What brand of marine instruments

[JeffBr]

I just had a bad experience with Raymarine auto tiller failure in the first 6 months and they wanted $275.00 to fix. Terrible service.

I really like my Garmin 7600 chartplotter and Radar.

Jeff

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by tkeithlu

This is a matter of personal preference and experience. I happen to like Garmin in most cases, but run a Simrad autopilot, Furuno radar, and Chinese AIS. My prejudice is against integrated systems. I run a separate antenna and module for each, rather than integrating them into a single brand single glass cockpit. I know that I have the space on my instrument panel to do that, and many sailors do not, but hate the thought of a single element (smoke from burning insulation, monitor goes "ping") leaving me with no plan B. If you lose the GPS, it's awfully nice to have the paper chart, radar, AIS GPS, and depth sounder still working for you.

[Snore]

Well this thread was a chuckle!

I too do deliveries, as well as a fair amount of charter work, and have no issues with Ray or Garmin. As one B&G owner stated, they have the WORST user interface.

If you are getting a radar, purchase a book to understand how radar works. I am yet to see a radar installation operate at peak efficiency with the default settings.

[SouthernPride]

Went with all Simrad. Not a blue water traveler unless Bahamas count. Not sure if blue water travel impacts your choice of equipment.

[cburger]

Originally Posted by Bruce K

Have a look at what your local professional fishermen use; here it's mostly Furuno or Koden, that's what I use, simple to use, rugged and reliable (also expensive;for a reason) The only downside is they don't carry on with coloured flashing lights and things that go "beep beep" like an arcade game. I find that about 90% of people don't really know how to use their instruments, they are there simply to impress others.

Furuno seems to be mentioned by a few members here. I like the idea of simple, rugged and reliable.

[Cpt Pat]

I know what I don't recommend: I have never owned a Garmin device that didn't have some horrible-but-obscure software bug. I have two Garmin handheld GPSs that lock up, but appear normal, after being powered up (on external power) for over a week or so. The software developers probably coded a buffer that overflows - and assumed the internal batteries would go dead before the buffer "bingos". Or, Software QA just missed it altogether.


I'm an instrument pilot, and I've even had their FAA-approved flight director point me into Mexican airspace when approaching San Diego from the north. They later warned about a "heading latch-up" problem. (Maybe that got inscribed on some poor pilot's tombstone.) Good thing I could still navigate visually - and there wasn't a mountain in my way. When I've posted technical details about bugs on their user blogs, my postings mysteriously disappear (that's one way to "resolve" problems).


Garmin is fine, so long as you only take the results "under advisement" and have something else as your primary navigation reference.


Furuno and Raymarine make products that, as yet, I haven't seen any flaws in.

[travellerw]

Originally Posted by Snore

Well this thread was a chuckle!

I too do deliveries, as well as a fair amount of charter work, and have no issues with Ray or Garmin. As one B&G owner stated, they have the WORST user interface.

If you are getting a radar, purchase a book to understand how radar works. I am yet to see a radar installation operate at peak efficiency with the default settings.

And just like you.. I will have a chuckle..

We have %100 B&G on our boat and love it. We have sailed boats with both Garmin and Raymaine and much prefer the B&G interface (especially with the latest update).

[artisanmach]

I'm a Garminator too...

[Grattaway]

Garmin here in NZ - I have units on a couple of boats - sailing and fishing - and never let me down also have a hand held GPS that I use in the bush when out hunting. Use what works for you locally as service and support are important. Good luck Wayne

[Pizzazz]

Today, I believe most people choose Raymarine or Garmin, Raymarine has better MARPA, Garmin has a slightly easier user interface. The US Coast Guard is switching from Furuno to Raymarine (I do not understand the previous poster who wants to use Army stuff at sea . Navico gear was always slightly below them in terms of features and the user interface but the solid state radar carried them through. Now that everyone has solid state radar, there is no need to use navico gear in my opinion.

Furuno used to be more solid than the others but I am not sure it has a lead anymore. A lot of the chartplotter work has moved to Android based devices, so it is a matter of who has the fastest processor to do better graphics and MARPA.

Another point is that Raymarine has a huge installed base and you can always find replacement parts on eBay. This has been beneficial on many occasions.

Integration is absolutely key, chart overlay, radar overlay, autopilot control, also consider the Garmin watches, overpriced but lots of benefits.

I would not worry about paper... You can always get a cheap prepaid phone with the latest charts, etc. as a backup.

For the record, I ran a fully integrated Raymarine setup plus a Garmin chartplotter at the helm

[Paul L]

Furuno offers excellent ARPA support in their recreational sized Radars. The others have a more limited MARPA implementation, with some brands having versions that are not really usable.

[donradcliffe]

I run a number of boats, and have bad experiences with Raymarine, Simrad, Garmin, and B&G. I don't know how any of them stay in business. I did have Furuno radars, and they all worked, but no experience with other Furuno stuff. I think the business model for all marine electronic manufacturers is that they stop supporting good equipment so they can sell the Beta test version of their new equipment to unsuspecting buyers.

[anchorman]

Originally Posted by cburger

I need to install new speed and depth gauge and Radar. The Navico Brand was a real disappointment. Have heard Raymarine not what they used to be. So wondering what brand of marine electronics members have had success with?

I replaced my Raymarine multifunction display and wind instruments 2 years ago with Furuno and I hate them. They are totally user unfriendly. Cannot turn off depth alarm, or set anchor alarms, plus other issues.The manual is useless and so is customer support. They read to me out of the manual. Same response from local dealer.

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by anchorman

I replaced my Raymarine multifunction display and wind instruments 2 years ago with Furuno and I hate them. They are totally user unfriendly. Cannot turn off depth alarm, or set anchor alarms, plus other issues.The manual is useless and so is customer support. They read to me out of the manual. Same response from local dealer.

That's odd, as I've always had excellent support from Furuno USA. Are you dealing directly with them and not a reseller? Also, the online forum at Furuno USA Community • Index page is sometimes useful.

[Ufoysterman]

Originally Posted by MAJICDAN

I use what the US Army uses: GARMIN

Presumably for land yachting?