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Old 08-23-2021, 08:10 PM   #21
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Originally Posted by syjos View Post
Furuno has exceptional after purchase support for current and legacy products.


Furuno products last 20 - 30 years.
My experience is a little different, having bought three of their NavNet3D black boxes to provide MFD functionality at 10 screens on my boat (1 in cockpit, primarily for fishing, 1 in tower, 4 in pilothouse and 4 at flybridge, plus mirrored to salon screen and MSR screen). About 7 years into my ownership of those black boxes, the video cards started to fail. Furuno stopped making / selling them. The black boxes became useless within 10 years after my purchase (and since I was an early adapter, the guys who came after me were out in the cold much earlier). My solution was to replace the black boxes with PCs running Nobeltec TZProfessional -- which is essentially the same software that the black boxes were running, but with a few extra features. Now, however, I have replaced two of those PCs with 5 MFDs -- 1 cockpit, 1 tower and 3 PH).
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Old 08-23-2021, 08:41 PM   #22
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New member here. I just purchased/installed a full Furuno helm.
TZT3 12"
24" NXT radome
700 autopilot
SX20 compass

The Furuno of years past is not what I bought. These products are fast, easy to use and install and tech support is outstanding.
Go to Furunousaforum.com and snoop around.
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Old 08-23-2021, 09:22 PM   #23
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For me, mouse driven OpenCPN on a mini PC and a 23inch monitor is a no brainer
So easy to change routes and add notes on the fly

And make posts here, play music, movies, buy stuff online etc etc.
Doing this now while punching across the bay into 30 knots
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Old 08-23-2021, 09:51 PM   #24
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Very interesting discussion. I have been pondering this question myself for the past few months.
I have not been convinced that Garmin is the system for me. I personally don’t find the system to be intuitive to use.
The older Furuno NAVnet radar is remarkable for its age.
I have been using Time Zero software and really like it.
I hope to visit a system vendor next month and get an up close look at Furuno. I’ll report back my findings next month.
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Old 08-23-2021, 11:27 PM   #25
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I know it's not the same group, but it's a culture that is established.
However, why my Furuno GPS had a roll over bug last month, Furuno's response was crickets. No fix, no firmware.

When that happened to my Garmin GPS, they release a firmware patch to fix the problem.
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Old 08-23-2021, 11:30 PM   #26
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Originally Posted by MYTraveler View Post
My experience is a little different, having bought three of their NavNet3D black boxes to provide MFD functionality at 10 screens on my boat (1 in cockpit, primarily for fishing, 1 in tower, 4 in pilothouse and 4 at flybridge, plus mirrored to salon screen and MSR screen). About 7 years into my ownership of those black boxes, the video cards started to fail. Furuno stopped making / selling them. The black boxes became useless within 10 years after my purchase (and since I was an early adapter, the guys who came after me were out in the cold much earlier). My solution was to replace the black boxes with PCs running Nobeltec TZProfessional -- which is essentially the same software that the black boxes were running, but with a few extra features. Now, however, I have replaced two of those PCs with 5 MFDs -- 1 cockpit, 1 tower and 3 PH).
I am one step behind you. My NN3D's are starting to fail (faults, some screen issues, etc). I think I will go the PC route as well.
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Old 08-23-2021, 11:35 PM   #27
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Originally Posted by Rearmount View Post
New member here. I just purchased/installed a full Furuno helm.
TZT3 12"
24" NXT radome
700 autopilot
SX20 compass

The Furuno of years past is not what I bought. These products are fast, easy to use and install and tech support is outstanding.
Go to Furunousaforum.com and snoop around.
oh wow exactly my setup
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Old 08-24-2021, 12:55 AM   #28
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Originally Posted by MYTraveler View Post
My solution was to replace the black boxes with PCs running Nobeltec TZProfessional -- which is essentially the same software that the black boxes were running, but with a few extra features. Now, however, I have replaced two of those PCs with 5 MFDs -- 1 cockpit, 1 tower and 3 PH).
Quote:
Originally Posted by cks View Post
The older Furuno NAVnet radar is remarkable for its age.
I have been using Time Zero software and really like it.
I hope to visit a system vendor next month and get an up close look at Furuno. I’ll report back my findings next month.
Interesting to see more using Timezero with Furuno. Designed to go together so well. We've used the combination since 2012. We have the full Furuno set up but have the Timezero as a peripheral and backup. When we started, it was Maxsea.
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Old 08-24-2021, 01:24 AM   #29
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The dream system for two helm stations was:

