Radar Recommendation?

Shopping for a replacement for the ancient Raytheon unit on Serena. Not looking for anything too whiz-bang (read complex and expensive), just something for traffic monitoring and coastwise navigation.

Considering the Furuno 1815; any feedback on this unit or other recommendations?

Thanks -
Joe

Probably hard to get a bad one. Especially when only wanting the basics. My only beef with the Garmin is lack of knobs. I don’t like the touch pad.

Furuno has always been my first choice for small boat radars.

Fish53 said:

Furuno has always been my first choice for small boat radars.

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I just installed a Furuno DRS4D-NXT radar on my boat, and am absolutely amazed at the clarity and features. The doppler tracking feature is far better than the Quantum 2 and Garmin ones I've tested.

Take a look at Si-Tex, I have a Si-Tex with 12” Standard Horizon mfd.

Joe, I installed a Furuno 1815 about a year ago to replace a very old Furuno radar. I really liked the old cathode ray green display but it finally quite on me and it was no longer supported by Furuno.
The 1815 display is great, I like the target trail feature. Still working my way thru all the features but it’s typical Furuno quality.

I'd also vote for the Furuno DRS-NXT. Really amazing features at an attractive price. I have the previous DRS generation now but will be upgrading soon.

Thumbs up on the 1815
Also just replaced an aging cathode-ray furuno radar.

I have Furuno vx2 and I like it, but I think any of the major brands will give you a capable radar. Raymarine hasn't been mentioned but there are lots of these on small boats.

Ken E. said:

I have Furuno vx2 and I like it, but I think any of the major brands will give you a capable radar. Raymarine hasn't been mentioned but there are lots of these on small boats.

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I have an aging RX10 on my sailboat that's a CRT and still works fine.

We hung a Raymarine Quantum on our last boat, which was the newest radar I have owned (currently have 2011-vintage Furuno). The Quantum worked really well, and the integration of the entire Raymarine system was easy to use. I would buy again if looking for an integrated solution.

The Furuno 1815 looks like a great stand-alone set. With a good scanner mounting location, it will probably offer more performance than most if us would ever need. We will be adding a stand-alone to IRENE before we depart for distant shores, and the 1815 would work well. I would not hesitate to look at the JRC and Si-Tex units too.

I don’t recall reading anything about lousy radar sets from any manufacturer. I think your personal preference in appearance and features, matched with your budget, is the answer. Hard to go wrong with a Furuno considering their reputation, customer support, and parts availability.

I just installed a Simrad 4G radar, which was about $1950 and use a PC running OpenCPN as the plotter. It works really nicely in that it has a fast update speed, does MARPA target tracking, integrates AIS from my radio, the charts are downloaded for free and I can use it on a laptop for trip planning. A nice feature of the Smrad 4G is supporting dual ranges -- it acts like two separate radars.

I ran the cable from the radar to a Wi-Fi router, so I can actually get the data on my main plotters (wired) and on a tablet (wireless).

Of course, how much one spends on the computer used as the plotter is a big variable. Mine was expensive because the waterproof outdoor visible touch screen wasn't cheap. An old laptop, if capable enough, is free and useful.

stevemitchell said:

I just installed a Furuno DRS4D-NXT radar on my boat, and am absolutely amazed at the clarity and features. The doppler tracking feature is far better than the Quantum 2 and Garmin ones I've tested.

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I installed the same Furuno Doppler unit on our boat and couldn’t be happier. Target clarity and ease of use are amazing. I thought the Doppler target discrimination feature might be a gimmick and was prepared to be disappointed, but it really works! It helps ID targets that are moving in our direction well before I can tell what they’re doing — even using binocs.

Cigatoo said:

My only beef with the Garmin is lack of knobs. .

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I agree! My plotter has Hybrid Touch as well as knobs and I really prefer the knobs. When bouncing around in a seaway, grabbing and twisting a knob
is much easier than trying to pinch or expand by touch.

Yes, grabbing knobs are my preference.

Going with the Furuno 1815. Thanks to all for the inputs.
Joe

Any updates on your 1815?

I am getting closer and I have found a spot in the pilothouse for it...

Thanks!

