Furuno 1623 B/W Stand Alone Radar

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Cspirit

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Has anyone got one of these? I know that this is old technology and that the new plotter/randome radars are better. However, they are also expensive - the Furuno can be bought for about £700. Should I buy one, or just stick to AIS? I was caught out in fog on an overnight passage this year. At the time, I would have sold one of the children for a radar. However, other than that occasion, I haven't felt the need for radar. Any thoughts?
 
Used to have one. Nothing wrong with it. Results seemed as good as anything else. The only reason for getting rid of it was I wanted the radar overlay on the chart plotter and went down the Raymarine route.
At about £700 I think it's a good bit of kit for a stand alone unit. If you already have a chartplotter that accepts a radar connection than I wouldn't have another display to clutter up the boat.
 
IMHO the Furuno 1623 is a very good buy.
No whistles or bells, but does what it says on the box.
And very reliable - would not be without mine.
 
Yes they are, and told me that they had bought the whole shipment from Furuno, the last at this price. Although that could be salespeak.
 
Take a look at some of the US web sites some of the discount shops have it for $1000 and with the exchange rate at 2+ might be worth considering, It is quite big and shipping and possible import duty sould be taken in to account but still could be a good deal
 
I agree, stand alone units can break down but u still have everything else i woudnt want to rely on everything in one box. ive been down that root. youve bought a good unit. enjoy........
 
Used mine on a longish ocean trip and it performed perfectly.It's mounted on a pole at the stern so not very high up but I still could spot ships 10 or more miles away.It was also very useful when aproching land on landfall.Much better than just AIS.
 
I was looking at the 1623. What do you mean old technology? Do you mean how it works or just the fact that it does not provide other functions. I read somewhere recently that another manufacturer, possibly JRC was no longer making stand alone radars. I understodd it was just the market rather any technical reason.
 
I think they are great but what whistles and bells does it lack?

They have programmable automatic watchman mode, guardzone, adjustable rain filter and manual or automatic sea state and gain.
 
Does it have MARPA (Mini Automatic Radar Plotting Aid)? I have only limited experience of yacht radar, but on both occasions I have seen it used in anger on friends yachts the MARPA facility was fantastic, the ability to track up to 10 targets, provide their course, speed, time & distance of closest approach and trigger an alarm if the latter was going to enter a guard range you could set were very reassuring.
Both of these were Raymarine which could be overlaid on the chart or used in a separate window.
 
We fitted one last winter and have been more than grateful for it on 5/6 occasions - collision course in the Celtic Sea, sudden fog bank leaving estuary going over bar, night return to far flung harbour, arriving at the Scilly Isles in fog. They're simple to use simple to fit - plug and play really
 
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