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Is Delkim the best bite alarm and why?


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@andywilson123 you are opening a big can of big worms!

 

There are devotees to Fox, to Steve Neville, to Gardner Atts, Nash and of course Delkim.

What matters is your alarm buzzes for you on a take, whether you use mono or braid. Not all roller wheels work with braids!

Your alarm must buzz on line being taken or on dropbacks, your indicator should show you which, not really much need for a tone difference.

 

Now I've used Delkim ST alarms since 1993 or 94, and had the same set from 2000 until last year. (The first set was stolen).

In fact, they are still in use for pike fishing.

I replaced them with the new TXI'D which I also love.

I never had problems with water ingress, no funny bleeps, no faults, and believe me my gear really does get used on all weathers, from boiling hot to freezing cold, to mega thunderstorms and monsoons.

 

Reasons I don't like Fox alarms, I have had to return many to manufacturer faulty within warranty, on occasions before they even left the shop.

The new models released every couple of years; Micron, Mini Micron, replaced with Micron R, Micron S, then MR, MX, MXR, NTX and so on.

Get it right first time, not need an upgrade (or cynical) to convince anglers their old alarms aren't good enough, so have to buy new.

I actually liked the original budget Mini Microns, a perfect day only alarm (no extension box or receiver).

Now I'm certain that someone will probably tell me about Delkim false bleeps, there will be hearsay that 'Fred couldn't stop his bleeping, or rain got in', and some may well be true, but with many there is always an amount of user error. I mean we all read the instructions correctly for Delkims, our washing machine etc don't we, so not reading them leads to things not being right.

Actually I do have a slight Delkim gripe, I prefer an on/off switch rather than simultaneous double or triple button press, but it's a minor nuisance.

 

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Personally I love them, had a set for years but swapped about a year ago to Gardner att silent alarms that only work with a receiver.

I don't like them, don't like the rollers, the batteries are a pain in the ass to source from a shop, you have to order them online, you also have to unscrew 4 screws to get the back off to replace the battery.

The receiver, well I didn't know how to turn off the vibrate setting and would nearly give me a hear attack when I'd get a run in the night 🤣

I've also missed the roller before and had the line sitting on top of it which didn't spin on the take, luckily I heard the clutch/drag lol.

I believe I had a pair of fox warrior alarms as my first set which are still kept in the shed as a set if I take a friend with me. Still going strong just the led has stopped working on one of them so just need to make sure you are striking the right rod 🫣🤣

In my honest opinion delkims suit me best and will be going back to them when funds are available 👍

 

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I’m probably going against the grain here, but each to their own! 
 

I am not a fan of delks, I had a set for a good while, and I brought 4 of them, 1 of which needed replacing under warranty very quickly as it packed up in the rain, so I ended up with 5, as the original was also returned (nice touch) 

of those 5, the replacement plus two others packed up in the rain, I fixed it in the end myself by spraying them all with WD40 and wiping off the excess then leaving them to dry, which did stop the problem for a while, also I’m a simple soul, all the sensitivity, tone, volume etc was just too much adjustment for me, I could never get the tone “just right” very silly complaint I know, but that’s just me. The delks went to my son, who loved them, and fair enough, they are good alarms, he’s moved onto fox mini microns, I still carry the delks as a back up set of alarms just in case…

but I’ve always been a huge Steve neville fan, so I would always go back to them… 

mind you, of the 8 I’ve owned, one packed up after the battery would drain within 10mins of being switched on - it needs to get repaired, two of the “original” alarms cracked at the base - so it’s horses for courses really, the others are all going strong - yes battery replacement is a pain, and they have 3 settings, quiet, loud and off! But I love them and the sound of a screaming neville is awesome. their not without their issues, I’ve missed a run when the line dropped behind the roller, and I’ve had lightweight bobbins jam against the roller and stop it spinning which effectively silences the alarm - changing to mini swingers solved this issue. 
 

the only fox alarms I’ve liked are the mini microns, I’m not a fan of the other fox alarms - I don’t like the shape, simple as that, I had micron m and mx alarms in the past and they did the job just fine. 
I’m a fox fan though, my rods, reels, and most of my terminal tackle are all fox gear.

I’ve used nash siren alarms, and still do in my travelling kit, but they have a fiddly on off switch, I’m picky like that. 

quite simply, we all have our favourites, gear we use and trust to do the job, if you like it and it works for you, that’s all that matters in the end 

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Ace i3 or fox dxr originals , I have the best of both worlds vibration and roller wheel lol

Had ATTS since they come out

only ever changed batteries once never any problems with them despite no sound put of the head. the remotes never packed up either despite all the early worries by some folks

and have fox sx albeit modded by dalectronics to remote system and blue leds 

also 

had Neville’s 

 

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Had Optonics... not bad given their age (still got em atcherlee) had Fox Microns... okay... had ATTs Brill, got Delkims now... also Brill... in hindsight... I preferred my ATTs... its all down to personal preference in the end, compared to the ATTs the Delkims are bulky but thats it really... they all did a job... even the Optonics which I still use occasionally

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6 hours ago, bluelabel said:

Had Optonics... not bad given their age (still got em atcherlee) had Fox Microns... okay... had ATTs Brill, got Delkims now... also Brill... in hindsight... I preferred my ATTs... its all down to personal preference in the end, compared to the ATTs the Delkims are bulky but thats it really... they all did a job... even the Optonics which I still use occasionally

Of all the alarms, when I considered replacing my Delkims, I only looked at or thought about TLB's and Atts', but stuck with brand loyalty

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Had Delks for a good few years, very disappointed in mine, they do not like rain or humidity and I've bought the better back plate - still just as bad.

Will eventually replace with Fox but it's an expensive game or I would have done ages ago.

Not sure how much better the new model is or if it fixes the problems of the previous version.

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  • 1 month later...
On 10/10/2023 at 15:47, kevtaylor said:

Had Delks for a good few years, very disappointed in mine, they do not like rain or humidity and I've bought the better back plate - still just as bad.

Will eventually replace with Fox but it's an expensive game or I would have done ages ago.

Not sure how much better the new model is or if it fixes the problems of the previous version.

Been looking at the new Delks and lots of comments online regarding the ever faithful problems with rain and humidity.  I thought Delks were supposed to be good, same blooming problems!

Never had any issues with the Fox MX's and they cost peanuts, unreal. 

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