Simrad, RayMarine or Garmin

[Nepidae]

I believe you will be happy with your choice of Garmin.

In '16 we had a Garmin suite installed (Chartplotter (CP), radar (RD), ais & autopilot (AP)) in preparation for the Loop. As of today, I have made upgrades to the CP (7612-8616xsv) and the AIS (600 to 800).

I agree that Garmin has an exceptional support team and like the way that if they are busy you can leave your number and they will call you back, you maintain the same position in the queue. That and the intuitive way the system works will make the transition easier.

I like the way the CP & AP work together. In the morning when we've established our destination for the day (we usually do 30-40mi/day) I go up to the bridge and lay in the course. IF the destination isn't in the database (locks and other ATONs usually aren't) I just tap the chart at the location. Utilizing G3 or Vision charts the route will be drawn on the chart. I have an opportunity to modify the route, but have found that the route is usually in the center of the channel.

I also have the AP remote so we sit on the bridge with 360 views and if we see an obstacle to avoid I can use the remote to move the boat 1 or 10 degrees either right or left to make the adjustment. When we pass that obstacle 2 touches on the AP head puts us back on course. BTW, if an immediate response is needed, I grab the wheel and make the adjustment. Shadow Drive will automatically put us back on course.

I think that Garmin is a forward-thinking company so the expenditure for their equipment will be ensured that the company will be around and making advancements in the technology of the products.

Garmin's purchase of Navionics just enforces that to me.

Any specific questions I might be able to answer, let me know.

 

[Helmsman]

Not sure where you came up with this but hope it doesn't mean I have to stop using my auto routing and have just been imagining it for all this time. Perhaps you've talked to persons who only had some Furuno products but not their entire package.

Do you know if Foruno supports Navionics? As a user of Foruno, do you feel that you get good support from them? I like their new chart plotter, but I would prefer manual controls as well for rough seas. Thanks for any insight!

 

[MYTraveler]

Do you know if Foruno supports Navionics? As a user of Foruno, do you feel that you get good support from them? I like their new chart plotter, but I would prefer manual controls as well for rough seas. Thanks for any insight!

Furuno's technical support is excellent, and always has been, even during Covid. Their techs are all very knowledgeable and are native English speakers located in the US (at least for FurunoUSA). When asked a question, they usually know the answer off the top of their head, unlike some tech guys who look up your question in the manual and read aloud what the manual says, with no ability to provide additional information or insights. And, manual controls are available for their larger MFDs, but built in to the smaller ones (the thinking being that smaller MFDs go on smaller boats where manual control is necessary due to increased movement).

 

[BandB]

Do you know if Foruno supports Navionics? As a user of Foruno, do you feel that you get good support from them? I like their new chart plotter, but I would prefer manual controls as well for rough seas. Thanks for any insight!

They do support Navionics and C-Map and their support, although rarely needed, is excellent. They also have great connectivity with Nobeltec and Timezero. Furuno is very use to partnering with others. Very common for commercial vessels and larger boats to use Transas, which is now part of Wartsila, for ECDIS and Furuno radars. Furuno has always worked well with other vendors.

 

[Helmsman]

They do support Navionics and C-Map and their support, although rarely needed, is excellent. They also have great connectivity with Nobeltec and Timezero. Furuno is very use to partnering with others. Very common for commercial vessels and larger boats to use Transas, which is now part of Wartsila, for ECDIS and Furuno radars. Furuno has always worked well with other vendors.

What negatives do you see with Foruno? Are there any you can share? Can you overlay radar on the chart if you want to?

I updated my last boat in 2017 with all new Raymarine. Their forum was good. My understanding was that it was discontinued. I sold the boat last year. My issues with Raymarine was that the manuals were really weak, and the controls were not intuitive. Also, the AP forced you to acknowledge each waypoint prior to moving on to the next one. They also sunset the eS127 CP just a few months after I bought it. They were no longer updating it (according to the forum) after 2018, and stopped updating the new Lighthouse software for the eS after 2019. Very poor customer service.

And that is the reason I am interested in one of the other vendors. Foruno interests me since Simrad has been criticized a lot for poor customer service. There are mixed reviews on Garmin. Some people like their equipment. Some say good service, others say bad.

 

[MYTraveler]

Do you have auto routing on Furuno? If you do, would like to know. I talked with a Furuno tech who said it's not available.

If auto routing could make a difference, it is worth a call to Furuno technical support (not just a third-party technician who is furuno certified), and ask about their current generation (which was released just in the past few months) of MFDs (the TZT3s) -- prior generations, including NavNet3D did not support auto routing.

Nobeltec Time Zero software and the software Furuno runs on its various MFDs is very similar -- almost identical. I am running Time Zero Professional on a 2-CPU network, and that has auto routing (in fact, you can specify great circle navigation). I am in the process of adding 5 TZT3 MFDs (the limit is six machines on a network, so one of my PCs will have to go), but before deciding on this reconfiguration, I was concerned about compatibility and the loss (or gain) of functionality. The good news is they are completely compatible (not surprising, given their almost identical similarity), though there is some loss of functionality (I went through the list of what I would lose, nothing I am currently using or would ever miss -- the Time Zero professional has lots of features designed for freighters that don't matter to me), I don't recall that auto routing was on the list. For that reason, I am confident that the newest MFDs provide auto routing.

 

[BandB]

What negatives do you see with Foruno? Are there any you can share?

I would say in providing versatility and interfacing with others, plus the depth of product required by larger boats and commercial, the learning curve on Furuno (I'm talking about learning it completely) would be greater than others. There's so much there, you'll continue learning.

By comparison, Garmin would be easier to just plug and play.

