar to the lower buttons on the H/bird 1100 series. But i never read a specific promise for a specific enhancement. If there was one, i would like to know what it was.
Let’s face it folks…with the RT-9 now out, they will probably have no desire to try and make the LX-9 the best it can be anymore…no that they were trying that hard anyway. That ship has sailed. That would only take away from what they are going to market the RT-9 as the best now available.
Is it just me or does anyone else feel that they don’t have the same passion for these products as all us users/fans of their Marcum products. Otherwise, those people inside the building would be sitting around a table with their legal pads and accumulating all the great ideas that all of you have already thought of….most of which seemed real practical to be ale to roll into an updated LX-9…..they just don’t want to take the time and do it. This isn’t even like they’re trying to figure out how and when to roll it into a product segment that is potentially used 12 months a year. They have a very long off season to get this all done…and they still fumble it horribly coming into (and through) each short winter season. They should be ashamed and disappointed on how they’ve handled that LX 7/9 (and now the newer LX-6). Hell…..I’d take an apology at this point. In a little more than a month, it will hit a 3 year anniversary on the last LX-9 update.
Randy….this isn’t about what needs doing to it, because stuff hasn’t worked correctly. Those fixes are expected as product support. After taking care of getting it launched into the market, they’ve done almost nothing to quickly make that LX 7/9 series the superstar it could have been.
I’ll stop now…..although it makes feel a little better to vent once in awhile on this topic.
From marcum’s website for the lx9. I didn’t see any promises of upgrades.
Underwater Camera/Sonar with DVR combo
8-inch Flat Panel (800 x 600px) Color LCD with Video out
Intelligently managed sonar engine, driven by 4800-watts PtP
Four user-selectable sonar color palettes
User-defined on-screen “Dashboard” displays digital depth, battery voltage, range, gain, interference rejection (IR), target adjust, or any combination thereof
“Multifaceted Sonar Display” LCD windows – “water column vertical,” vertical zoom, flasher-dial and traditional widescreen graph displays
Industry-exclusive Sonar Footprint technology displays area of bottom coverage at any depth, with either 8° or 20° transducer cone angles (ex: 20° – 32ft depth – 11.3 ft ‘footprint diameter’)
Color/B&W Camera w/on-screen displays of: Temp, Depth, Relative Direction
User defined screen options include; All camera, all Sonar, Split screen, & heads up display {HUD}. Built in DVR for recording and on-screen playback. Records to SD card. Video out & Video in. Solar intelligent display, Darkwater® LED Lighting Technology Onscreen information displayed in standard, metric, w/ multiple language options. Sony Super HAD II CCD, .01 lux camera with 75-feet of cable
Includes rechargeable 12-volt 9-amp battery, charger and deluxe padded softcase
Snow Shield Faceplate included
MarCum Automatic Camera Panner Included
Made in the USA with US and imported parts
Two year warranty
From marcum’s website for the lx9. I didn’t see any promises of upgrades.
Underwater Camera/Sonar with DVR combo
8-inch Flat Panel (800 x 600px) Color LCD with Video out
Intelligently managed sonar engine, driven by 4800-watts PtP
Four user-selectable sonar color palettes
User-defined on-screen “Dashboard” displays digital depth, battery voltage, range, gain, interference rejection (IR), target adjust, or any combination thereof
“Multifaceted Sonar Display” LCD windows – “water column vertical,” vertical zoom, flasher-dial and traditional widescreen graph displays
Industry-exclusive Sonar Footprint technology displays area of bottom coverage at any depth, with either 8° or 20° transducer cone angles (ex: 20° – 32ft depth – 11.3 ft ‘footprint diameter’)
Color/B&W Camera w/on-screen displays of: Temp, Depth, Relative Direction
User defined screen options include; All camera, all Sonar, Split screen, & heads up display {HUD}. Built in DVR for recording and on-screen playback. Records to SD card. Video out & Video in. Solar intelligent display, Darkwater® LED Lighting Technology Onscreen information displayed in standard, metric, w/ multiple language options. Sony Super HAD II CCD, .01 lux camera with 75-feet of cable
Includes rechargeable 12-volt 9-amp battery, charger and deluxe padded softcase
Snow Shield Faceplate included
MarCum Automatic Camera Panner Included
Made in the USA with US and imported parts
Two year warranty
Well ya, I’m sure if they every explicitly mentioned anything on the website, they have since removed it since they dont really update it at all. While it may not be explicitly mentioned on the current product description on the website, I have heard it marketed as such numerous times from Marcum reps at various ice fishing expos over the last 2 years. Lots of empty promises from Marcum and the people who were pushing the LX9s in regards to future updates to make the product better and in-line with the latest/greatest (i.e. RT-9).