TZT19F (x2)
DRS12ANXT/4 Radar
FA50 Class B AIS Transceiver
NAVPILOT 711C Autopilot
FI-70 Displays
TZT16F
GP330B GPS Receiver
SCX20 Sat compass
DST800L Smart ducer
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Old 08-24-2021, 06:58 AM   #30
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If looking at Furuno, based on what I see used for commercial applications, I'd put my second choice down as either Simrad or Raymarine, not Garmin.

My impression of Garmin's UI is also a little bit toy-like. It works, but some stuff seemed awfully unintuitive, even compared to low end older stuff from other manufacturers. The sheer number of screen taps to set up a route was a bit crazy, let alone figuring out how to make it navigate that route.


At this point, Furuno is at the top of the list for when I re-do my setup. At least one TZT3 display, the 711C autopilot, and the 24" NXT radar are in the plans.
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Old 09-09-2021, 04:23 PM   #31
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Ok, seriously now. My old Raymarine E120 backlight is starting to fail. I was on a 16 hour cruise and it is no fun when you can't read your chart plotter and radar on and off. I looked at the "fix your Raymarine backlight" youtube and no, I can't get into that project. So I had the old Raymarine and it was fine for me for the most part. My brother has a 3 year old Simrad system that he likes. Never had Garmin. I'm checking out Furuno. I need to pull the trigger quickly as parts are scarce. Do I close my eyes and jump for any of them?? They all look good on paper. They all say they have the best of everything.
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Old 09-09-2021, 05:04 PM   #32
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I put a pair of TZT16 units in my EB47 this past winter. One up on the flybridge, one down at the salon station. I've been pleased with them. This to replace two of the four Furuno MFD12 units I had. The TZT3 are MUCH faster than the old MFD12 displays. Fast enough to easily jump between different content without tedious redraw delays. I kept the two MFD units in place, mainly to allow having a second screen to leave raster charts visible at a different resolution. This has been "less necessary" than it was back with just MFD12s.

I have a mix of various vendors for sensors, all on the NMEA-2000 network. With the addition of an SCX-20 sat compass I don't really need to have my other GPS-330B on the network, nor the PG-700 heading unit. But I keep 'em connected and live just to be able to select them as sources should something go wrong with the SCX-20. My old FA-50 AIS worked with no change. I did have to add an NMEA-0183 link from it to the old MFD12 setup as Furuno specifically prohibits using TZT3 and MFD12 chart plotters on the same Ethernet network. This is an understandable limitation and not hard to work around as now my MFD12 are just direct-wired to each other, since there's no other Ethernet devices for them to use (radar is also TZT3-only).

Radar is a Furuno also. Most vendor radar only works with their chartplotters, so this was a foregone selection.

My complaints are pretty trivial. I wish I could scale up the text for depths larger, without also scaling up the navigation markers. When using an HDMI input, the anchor watch databar at the top stays overlaid. The graphics used for Fusion radio integration are pretty perfunctory (bordering on ugly).

There's quirks on all the systems but I'm overall very pleased with the TZT3 units.

As you move forward it's worth balancing the hassles of trying to keep existing accessories/sensors versus replacing them with new ones. By the time you lash together all manner of NMEA-0183 and Seatalk adapters you end up with various limitations and possibly creep close to the cost of new anyway. So "it depends" on what you've got in there already, and how well it functions. Just don't go into the adventure fixated on retaining the old gear until you've weighed all the options.
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Old 09-09-2021, 05:46 PM   #33
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I just ordered full Furuno after contemplating Garmin.
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Old 09-09-2021, 07:05 PM   #34
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Quote:
Originally Posted by wkearney99 View Post
I put a pair of TZT16 units in my EB47 this past winter. One up on the flybridge, one down at the salon station. I've been pleased with them. This to replace two of the four Furuno MFD12 units I had. The TZT3 are MUCH faster than the old MFD12 displays. Fast enough to easily jump between different content without tedious redraw delays. I kept the two MFD units in place, mainly to allow having a second screen to leave raster charts visible at a different resolution. This has been "less necessary" than it was back with just MFD12s.

