Furuno vs. Garmin...

thataway · Posted: Mon Dec 04, 2006 8:52 pm Post subject:

We have done experiments--and the US sailing has done much more--on various rigs to get a person aboard. We do believe that a 6 part tackle will allow most people to get a large person aboard over the side--the Radar Arch on the side, is as good as you will get on the C Dory--because there is enough lift to get a person into the cockpit.

We have the Garhaur davit for lifting the generator, generator fuel tank, ice chests and the dinghy--so it is not MOB specific, but an apaption of something which has other uses. On the Cal 46, we had a 9' off the deck Radar arch, which had both an attatchment for a block and tackle, an electric windlass (cable) and a single block to winches--which had other uses (such as bringing the RIB aboard)--as well as retrieving MOB.

We also made a float "tail" with short lifting pennant, and float which would allow a person on a high freeboard boat to get the lifting point of the Life sling.

Needless to say, safety harnesses with jacklines, solid life lines etc to keep people aboard are far better than dealing with MOB.

squidslayer · Posted: Tue Dec 05, 2006 12:51 am Post subject: Furuno

My new 2007 Tomcat 255 is arriving this Dec replacing my C-dory 22 angler..
My 1990 Angler had Furuno Radar..Chartplotter/Sounder when I brought it in 2005 After 15years the Furuno's were still working like new when I sold it.
For my new 07 Tomcat it will be ALL FURUNO electronics even the VHF and auto pliot.
I was REALLY tempted by the Raymarine E-80 E120 with all the bells and whistles &3D .....................
but it really boiled down to this ..RELIABILITY
when I went to the "hull truth"electronics forum http://www.thehulltruth.com/forums/forum-view.asp?fid=8
and saw all the threads titled... "RayMarine Problems""Raymarine strikes again"...with very few Furuno issues..thats all it took....FURUNO ALL THE WAY....it may cost more but when you are spending $125000.00 for a boat..WHY SKIMP?? Why do you think you cannot buy Furuno at "Westmarine or Cabelas?? Because it is of Commerial Quality

The last Tomcat 255 sold at my Dealer.."Outboard Motor Shop" Oakland Ca. was out fitted with all Raymarine E-80 units "two" front and rear...and guess what ??Problems....the unit blacks out..off and on ..the shop is still working on it...I looked in the Hull truth forum..and there it was "Raymarine Problem".."screen blacks out"
My list for my new TomCat is as follows:

Furuno Navet Vx2 1834CBB 4kW 24" Dome BlacK Box Radar/cmap Chartplotter
Big Bay DIBM-10.4 10.4" XGA (1024x768) Indoor/outdoor High Bright Powder Coated Opti-Max and dimmingf control
Furuno Navnet BBWGPS Blackbox GPS Receiver
Furuno Navnet BBFFI External Sounder Module
Furuno Transom Mount Multisensor with 10 pin
Furuno Navnet 520 Hydraulic Autopilot system
Furuno FM3000 VHF Radio water proof Scanner
Shakesphere HD Mast
Pioneer DEH-P6800 CD Reciever Organic EL Display ipod ready Sirius Ready
Navionics Gold Chart us west

Due to the limited space on top of the Dash of the Tomcat I opted for the Big Bay...recomended by the dealer" ...Flat screen display 10" or 12" mounted on a adjustible pole mount on top of the dash The Furuno buttons and mouse ball
for the unit mounted on the front of the dash for Easy access.

Again my reasioning for Furuno is...
Lexus "Japan"
or
Jaguar " UK"
which is most relieable??

But...... to each his own!!

Dick
Orinda, Ca

drjohn71a · Posted: Tue Dec 05, 2006 11:22 am Post subject:

I could not find the "Raymarine strikes again" quote on the Hull Truth-Electonics site. I did find a thread where a guy describes his problem calibrating his Furuno gps and another Raymarine quote:

"I used the Raymarine equipment for 3 years and it was bullet proof, no hicups what-so-ever. The Ray HD FF technology is dynamite as is the Furuno. You can't go wrong either way you go."

With Furuno being mainly commercial equipment, I doubt many deep sea business operators are hanging around the internet chatrooms alot. I think the average sport users, e.g., Raymarine, Garmin, etc., are more likely to be posting.

'sorry to hear your CA acquaintance is having problems with BOTH units... that kind of favors some power/installation problem, to my thinking. It would seem odd for two displays to go out at the same time, regardless of the manufacturer.

John

Gene Morris · Posted: Tue Dec 05, 2006 12:20 pm Post subject:

Squidslayer;

I ended up putting all garmin products on my new Tomcat, for the same reasons you want the Furuno products, experience of reliability. I have had Garmin products for years and they seem to be bullet proof. I have a good friend that swears by Furuno and he has had good luck with his electronics. Today's electronics are good, reguardless of mfg. Good luck with your new Tomcat. I chose an overhead mounting system for my electronics, using RAM mounts. I have posted some photos of the mounts in this site. Take a look at the mount for the Garmin 3210, every day that I use it I like it even more. The Outboard center in Oakland has a great group of salespeople. Even though I didn't purchase from them they were very helpfull when I was shopping.
Good Luck
Gene Morris

thataway · Posted: Tue Dec 05, 2006 12:48 pm Post subject:

With two identical posts on the Furuno gear--the other in "Furuno choice for new Tom Cat" it alsmost sounds like a Furuno Ad--but I know that Furuno doesn't do that. I was a little curious about a 15 year old Furuno chartplotter/sounder. To my knowlege Furuno didn't make a chart plotter 15 years ago--and I outfitted a boat will all Furuno 14 years ago. The GPS 30 was only a reciever--not a chart plotter. Furuno actually laged behind the industry on chart plotters and their plotters until relitatively recently had a slow redraw time.

