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Old 10-03-2007, 15:43   #1
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Navman

I went into a well known chandlery store here in Australia and inquired about a 6 -7 inch Navman chartplotter/combo and a navman auto pilot.
The salesman, plus later the manager rubbished the whole Navman range and said they were crap.
And then proceeded to try and sell me Raymarine at a much higher price.

I don't know whether they are being honest or that they get a higher commission from Raymarine.

Can you guys give me some feedback.
What would you recommend, I really can't justify an 80c Raymarine particually as technology is moving so fast.
I thought I might use a 5"-6"screen size model with a connection to a laptop.

I do want a good hydralic autopilot though, any suggestions?. The boat is a 2.5ton 39 ft motor trimaran.
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Old 10-03-2007, 18:17   #2
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IMO Navman is a very poor piece of equipment that is very poorly constructed. How it performs I can not say. I have only done installation on two boats but in both cases half of the units had to go back before installation was completed because of defects. It took them 8 weeks to get the units returned for completion of install. Look at Garmin.
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Old 10-03-2007, 21:40   #3
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I have a navman vhf a navman 5600 chartplotter and a navman depth sounder. All are about a year old and are working good.
The chartplotter is real good and I am very happy with it.
I also have a garman gps that came with the boat and is installed next to the navman. It is old as the hills and performs flawlessly
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Old 10-03-2007, 22:19   #4
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Hey foxy l gather the Navman range of gear originated in NZ, but are they still manufactured there ? From what l have heard the reports seem to be quite good. Most of the mag tests put their gear in the middle to good range. l am looking at their VHF at the moment. Is yours dsc ? vhf 7000 Aus$ 249.00 vhf 7200 dsc Aus$ 359 similar prices in NZ ?
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Old 10-03-2007, 22:20   #5
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This subject has been discussed before, so if you do a search.
Navman and Northstar are made in the same room in Auckland NZ.
Infact, the rumour now is that the Navman name is being deleted and is about to be called Northstar. There is nothing wrong with there product. I know of a lot of it out there and no issues. All my electronics are Navman and I have had it all working flawlessly for three years.
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Old 10-03-2007, 22:27   #6
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Thanks Alan .. l have not seen the Northstar brand in Australia, but Navman is quite common. Is it "same gear differant badge" ?
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Old 10-03-2007, 22:51   #7
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Hi Coops. I have the 7000. I bought it in Brisbane last year for about $300 NZ. I think our exchange worked out .92 cents at the time.
They were about $50 dearer in NZ at the time.
The 7200 was a waste of money as we dont have the dsc here.
Good radio. The speaker is a bit cheap inside it but the scan etc is good. My mate has just bought the same radio from a chandlery here for around $340.
Just read that Navman is closing in NZ. They did start here but the yanks bought them out years ago.
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Old 10-03-2007, 22:58   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cooper
Thanks Alan .. l have not seen the Northstar brand in Australia, but Navman is quite common. Is it "same gear differant badge" ?
Not all but some of it, Yes.
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Old 10-03-2007, 23:05   #9
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wow so much for having preconcieved ideas......and l thought that navman was plain old reliable NZ.... but then we dont own vegimite anymore either.
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Old 10-03-2007, 23:57   #10
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As discussed some time back, a major investment company called Brunswick, bought Navman. This is an investment company, not some mere company like Simrad for say. They own just about eveything Marine related you could imagine. Northstar is American and top shelp top price equipment. The NorthStar product was brought to Nz and manufacture of both products takes place in NZ. Navman name is going, not closing. At least that is the view at the mo. However, in the discussion we all had here, news was let out of the bag before the ones that should have been told it first, that's Navman themselves and the proverbial hit the fan up there. So I am not sure what shape it is all in at the mo.
So cooper4, yes it is still NZ relaible at the mo at least. All bar the VHF's. These are made under licence in China. Actually, you guy's notice that several VHF's kinda have a similar look??? And isn't it interesting that many seem to come out at the same time with similar features.
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Old 11-03-2007, 11:51   #11
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I have found that the Uniden Vhfs are crap. They can only scan two channels and one of them is not channel 16. Marauder had one in his boat. He bought it new and within one month sold it and bought a Navman one. There are some pretty good functions on the Navman radio.
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Old 11-03-2007, 11:59   #12
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I am looking for a new VHF. I have read Icom are good, but they aren't cheap either. The big thing is, I want clarity, not so much features. How clear is the Navman on both transmit and recieve. I hear people talking on radios that sound like they are checking in from under an ice cap on mars.
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Old 13-03-2007, 16:36   #13
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I have just purchased and am awaiting the arrival of a brand new Navman 5507 Chartplotter. I will let you know if there are any hiccoughs with the installation / operation.

At this stage I plan on installing the plotter at the nav-station, with a repeater (NASA Clipper) to give on-deck GPS info from the plotter.
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Old 15-03-2007, 01:35   #14
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The Navman transmits real good. I can hear Marauder as clear as.
The speaker is not the best but there is a port for an extension speaker and the option to have it just going on that, both or just the radio. I have bought a better quality speaker and it is all good.
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Old 15-03-2007, 11:23   #15
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Darryl, did they have a stand up at the boatshow???
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