napoleon

P

patrick and linda

New member
capt. mattie,
i am in the market to purchase a furuno radar system. i would appreciate a quote as well as a suggestion on which system to buy. my boating is typically, inland water ways. i thought rather than emailing you with this request why not post it, and have your response post as well. you provide a valuable service to our c-brat group so where better to discuss product.
i have purchased from you in the past and hopefully, you are still holding my check. would think another 3 or 4 months and it should be good to cash.
thanks
pat
ps: all c-brats welcome to advise me on which system would work best for my boating needs
 
Hi Pat,
For a moment there I thought I was going to have a vessel name right challenge on my hands! :lol:

Thanks for the kind words Pat. There are C-Brat's with more knowledge about radar than me to be sure, but I will offer my advice. I have logged just shy of 2000 miles on my Furuno NNVX2 1834 C/NT (24"/4KW radome, 10.4" MFD) with the BBWGPS receiver and C-Map Max chart chip. I have used it at night, pea soup fog, calm and rough waters, open water, and tight vessel proximity. I installed/wired it myself on Napoleon including connection to my DSC radio.

I think you are making a good decision to go with Furuno. They are a little more expensive than other brands, and offer a million options requiring some time to learn to use them, BUT they are reliable as hell and offer the best customer service I have experienced. You call - you get a knowledgeable support rep....crazy this day and age. Other brands are good of course and offer their unique advantages but I happen to like Furuno. A survey in any commercial harbor will reinforce your decision as well.

A few things about radar...forget the range advertisements. They don't make much difference mounted approx. 10' high on our C-Dory's. A radome mounted 10' from the water can paint another vessel 10' high from a max range of 8.95 miles....that's it. This applies whether it is a 2KW enclosed radome or a 25KW open array 'bird melter'.

There are some critical variables here to be sure...reflectivity of the target, weather, etc., etc. Higher power penetrates things like fog and rain better than lower power units. The width of the radome determines the target separation capabilities.

I think most of your needs will be frankly under a half mile range. The closer the range the larger the targets displayed on your screen. When I am running offshore I may have mine set to 1.5 nm range usually and when in a busy harbor between .125 nm and .5 nm.

With the above in mind....are you looking for a dedicated radar or do you want a radar and chartplotter? What size screen do you want?

I will suggest a few...the prices below assume credit card payment through Paypal. Deduct 3% if paying by bank check or money order.

At one end of the spectrum you could consider the 1715 LCD radar for $1659.42. This offers a 7" "silver bright LCD" screen and a variable speed 18" radome pumping 2.2KW. Furuno is also offering a $50 rebate on this unit through June 30.

If you wanted a good size color MFD with radar using Navionics charts for example you could consider the NNVX2 1824 C. This offers a 10.4" color MFD, 2.2 KW/18" radome, and accepts the Navionics Gold chart chips. The price for this unit would be $3398.22. The BBWGPS receiver would be $302.40. I would need to know your desired area for the chart chip price.

If you wanted the very latest technology from Furuno you could consider the NN3D systems. This system offers faster map redraw, NMEA2000, and the ability to use 3D chart chips. The 8.4" color MFD would be $2717.82. These systems mate with their ultra high definition "UHD" radar. The 19" 2KW UHD radome would be $1965.60. This system also uses the NMEA2000 GP330B GPS receiver for $355.62.

There are a wide range of options for systems as you can imagine so let me know a bit more about what you are looking for. All the items I mentioned above are in stock. Shipping is $11.32 anywhere in the lower 48.

Thanks again for your business.

Thanks for the opportunity.
 
Matt has covered the bases well. The wider the scanner is, the better resoution or descrimination of the radar. This means that two targets which are close together are shown as two rather than one object. Even at close range, a 48" scanner (not practical on a C Dory) would be better than a 24" scanner.

I personally think that the Furuno 1715 is a good buy for the money. Well proven radar, 7" plotter and 18" scanner.

Now, the new "broad band" radar from Navico (the Lowrance is an example)--does have excellent descrimination with a small scanner. It is also very good at short ranges. What is still up in the air a bit, is the performance at long ranges (at least longer than 3 miles--and up to 16 miles). Even at sea, must of the time small boats run with a radar on 3 mile to 6 mile range most of the time. We would run out to 16 or 24 miles every 15 minutes, looking for large ships. The hight of the antenna is important--but if you are looking for large ships--they have high steel hulls and will show up at some distance--often up to 16 miles.
 
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