If anything, it hurts Marcum’s PR image to launch a product that costs more than some peoples vehicles and they have essentially stopped updating/supporting it…. Humminbird is known to have excellent customer service as well as a great product and Vexilar’s are known to be bulletproof and last a really long time as well as being high quality. Now tell me, when deciding between the 3 companies for a new flasher purchase, why Marcum wouldn’t be the first I “cross off” the list for those reasons?
watch any of their videos promoting the LX-6/7/9 lineup, they all mention several times the fact that they are digital and upgradable.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17VaUlsFRa0 – at the 1:25 mark of the video “Another exclusive feature is it’s ability to evolve, Marcum “regularly” releases firmware updates giving you the latest features and will remain futureproof for years to come…
Biggill………
Straight off their website…this is the 1st example I quickly found, but there have been many many more over the last few years. This topic has been blended into their sales/marketing pitch about all the Digital LX series. They’ve leveraged it as a huge reason to purchase their LX digital units.
“Unlike most ice-fishing flashers – which just get older with time – MarCum’s LX-6, LX-6s and LX-7 digital sonar units get better over time, thanks to free firmware upgrades. “We’re always working on upgrades, whether it’s a performance tweak or new features,” Holmes explains. “You’re always going to be able to upgrade them to make your digital MarCum sonar even better at finding fish than on the day you bought it.” MarCum is the only ice-fishing-centric electronics manufacturer that makes digital units that can be upgraded to add features and improve performance. LX-6, LX-6s and LX-7 owners can install the free firmware updates in a matter of minutes from the comfort of their own homes. “Like on our smartphones and laptops, software updates include performance tweaks that improve upon MarCum’s proven products and level of performance,” Holmes says. “And it couldn’t be easier – just follow the instructions on the website and your digital unit will be better than ever in no time.” MarCum’s firmware upgrades often follow customer feedback. “We get a lot of great suggestions from anglers who spend a lot of time on the ice, and a lot of those ideas are incorporated into our updates,” Holmes says.”
it’s a shame because I’ve only good things to say about their customer support, but they’ve really dropped the ball with the digital LX software support…
Just so I’m clear on this….
What issues exactly are LX9 owners experiencing? Or do they want more features?
While I have heard of shallow water issues with the LX7 and LS6 (which I never had with my 6) While I know the 7 is the same as 9 sans camera… I’ve read very few with the 9…..
Just curious
Biggill………
Straight off their website…this is the 1st example I quickly found, but there have been many many more over the last few years. This topic has been blended into their sales/marketing pitch about all the Digital LX series. They’ve leveraged it as a huge reason to purchase their LX digital units.
Good research. I never went that far. Didn’t have that time while I’m at work.
Just so you know, I don’t own a marcum product. 2 years ago when I was time to “upgrade” flashers, I made a last second decision and didn’t buy a lx7.
2 big reasons why
1. The digital flashers seemed to be somewhat fragile compared to mechanical flashers.
2. Upgradable seemed to be their biggest con. Bad firmware updates caused many owners to become extremely unhappy with the unit. Does anyone still own an iPhone 2? Apple doesn’t seem to support their old hardware either. Although I don’t think it’s true for the lx7/9 yet, but I’m sure it’s coming.
There were a few other reasons but these were the biggies.
What I don’t understand is how most of the hardcore icefishermen that I know that own these don’t have much to complain about. They seem to work fine for them.
