Radar Selection

Has anyone had any experience with Garmin's radars?

I'm building a new boat and I'm down to electronics selection. I've always been a Furuno radar fan, but a fan of Garmin chartplotters, I'm thinking of going all Garmin on this new boat.

Any feedback would be appreciated.

Thank you!

Just Bob wrote:
*I've always been a Furuno radar fan, but a fan of Garmin chartplotters,

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** I agree with your statement........... **

I'm an electronics nut (not expert) and have spent quite a bit of time playing with about everything out there. I am a big fan of Furuno radars and Garmin plotters but have been told by a guy who I think is the best electronic person in my area that the Garmin, RayMarine and NorthStar radars leave a lot to be desired. (I have a NorthStar plotter, sounder and radar and they work well enough.) If I was commisioning a brand new boat, however, it would have a Garmin plotter, Furuno radar and fish finder. All those pros can't be wrong!

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Although we have yet to directly experience our choice, we spent quite a bit of time looking at Furuno, Garmin, and Simrad for our electronics suite. We went into it not sure if we wanted to stay with the same manufacturer for everything, but in the end we chose to go exclusively with Furuno.

The Garmin had appeal for sure, but being still relatively new on the market (relative to Furuno I mean) we decided not to go with them.

Simrad also had appeal; the Broadband Radar & Structurescan in particular caught our eye but again these particular technologies were still in their infancy, at least in the recreational marine market.*

Although in today's world it is theoretically possible (and I'm sure many folks have had good success doing it) to mix electronics from different maunfacturers, we elected to go with one company to reduce and hopefully eliminate any interconnectivity issues.

Furuno was our choice because of its reputation for good solid design and workmanship. Once installed, we intend to keep this suite for a minimum of ten years, and the other options did not give us the confidence to be able to do that. Walking the docks in our cruising area (BC) we see a lot of Furuno radars, some ancient, on the commercial boats which says a lot. Those guys need reliability.

We went with the Navnet VX2, 4KW radar, fishfinder module, and Navpilot 500/511 combo. Many folks like the Navnet 3D but we liked the simplicity of the VX2. (Apparently it is Furuno's biggest seller).

Anyway, good luck with your quest; I don't think you could really go wrong with either of your choices.

GO Furuno

Yachtty crap pales compared to basic commercial gear.

15 years ago we went with Raytheon as it was US made and had all the components, GPS, Radar, and Depth with Furuno second. Being we are out fi8tting the Eagle to a be a long range cruiser we want things to have parts and service In the PNW, Canada and Alaska. Today, I would go with Furuno for the same reason they have all the components and parts/service in most area. **So I would see who has all the components and have parts/service in your cruising area.* So what does Seahorse recommend?

W have two of the electronics, except radar, as I out the old 20+ radar as it dated the boat.* I plan on replacing the radar with a broad band as we have a 30+ mile radar, and will go with Furuno or Simrad.* I think Simrad and Furuno are related?

Most of the commercial have Furuno.

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Hi there Phil...Furuno & Simrad are not related.

Simrad is in the Navico family which also includes Lowrance, B&G, Eagle, and Northstar. I understand that they are phasing Northstar out.

In my own opinion I would go for Raytheon for the radar. They produce a better radar in the smaller sizes 26 & 32 mile.
In the larger sizes and open array then Furuno is the go.
For sounders I would stick with Furuno or Simrad if you want deep water defination and are an avid fisherman. I like the Garmin products for small boat fishing use.
I don't mind mixing brands if I am picking the best of each. I wouldn't want to comprise performance just for convenience.

That's just my opinion.

Benn

I think this fairly new broadband radar is going to take over for the recreational boater. If I was in the market I would go for that, as the power draw so much less, the close definition rather more, and the output emissions are minuscule compared to orthodox radar so you won't have issue placing it so you don't fry your brain. They are also owner install easy I understand. That I like also, having installed all my own electronic gear.
http://www.navico.com/en/Media/Press-releases/Navico-Unveils-Revolutionary-Broadband-Radar/

Peter B wrote:
I think this fairly new broadband radar is going to take over for the recreational boater. If I was in the market I would go for that, as the power draw so much less, the close definition rather more, and the output emissions are minuscule compared to orthodox radar so you won't have issue placing it so you don't fry your brain. They are also owner install easy I understand. That I like also, having installed all my own electronic gear.
http://www.navico.com/en/Media/Press-releases/Navico-Unveils-Revolutionary-Broadband-Radar/

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*I completely agree with your assessment on the broadband radar Peter. We looked at it very closely during our recent research. That, and the broadband Structurescan that Simrad/Lowrance provide, have a lot of appeal, for the reasons you stated. (I view the Structurescan as more of an exploration tool than a navigation tool by the way. Great for exploring the bottoms of bays etc.)

Having said that, even in the short time that these products have been out they have seen significant advances (more software related than anything I understand) particularly in increased distance for the radar and increased depth for the Structurescan. So we decided not to jump on that bandwagon yet. Also, I suspect that others like Furuno will jump into this arena at some point with their usual *well thought out products.

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Yup. My thoughts also, so holding back - spent enough on her this year anyway. Like anything, best avoid the 1st newey on the market, but the concept rocks. Wait for broadband mk 2 or 3, eh?

Last year my Raymarine radar gave out at the least convenient time due to water intrusion. Typical poor Ray radar housing design was the cause. I replaced with Furuno for little more money than the competition. Furuno is quite simply the best in the PNW for installation and service. Furuno loves Raymarine due to the steady replacement business.

Ray's bankruptcy and then purchase by Flir remains a work in progress IMHO. Nobeltec is now "owned" by Furuno. Navico is now a consortium of three lesser lights. Who knows where this instrument company shakeout*will end up.

sunchaser wrote:
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Ray's bankruptcy and then purchase by Flir remains a work in progress IMHO. Nobeltec is now "owned" by Furuno. Navico is now a consortium of three lesser lights. Who knows where this instrument company shakeout*will end up.

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*I've also heard that Furuno now owns C-Map, although haven't seen anything official, so am wondering if it is indeed true. Certainly Furuno's marketing literature seems to favour C-Map over Navionics. Anyone know anything about this?*

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Conrad,
I was under the impression that Jeppesen Marine owned C-Map and also owned Nobeltec and the whole show was owned by Boeing.
I may be wrong as things change so often in this world.

Benn

Would you buy a Koden radar????....that is ultimately the question because that is who makes the radar for Garmin.

To me, Furuno is a no brainer.

Tidahapah wrote:
Conrad,
I was under the impression that Jeppesen Marine owned C-Map and also owned Nobeltec and the whole show was owned by Boeing.
I may be wrong as things change so often in this world.

Benn

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*Hi Benn - that is exactly my understanding also; however, the Furuno ownership of C-Map was mentioned recently by a usually reliable source, so maybe things have changed?

A person needs an abacus to keep up with everything these days. Or a slide rule.

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