The Hull Truth electronics has some excellent information, (as do the other parts of the site)--But I am impressed by the lack of complaints about RayMarine, considering what the past history of the company had been--and the large volume of units out there being used. I currently don't own any RayMarine products--but had good service out of a Radar (actully was JVC under Raytheon name before the split)--and several autopilots.

Many problems with electronics are due to low voltage, corrosion, not isolating the electronics from engine starting batteries, and not having good filters when appropiate.

One of the best sites on electronics is Ben Ellison's "Panbo":
http://www.panbo.com/ Ben is the electronics editor for Power and Motor Yacht. He not only keeps his ear to the ground--but travels to all of the trade shows and has a lot of insider information. Ben also tries out many of the units on his boats and searches out the defects.

There are also several of the online sellers of electronics who have excellent backgrounds and knowlege--if you are up to doing the installation yourself--and saves a bundle of bucks! I have found 25 to 35% savings on some items.

Of course I suspect that most of what we buy is actually made in China, Korea or India...So I am not sure that the country where the company has its headquarters is pertinant... My 3 month old Furuno Radar was made in Korea! So it may actually be a Daewoo, Kia, or Hyundai rather than a Lexas...(some Lexus models are built in Canada) :-).

Anyway--congratulations on the Furuno package--it'll do you well!

drjohn71a · Posted: Tue Dec 05, 2006 3:08 pm Post subject:

Speaking of the "country of origin" riddle... about 10 years ago, a small NE US town's population threw a fit when the town bought a japanese brand earth digging machine. The town rose to the challenge, sold the Japanese brand and bought a good old American, John Deere earth digging machine to replace it. Low and behold, when all the dust had settled, the one with the Japanese brand name actually contained more American parts than the "American" John Deere brand!

Even if you find a TV, stereo, or switch of American brand, most of the components are made in Mexico, or overseas too.

there is a big Garmin production plant here in Kansas and I really liked their 3210 units, esp., the size and extras in their packages. I will prob get a Garmin portable for backup.

And, if I win the lottery, I may invest in a $12,000 flashlight/search sonar unit from Furuno!

John

John

Doryman · Posted: Tue Dec 05, 2006 3:25 pm Post subject:

When I bought my Tom Cat, I went to Anacortes Marine Electronics here in town and asked owner Bryan Hennessy http://www.anacortesmarine.com/ to recommend a system. As you can see, he carries all the major brands. He installed a 100% RayMarine E80 system, complete with fishfinder(with through-hull transducer), autopilot, radar, AIS, weather radio (important for me because I'm deaf and can't hear the radio) and marine radio (for my crew to use). It's NMEA2000 and tied into the Yamaha Multifunction gauges (also on the NMEA 2000 bus). I can't yet vouch for the reliability or performance, but I can tell you I appreciated Bryan's low-key, fact-based sales job, and his crew's installation expertise.

So FWIW, Bryan could have put me into Furuno, Garmin, Simrad, or others, but chose to sell me a RayMarine unit. And he knows I am local and that I will be coming back if there is a problem.

BTW maybe it's bling, but I went with the Navionics Platinum charts. The cost premium was a very small percentage of the overall cost of the system.

Just one data point in this discussion.

Warren

squidslayer · Posted: Thu Dec 07, 2006 1:58 am Post subject: Raymarine 8 Furuno 0

I really do not want to sound like a Furuno salesman...
but I'm just trying to justify in my mind WHY I would spend more money for a Furuno system..... than a Raymarine or Garmin system . I really like the E-120 Raymarine and love Garmin 3210 GPSMAP...but I guess RELIABLITY to me is more important that 3D or "the latest"

I am having second thoughts however...

thanks to everybodys input...

I have not installed ANYthing yet ..the Tomcat is due Dec 29th for outfitting
I do Salmon, lingcod, halibut out the Golden Gate Bridge SF in dense fog .. Rough seas and heavy Cargo Ship traffic ...
.....tuna somtimes up to 50miles offshore .
And this does not help!!.........
In the Electronics Forum of the C-Brats..I counted 8 posts that had Raymarine problems in their titles.....
Furuno had 0
thehulltruth forum which is not all C-Dorys does not favor Raymarine either
Going by gut feeling rather that common sense???
Thanks again to EVERYONE
Dick E
255Tomcat ETA DEC29

Mr. Fisherman · Posted: Thu Dec 07, 2006 6:42 am Post subject:

I have had several GPS units. I love the Garmins.
As far as my boat is concerned though... Furuno all the way...
The service center is just across the bridge. My equipment works hard (when it gets to work) and Furuno has proven that they stand behind their products.
I recently sent my dome in for repairs... It came back below the estimate and they even picked up the shipping.
The next electronic package on my boat will be Furuno and I can recommend them without reservation.
I am gonna buy another Garmin for my motorcycle though Wink

thataway · Posted: Thu Dec 07, 2006 10:01 pm Post subject:

SquidSlayer, If you really are going out the Golden Gate in dense fog, rough seas etc (I have been thru this area in those conditions, but in much larger boats)--I would strongly suggest that you invest in an AIS unit. That is the biggest safety item--even if you just have a reciever.
This shows you where a ship is, what her speed is, what her course is, what rate of turn, where bound, where from, Her dimensions and even something about the cargo.