There are old threads going into detail on what needs to be fixed, enhanced, added.
Just a couple off the top of my head:
1) Ability to turn off the transducer (The LX-9 is marketed as a camera as well as a flasher) so give us the ability to turn off the transducer when only using the camera, so we don’t have to listen to it tick constantly.
2) Clean up the UI (User Interface) The view having the flasher dial in the middle of the camera view is worthless or at least give us the ability to adjust the translucency of the overlays? The RT-9 videos released have shown a better multi-screen layout, copy that please
3) Video playback functions are clunky and not optimized at all, delays in key presses can result in a UI overload and screen freeze…better UI optimization overall is needed.
4) Allow more shortcut keys to common functions, Changing Screen Views would be a good quick key option vs thumbing through the menu system everytime (like they did with the 1 button record feature-Thank You Marcum!)
again these are just a few, most are optimizations & enhancements, nobody is asking for anything unrealistic…Marcum did a good job with the last update, but as others have stated and my main complaint point, nothing has been done in the last 3 years to their flagship model (before the RT-9)
There are shallow water issues (won’t read in 10′ or less). Marcum pushed the LX-6 & LX-7 update out in October, yet we haven’t been able to test that this even fixes the issue yet.
Video playback on the LX-9 is sluggish. Want to play a clip that you recorded? Click on it (have fun finding it), then wait about 8 seconds for it to play. Video finished? That’s fine. The screen will just go black for about 12 seconds while you’re left wondering what the heck happened.
There’s no need to have Sonar just ticking away while you’re only using video.
This is a lesson for those eyeing the RT-9. If Marcum is sluggish and reluctant to support these products, just wait until we hear about the issues with people trying to sideload or install Android apps on the RT-9. (Who knows which version of Android they even have on there?). I can’t imagine they spent a ton of time testing it for situations like that.
And don’t forget all the delays with the RT-9 even coming to the market. There were so many explanations (FCC Approval, etc), when it very well could have been contracted software developer issues the entire time.
I don’t want to sound like I’m hating on Marcum. I own a LX-3TCi, a LX-5 and a LX-9, and I took the leap after having a Vexilar FL-18. This isn’t Vex vs Marcum.
This is Project Management 101 and Customer Service 101. Marcum needs to answer before this situation continues to unravel.
Wall3y3,
Do you have the other piece of this amulet? 
We’re completely on the same page!
There are shallow water issues (won’t read in 10′ or less)
Well,again, I have never had these issues with my 6 myself, after I changed a few settings…
But good information guys…..Thanks…
popular topic and still nothing from a Marcum rep on the matter either here or other outlets. I am a Marcum fan and owner of an LX-5 (which I did have to take in for repairs as the motor completely stopped working after 2 years of use), but it does make me wonder about a company if they cant respond to these types of concerns. im not in the market for a new flasher and don’t plan to be unless I have further problems with my Marcum, but when I do, I think im going to look into vex and hummingbird. Im not off the Marcum bandwagon, im still a fan, but I have been disappointed by some things in the last few years.
but I have been disappointed by some things in the last few years.
And if Marcum does not addresses this stuff they will lose the race…….
popular topic and still nothing from a Marcum rep on the matter either here or other outlets. I am a Marcum fan and owner of an LX-5 (which I did have to take in for repairs as the motor completely stopped working after 2 years of use), but it does make me wonder about a company if they cant respond to these types of concerns. im not in the market for a new flasher and don’t plan to be unless I have further problems with my Marcum, but when I do, I think im going to look into vex and hummingbird. Im not off the Marcum bandwagon, im still a fan, but I have been disappointed by some things in the last few years.
Replying on popular web-forums such as IDO is one thing but completely disregarding emails is another. I’ve sent Marcum multiple emails with questions about the LX7 update before and after it was released and didn’t get a single response back from them. These emails weren’t mean spirited or anything of that nature, just simple questions like to figure out if there were any other functionality improvements in the latest release than just a shallow water fix. That kind of behavior right there is totally inexcusable and will definitely make me think twice about Vex and Hum before I buy another Marcum.
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