One problem we have is we've used Furuno a lot and once you do, you find yourself preferring it. Had we never used it, we'd have been thrilled with Garmin. As it was, we still liked Garmin. I will also say that Garmin is unbeatable for inland charting.

We have always has Timezero, previously Maxsea, still Maxsea in part of the world (and if anyone ever figures out the full relationship between them and Furuno just let me know) as an integrated and redundant system. On the boat we have Transas, we used it mainly for long trips and major ports and use Maxsea for short coastal travels.

The advantage of being heavily used commercially is that the standards are just higher. A ship can't be without. Repairs can't wait.

 

[BandB]

If auto routing could make a difference, it is worth a call to Furuno technical support (not just a third-party technician who is furuno certified), and ask about their current generation (which was released just in the past few months) of MFDs (the TZT3s) -- prior generations, including NavNet3D did not support auto routing.

Nobeltec Time Zero software and the software Furuno runs on its various MFDs is very similar -- almost identical. I am running Time Zero Professional on a 2-CPU network, and that has auto routing (in fact, you can specify great circle navigation). I am in the process of adding 5 TZT3 MFDs (the limit is six machines on a network, so one of my PCs will have to go), but before deciding on this reconfiguration, I was concerned about compatibility and the loss (or gain) of functionality. The good news is they are completely compatible (not surprising, given their almost identical similarity), though there is some loss of functionality (I went through the list of what I would lose, nothing I am currently using or would ever miss -- the Time Zero professional has lots of features designed for freighters that don't matter to me), I don't recall that auto routing was on the list. For that reason, I am confident that the newest MFDs provide auto routing.

Time Zero and Furuno TZ (Time Zero) are virtually identical in function.

Furuno Auto Routing is specific to certain Furuno hardware but fully available with Timezero.

 

[rslifkin]

On the price difference thing, comparing the high end gear from Simard, Raymarine, and Garmin to Furuno, the prices are fairly comparable. For the most part, Furuno just doesn't make anything to match up to the mid range and lower end stuff from the other brands (although they do sell older models cheaper).

 

[Helmsman]

I would say in providing versatility and interfacing with others, plus the depth of product required by larger boats and commercial, the learning curve on Furuno (I'm talking about learning it completely) would be greater than others. There's so much there, you'll continue learning.

By comparison, Garmin would be easier to just plug and play.

One problem we have is we've used Furuno a lot and once you do, you find yourself preferring it. Had we never used it, we'd have been thrilled with Garmin. As it was, we still liked Garmin. I will also say that Garmin is unbeatable for inland charting.

We have always has Timezero, previously Maxsea, still Maxsea in part of the world (and if anyone ever figures out the full relationship between them and Furuno just let me know) as an integrated and redundant system. On the boat we have Transas, we used it mainly for long trips and major ports and use Maxsea for short coastal travels.

The advantage of being heavily used commercially is that the standards are just higher. A ship can't be without. Repairs can't wait.

Makes sense. I will look further into Foruno. I watched some videos that showed how the chart plotter operates. Pretty intuitive to me. Much more so than the RayMarine package.

Also downloaded the app for TZ.

 

[Seevee]

Time Zero and Furuno TZ (Time Zero) are virtually identical in function.

Furuno Auto Routing is specific to certain Furuno hardware but fully available with Timezero.

I called Furuno and twice they told me they have no options for auto route....deal killer for me, so I chose Garmin.

 

[BandB]

I called Furuno and twice they told me they have no options for auto route....deal killer for me, so I chose Garmin.

No idea who told you. You'll be happy with Garmin. We thought we wouldn't but had it on the Sunseeker and we were very pleased. We also have it on our RIB's but don't do auto-routing on them. lol

 

[Helmsman]

No idea who told you. You'll be happy with Garmin. We thought we wouldn't but had it on the Sunseeker and we were very pleased. We also have it on our RIB's but don't do auto-routing on them. lol

What specific Foruno equipment has autorouting, TZ3..TZ2..or is it the size of the equipment? What equipment do you have that has the autoroute feature? I will call Foruno, but not ready to yet as I collect info. The answer would help me to either continue forward with Foruno, or abandon plans for it.

 

[BandB]

What specific Foruno equipment has autorouting, TZ3..TZ2..or is it the size of the equipment? What equipment do you have that has the autoroute feature? I will call Foruno, but not ready to yet as I collect info. The answer would help me to either continue forward with Foruno, or abandon plans for it.

We do our current autorouting on the TimeZero/Maxsea product, not directly in Furuno and they interface. However, I know that the 1870, 1871, 1970 and 1971 products auto route. The TZ2 and 3 I don't think do so independently, but I think there are some Navionics tricks. I can't provide any more information as I'm on a plane at the moment.

Based on the discussion, I'd currently plan on needing to do the autorouting outside of the Furuno TZ3 unless someone can share more than I can. We have the independent TimeZero product and have used it for years so I haven't dug deeper yet. I will also try to gather more information over the next days.

 

[Helmsman]

We do our current autorouting on the TimeZero/Maxsea product, not directly in Furuno and they interface. However, I know that the 1870, 1871, 1970 and 1971 products auto route. The TZ2 and 3 I don't think do so independently, but I think there are some Navionics tricks. I can't provide any more information as I'm on a plane at the moment.

Based on the discussion, I'd currently plan on needing to do the autorouting outside of the Furuno TZ3 unless someone can share more than I can. We have the independent TimeZero product and have used it for years so I haven't dug deeper yet. I will also try to gather more information over the next days.

Thank you. I used auto routing with Navionics installed on Raymarine. It would probably work the same on a TZ3, as long as the CP supports wireless transfer

 

[BandB]

Thank you. I used auto routing with Navionics installed on Raymarine. It would probably work the same on a TZ3, as long as the CP supports wireless transfer

And Furuno and Navionics have remained friends even post-Garmin.