Furuno 1st Watch Wireless Radar

Greetings. Do any of you have any firsthand experience using Furuno's 1st Watch wireless radar, using Wi-Fi? My old Raymarine unit (which must weigh close to 100 pounds with the radome, display and cable) is about ready for Davy Jones' Locker. I like the looks of this unit; only weighs 12.5 pounds, costs about $1,250.00, works on any IOS device, and only requires a 12/24 volt power source be run to the dome. However, advertising words are easy to come up with. Eager to talk with folks who've actually used one.

Couple of years ago, Panbo did a review of it:

Panbo: The Marine Electronics Hub: Furuno DRS4W 1st Watch WiFi Radar: Niche or breakthrough product?

Sorry, no actual use of it.

We have a friend that installed one on his 26' Tolly and loves it, he also did some beta testing with Nobeltec for there overlay on to TimeZero app.......

I do not have any first hand experience but I'm in the process to buy one.. furuno seems like a strong radar but I think gonna wait for garmin come with his new doppler phantom radar on spring... If you don't mind the doppler function, raymarine quantum and B&G 4G are strong contender a better price..

I just saw one in action. It looks like a good backup system. Reading the manual it looks limited in functionality

I have it and it works well. Can take my iPad anywhere on the boat and have radar, and yes the dome is not heavy at all. Not limited at all, and sensitive enough to pick up a boat wake.

is it android compatible? or we had to buy an iPad

I was looking at that radar last winter when we were in FL. I could not find any Furuno dealer within a 3 hour drive of Sanford who had one that I could look at. I finally was able to get in contact with a Furuno Rep. He was looking around to see if he could find a boat with the unit so I could look at it. He never did get back to me.

It does work with Nobletec Time Zero iPad navigation system. But the Nobletec charts, as of last January, were more than 18 months old. If you cruise the ICW that is unacceptable, at least it is for me. It took a lot of digging to find anyone to talk to at Nobletec to talk to abut it. I was finally able to reach someone who admitted that the existing chart package had not been updated in well over a year, and Nobletec did not have any date for when the next update would be planned. If you do not want or need the ability for the radar to overlay the charts, then it could be a simple solution. Rumour in the industry is that Nobletec is going to drop support for the iPad navigation app. But that is only a rumour.

Believe it is IOS only.

I think I've decided to hold off for the Furuno 1815 standalone... Shoud be here soon..

http://www.furuno.com/en/products/radar/MODEL1815

looks like a good choice