B&G MFD/ THOROUGLY UNSCIENTIFIC POLL

[DDabs]

Raymarines i50/60 gauges seem easier to read to me and cheaper than having to have three B&G T41 Triton displays. The Plotter and 4G radar though seem to have nicer functions than Raymarine.

Does B&G or Furuno offer the ability to use your iPad as a repeater?

[CarinaPDX]

The touchscreen Furuno has wifi built in for tablet access. Don't remember if iOS or Android is supported - I suspect both but better check. The non-touchscreen NavNet3D MFDs don't currently offer wifi.

Greg

[CarinaPDX]

I see no reason to not mix brands in a system. With NMEA2000 (N2K) it is pretty simple - just check for data compatibility (PGN numbers). Maretron has a nice instrument display, as does Furuno, Raymarine, and Garmin. Your choice.

Greg

[CarinaPDX]

Just checked: Furuno TZtouch touchscreen MFDs support iOS (iPhones, iPads) currently, other OSes in future. Edit: pretty pricey, and no way to avoid salt on the screen from fingers.

Greg

[tartansail]

Originally Posted by DDabs

Raymarines i50/60 gauges seem easier to read to me and cheaper than having to have three B&G T41 Triton displays. The Plotter and 4G radar though seem to have nicer functions than Raymarine.

Does B&G or Furuno offer the ability to use your iPad as a repeater?

B&G has a wireless module that lets you use the iPad as a repeater/controller. I won't be able to test it for a few months yet so can't comment on how well it works.

[goboatingnow]

My experience is that simrad gear is very functional, but seems the least reliable of the big four. I always seem to be on boats with partially non functional Simrad gear

Dave

[Roy M]

This discussion seems to run all over the place. I have a Raymarine Classic E-series and I've been certified as a Raymarine tech. I install a number of Simrad/Navico/Lowrance/etc. and I will most likely install an NSS system when I upgrade. I am currently installing a Simrad with the 350 hydraulic actuator on a Catalina 34, so I hold no biases one way or the other. Raymarine, in the past, was notoriously bad at customer interaction. The techs were good, but they appeared bothered by having to deal with the great unwashed. Hopefully, with the new regime, that will be changing. Garmin and Simrad/all the rest of the family are newer to the game and more willing to walk the unwary through the valley of death, and get high marks, based on my experience, for their efforts. Furuno makes great products at loftier prices, and has a lot of talent at the other end of the phone. So, when I hear some of the comments expressed by some of the participants in this forum, I am deeply disturbed by their seeming lack of reliability. I simply believe that there are a lot of folks who have some degree of experience and too high an opinion of their own values.

This also applies to the nonsense about touch screens. They are intuitively easier to use than knobs, once you learn the ropes. But, if you are bouncing around in rough seas, wearing mittens, or have been gutting fish all afternoon, you can simple use the knobs and buttons that are also provided. Good grief, I think that some folks simply want to vent and the thought of holding onto a productive conversation is too tame for their spleens.

Get the gear that makes you happy, for the moment, because next week someone is going to come out with something flashier and seductive. And the older stuff will still be useful (until the parts and services become unavailable) for cheaper prices. Quit complaining. Go out and find something that works for you, install it and use it until you can't get any more value out of it, then upgrade. Or don't. There is a lot of whining on this forum by folks who need to get out in the world.

[CarinaPDX]

Originally Posted by Roy M

This discussion seems to run all over the place.
.
So, when I hear some of the comments expressed by some of the participants in this forum, I am deeply disturbed by their seeming lack of reliability. I simply believe that there are a lot of folks who have some degree of experience and too high an opinion of their own values.
.
Good grief, I think that some folks simply want to vent and the thought of holding onto a productive conversation is too tame for their spleens.
.
There is a lot of whining on this forum by folks who need to get out in the world.

It seems to me that you are describing your own post more than others. Other posters have stated their own opinions/experiences without the need put down others. You could have done the same. Shame.

Originally Posted by Roy M

This also applies to the nonsense about touch screens. They are intuitively easier to use than knobs, once you learn the ropes. But, if you are bouncing around in rough seas, wearing mittens, or have been gutting fish all afternoon, you can simple use the knobs and buttons that are also provided.

Yes they are easy to use, but usually rely on touch and don't have comparable knobs/buttons for control. Even if they did that means learning two interface methods, which negates much of the convenience. And yes, some of us sail in areas where mittens are used, cockpits full of salt spray. And that is from someone who HAS been "out in the world".

