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Old 08-10-2017, 09:33   #1
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B&G Zeus and MARPA

Has anyone found a better way to acquire targets on a B&G Zeus 2 unit?

The way it seems you do it on my setup is to touch the radar return, touch the menu bar in the upper right corner of the screen, then, since the "radar options" is not in the first page of items, you need to scroll up the list to get to "radar options", then hit "finish acquire"...

By which time the boat has probably hit you in the fog.

Not to mention the fact that if its cold and wet the touch screen doesn't always recognize your finger tips or does the wrong thing as you drag your hand across the screen.

It was a lot easier on my old Raymarine E120 with soft keys and cursor control.

Is there any way to set up "fast paths" in the Zeus interface? I find the documentation pretty bad. Both for troubleshooting and for things like this.

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Old 10-10-2017, 04:41   #2
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Re: B&G Zeus and MARPA

I know Zeus 3 has fast paths, but maybe you could make and save a Marpa screen that would take you there? Then you just need to hit the page button and then the page you set up.
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Old 10-10-2017, 08:43   #3
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Re: B&G Zeus and MARPA

I'll check with B&G, but *MY* manuals (they really are bad) don't say anything about "fast paths". Anyone know if you can do this on Zeus 2? And how you do it?

Its tough to even figure out how to create a route using the manual. I had to go to the B&G reps at the boat show and just keep asking questions. The Youtube videos are simply marketing. Nothing useful.
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Old 15-10-2017, 04:25   #4
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Re: B&G Zeus and MARPA

I had no problem with B&G ZeusT12. Did not really review the manual either. Just explore the black box then read then explore some more. I found it quite intuitive but would like to have a couple of more direct choices.
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Old 15-10-2017, 05:41   #5
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Re: B&G Zeus and MARPA

I don't really use MARPA on my Zeuses. Despite having a very good compass (Airmar three axis stabilized), and despite the very good target discrimination of the 4G radar, MARPA just doesn't work well enough to be worth the futzing required to acquire targets and keep them tracked.

I recommend the old fashioned way -- just put the EBL on the target and see what it's doing in relation to that. That will tell you very well whether you have a problem or not. You can have up to four EBL's going at the same time, if you enable the second virtual radar in the dual range function. I'll even do a full blown hand radar plot if I need it, and if I've got the resources (i.e. someone else on the helm).

Fortunately we rarely really need MARPA -- 99% of everything we need precise information about, is broadcasting AIS.


If you really need MARPA, then probably the best way to use it on a B&G plotter is -- remove it and trade it in on a Furuno.
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Old 25-11-2017, 12:15   #6
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Re: B&G Zeus and MARPA

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dockhead View Post
I don't really use MARPA on my Zeuses. Despite having a very good compass (Airmar three axis stabilized), and despite the very good target discrimination of the 4G radar, MARPA just doesn't work well enough to be worth the futzing required to acquire targets and keep them tracked.

I recommend the old fashioned way -- just put the EBL on the target and see what it's doing in relation to that. That will tell you very well whether you have a problem or not. You can have up to four EBL's going at the same time, if you enable the second virtual radar in the dual range function. I'll even do a full blown hand radar plot if I need it, and if I've got the resources (i.e. someone else on the helm).

Fortunately we rarely really need MARPA -- 99% of everything we need precise information about, is broadcasting AIS.


If you really need MARPA, then probably the best way to use it on a B&G plotter is -- remove it and trade it in on a Furuno.

I'll second that opinion about Navico's MARPA. It is TOTAL crap. I am generally a fan of their stuff, but their implementation of MARPA is so bad, it is worse than worthless.

The really annoying part about it is it has been that way for years through multiple software updates.
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Old 29-11-2017, 14:47   #7
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Re: B&G Zeus and MARPA

It seems to functionally work, its just way too cumbersome and slow to be worth anything when you need it.

In busy New England shipping lanes, it was useful to have it tracking 4, sometimes 5 targets at once. Especially in Nantucket fog when the high speed ferry is coming up behind you at 35 kts in zero-zero visibility.

I asked B&G the question. After taking 2 months to respond (they claimed a new mail system) they told me to update my firmware. Not a great answer. I'm doing so, but I'll not be a happy guy if they simply follow a script and tell you that without knowing if anything actually improves.
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