For me what really sets Furuno apart from the rest is their fantastic customer service and tech support well beyond the warranty, extending into several generations of models. Really exceptional in general, not just compared to other marine electronics.

caltexflanc said:

For me what really sets Furuno apart from the rest is their fantastic customer service and tech support well beyond the warranty, extending into several generations of models. Really exceptional in general, not just compared to other marine electronics.

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Agree!.... I don't think anybody makes a "bad" radar anymore. All major brands are good, service after the sale and support down the road are important. Furuno excels at that. Bullet proof equipment that just works day after day.

I'vealways liked Furuno electronics and their radars are great.

caltexflanc said:

For me what really sets Furuno apart from the rest is their fantastic customer service and tech support well beyond the warranty, extending into several generations of models. Really exceptional in general, not just compared to other marine electronics.

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I agree 100% On the phone, web, or at Camas they are always helpful.

I have two older CRT Furuno Radars: FCR 1100 and an old 1800 and Furuno still supports them.

I've taken my own and clients radars down to Camas for service and their work is magic.

By contrast, I've gotten tech support from Raymarine on the phone 2-3 times -- and they are 0 for 5 or 6 in terms of actually answering questions. Admittedly, my questions probably werent common ones, but they didnt even try to go back and look. All questions eventually got answered, via forums or empirically, so they were answerable.

Have been working directly with Comnav. Haven’t purchased anything yet and they are still extremely responsive. That alone will sell the product. Comnav is connected with Si Tex by the way. They also have excellent support.

I don't mean anything bad, and my concerns may not be relevant anymore, but I recommend you download the manuals for the system(s) you are considering and see if they meet your needs. My experience with SiTex is that the equipment works, is very similar to other manufacturer's items in they way they perform and operate, but the company can't (or couldn't) write a manual that makes sense or is organized in a way that is easy to find what you need to know. Also check the capability of the equipment to be networked with other items already in your system. Their components may have NMEA-0183 or -2000 interfaces, but the implementation may be slightly non-standard or use legacy physical connections.

Best of luck with whatever you choose!

Haven't had a chance to use it much underway and still getting familiarized, but happy so far. Operation is much simpler and straightforward compared to the old Raytheon which involved lots of tuning (and was intermittent anyway).

Display unit is large enough for my old eyes to interpret easily and fits nicely on my bridge deck. Installation was pretty much plug & play except for power hookup - but that was simple also (note that I don't have it interfaced with anything else). Hardest part, not surprisingly, was routing the antenna cable.

Only minor complaint was the price Furuno wanted for the antenna mast mount, a pretty simple looking bracket. So being an economy minded boater (and of Scots descent), I made a platform to adapt to the old Raytheon mounting.
Joe

Cigatoo said:

Have been working directly with Comnav. Haven’t purchased anything yet and they are still extremely responsive. That alone will sell the product. Comnav is connected with Si Tex by the way. They also have excellent support.

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I know they share some autopilot gear, but I don't see where Comnav is marketing radars at the moment. Are they indeed supporting radar? They are a great company that markets plenty of other stuff, so it would make sense.

Getting back to Furuno, I should not that they have a service and call/email support center in Baltimore as well, very nice and extremely helpful folks there.

Problem with Raymarine is that they don't support older legacy products.

Raymarine don't have parts for their legacy electronics, because of their ownership changes in the last 25 years.

Their support goes up and down depending on who owns them at the time.

I have a Furuno 1800 that (amazingly) is still operational after 25 years. Seriously considering the Furuno 1815 for the upgrade. I have several friends with newly installed Garmin systems with all the bells and whistles. Impressive, but I prefer dedicated electronics for the various systems. Not too concerned about interfacing things..

When I see a Garmin or Raymarine radar on a Coast Guard boat or a Washington State Ferry, I might consider other brands.

syjos said:

When I see a Garmin or Raymarine radar on a Coast Guard boat or a Washington State Ferry, I might consider other brands.

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OK! I get it....you don't like Raymarine!

Agree on Furuno support; you can't buy anything directly from their Maryland office but they were very helpful in finding local retail outlets for added gear. I just thought the mast mount was way over priced for what it appeared to be, and that didn't include the markup from the local supplier. But, that's boating and it was easy to fashion a piece of StarBoard into an adaptor to the old Raytheon mounting bracket ($64 vs. c$475).
Joe