Greg

[Roy M]

Oh my, I'm so sorry that I have offended you and demeaned your sense of values. Imagine that folks might have to learn alternative ways to use their equipment effectively for different conditions. I am so ashamed of myself. Thoughtless, also.

[pbfein]

Last spring I installed an NSS7/3G/GS25/Go-Free. Everything worked flawlessly for the season (~1000 miles of coastal cruising). The Simrad system is integrated to a set of Raymarine ST60s, ST4000 and a Standard Horizon GX2150 using a ShipModul NMEA multiplexer.

With the networked system its very important to install all software updates. When I hooked up the GoFree, the radar control got all wonky. After updating the software for the RI10 radar interface and radar everything worked perfectly. I was able to get MARPA to work with the GS25 heading sensor.

This off season I am continuing to build out with a Simrad belowdecks pilot (AC12 + Ray Type 1). Very happy with Simrad so far.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by CarinaPDX

Yes they are easy to use, but usually rely on touch and don't have comparable knobs/buttons for control. Even if they did that means learning two interface methods, which negates much of the convenience. And yes, some of us sail in areas where mittens are used, cockpits full of salt spray. And that is from someone who HAS been "out in the world".

Greg

I have two Zeus plotters on board - one touch and one non-touch. I bought one touch one so that I could use the GoFree system, which the non-touch doesn't support.

For various reasons, I ended up with the touch one in the cockpit, where I really wanted the non-touch one. I am quite conservative about the machine-human interface (I grew up with Unix, resisted mice for the longest time, hate I-things, etc.) and really didn't want touch screen plotters at all.

I have to say that I have been pleasantly surprised. Not so much so that I could say I prefer it to the lovely non-touch Zeus, but the touch one really does not suck, even in the cockpit. It works fine in driving rain and spray, and the interface itself is well-designed and pleasant to use. There are buttons and a knob for crucial functions. It's really a great plotter.

[CarinaPDX]

Dockhead-

Personally I would quite enjoy the touch screen in the right application - I have been a Mac user for a long time and tend to avoid the command line like the plague (I started programming back in 1966, just avoiding the punch card era). If I had a power boat a touch screen would have pride of place in the center of the console. I suspect if I had a larger, more modern, and drier sailboat I might also have one. And I have been told that my lifelong myopia has left me very critical of any blurriness (opticians run when they see me coming). But on my small, low, and very wet boat, without roller furling, I find the salt smear on my radar display (not to mention my glasses) barely tolerable; touching the screen with my salt-soaked hands is not something I want to consider. It really is a matter of YMMV; all is good input.

I spent a couple of winters in your neck of the woods (IOW and Brighton) so appreciate that you are not just talking about calm seas - even in the summer.

Greg

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by CarinaPDX

Dockhead-

Personally I would quite enjoy the touch screen in the right application - I have been a Mac user for a long time and tend to avoid the command line like the plague (I started programming back in 1966, just avoiding the punch card era). If I had a power boat a touch screen would have pride of place in the center of the console. I suspect if I had a larger, more modern, and drier sailboat I might also have one. And I have been told that my lifelong myopia has left me very critical of any blurriness (opticians run when they see me coming). But on my small, low, and very wet boat, without roller furling, I find the salt smear on my radar display (not to mention my glasses) barely tolerable; touching the screen with my salt-soaked hands is not something I want to consider. It really is a matter of YMMV; all is good input.

I spent a couple of winters in your neck of the woods (IOW and Brighton) so appreciate that you are not just talking about calm seas - even in the summer.

Greg

Certainly different boats and mounting positions and weather conditions, not to mention operator's taste, will make touchscreens relatively more or less attractive. My hands are not usually salty (can be d*mned cold, however), but I think even salt would not be all that terrible with this particular plotter, as the touchscreen has a very tough and slightly textured covering -- it is nothing like the screen of an IPlod, for example, which is unusable when wet or cold, and which salt would smear to unreadability.

I still prefer hard buttons myself, but I was really surprised that the Zeus touchscreen sucked far less than I expected -- which was all I was trying to say to other touchscreen-skeptics like myself. If the non-touch Zeus were capable of doing GoFree, I wouldn't have the touch in my cockpit, but as it is, I am not at all dissatisfied.

[DotDun]

Be sure to turn off the touch screen function on your RM E series prior to it starting to rain. If you don't, you may as turn off the breaker as raindrops on the screen will send commands you didn't know existed.