I have a mix of various vendors for sensors, all on the NMEA-2000 network. With the addition of an SCX-20 sat compass I don't really need to have my other GPS-330B on the network, nor the PG-700 heading unit. But I keep 'em connected and live just to be able to select them as sources should something go wrong with the SCX-20. My old FA-50 AIS worked with no change. I did have to add an NMEA-0183 link from it to the old MFD12 setup as Furuno specifically prohibits using TZT3 and MFD12 chart plotters on the same Ethernet network. This is an understandable limitation and not hard to work around as now my MFD12 are just direct-wired to each other, since there's no other Ethernet devices for them to use (radar is also TZT3-only).

Radar is a Furuno also. Most vendor radar only works with their chartplotters, so this was a foregone selection.

My complaints are pretty trivial. I wish I could scale up the text for depths larger, without also scaling up the navigation markers. When using an HDMI input, the anchor watch databar at the top stays overlaid. The graphics used for Fusion radio integration are pretty perfunctory (bordering on ugly).

There's quirks on all the systems but I'm overall very pleased with the TZT3 units.

As you move forward it's worth balancing the hassles of trying to keep existing accessories/sensors versus replacing them with new ones. By the time you lash together all manner of NMEA-0183 and Seatalk adapters you end up with various limitations and possibly creep close to the cost of new anyway. So "it depends" on what you've got in there already, and how well it functions. Just don't go into the adventure fixated on retaining the old gear until you've weighed all the options.
Thanks Bill. One of the things I would like to change is the go to waypoint precise routing. It annoys me when I have to dodge a big kelp patty or even more a freighter and then my current system tries to get me quickly back on an exact previous track by changing directions and getting back on line. I would have to quit my "Go To" and start over. Since I am mostly running in open ocean when going to a waypoint, I would rather have a command that says "Go To That Waypoint From Here". Can the Furuno do that?
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Old 09-09-2021, 07:34 PM   #35
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Furuno has good stuff and seems to be the choice on this thread......


I called them and they told me they did not have any sort of autorouting, which I've used with Simrad and loved.... no brainer for me.


However, had Garmin already on the boat, so added 2 displays, auto pilot and radar with Garmin and happy...


Over the years, for car, aviation and boating, Garmin's support is second to none and that's a huge deal.
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Old 09-09-2021, 08:07 PM   #36
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Auto routing is not a big deal for me. Really I just want to be able to reset my "from" position while keeping my "to" point the same, easily.
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Old 09-09-2021, 10:08 PM   #37
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Thanks Bill. One of the things I would like to change is the go to waypoint precise routing. It annoys me when I have to dodge a big kelp patty or even more a freighter and then my current system tries to get me quickly back on an exact previous track by changing directions and getting back on line. I would have to quit my "Go To" and start over. Since I am mostly running in open ocean when going to a waypoint, I would rather have a command that says "Go To That Waypoint From Here". Can the Furuno do that?

Take a look for "Reset XTE", or "Reset cross track error". I think that's what you are looking for. It resets your track line from your current position to the active waypoint.
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Old 09-09-2021, 10:20 PM   #38
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Take a look for "Reset XTE", or "Reset cross track error". I think that's what you are looking for. It resets your track line from your current position to the active waypoint.
I saw that but I don't think it was on the Furuno
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Old 09-09-2021, 11:11 PM   #39
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I saw that but I don't think it was on the Furuno

reset XTE is definitely on Furuno and pretty much all gps units.
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Old 09-09-2021, 11:18 PM   #40
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Furuno has good stuff and seems to be the choice on this thread......


I called them and they told me they did not have any sort of autorouting, which I've used with Simrad and loved.... no brainer for me.


However, had Garmin already on the boat, so added 2 displays, auto pilot and radar with Garmin and happy...


Over the years, for car, aviation and boating, Garmin's support is second to none and that's a huge deal.
An easy solution with Furuno is to go with TimeZero for the auto routing. However, you have Garmin and you're happy and we were fine on the boat we had it on.
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