Furuno

[fredrussell]

In any of the chartplotter/tech/electronics threads on here you see the expected brands mentioned: Raymarine, Garmin and B&G mainly. Where does Furuno fit in with this lot? Are they aimed more at the commercial sector? Are their ‘recreational’ boating products (assuming they do this) any good? Anyone on here have a reasonably current Furuno MFD, for instance?

 

[Buck Turgidson]

In any of the chartplotter/tech/electronics threads on here you see the expected brands mentioned: Raymarine, Garmin and B&G mainly. Where does Furuno fit in with this lot? Are they aimed more at the commercial sector? Are their ‘recreational’ boating products (assuming they do this) any good? Anyone on here have a reasonably current Furuno MFD, for instance?

Https://www.furuno.com/en/recreational/

 

[fredrussell]

Thanks. I was hoping for a forum dweller to pipe up with their experiences of this gear. It’s weird to me that seemingly very few people use it, when it’s a well established brand worldwide.

 

[PaulRainbow]

Thanks. I was hoping for a forum dweller to pipe up with their experiences of this gear. It’s weird to me that seemingly very few people use it, when it’s a well established brand worldwide.

Have you seen their prices ?

 

[fredrussell]

Well, that answers my question really. A quick look came up with a 9” plotter for just shy of £1500. As a comparison, Raymarine’s offering about a grand. Do you get anything for shelling out the extra? Are they considered more reliable, or have a longer warranty period? I’m not in the market for boat electronics, just curious.

 

[Graham376]

Well, that answers my question really. A quick look came up with a 9” plotter for just shy of £1500. As a comparison, Raymarine’s offering about a grand. Do you get anything for shelling out the extra? Are they considered more reliable, or have a longer warranty period? I’m not in the market for boat electronics, just curious.

I've had a couple of Furuno radars and a gps from Robbins Marine at Liverpool. In their case, they offer backup, repair workshop and installation if needed so likely their overheads are far higher than chandlers and on-line dealers selling other makes with no backup, hence higher prices/margins.

 

[Bilgediver]

Thanks. I was hoping for a forum dweller to pipe up with their experiences of this gear. It’s weird to me that seemingly very few people use it, when it’s a well established brand worldwide.

Furuno make excellent but expensive equipment and used more on commercial vessels. I frequently came upon their equipment on offshore rigs and support vessels when working in the oil industry They used to make a range of VHF.
, SSB Radar Navtex, fax etc but all at a price.

 

[TSB240]

I inherited an older Furuno chartplotter with our boat..
It eventually gets a fix after waiting far too long.

Unfortunately Furuno gave up supporting this well before my ownership.
Without software updates to allow it to display the correct date makes it useless.
I would be even more peed off if I had paid a premium for a badly supported essential piece of kit.

 

[fastjedi]

I think Furuno has a higher recreational profile is many other countries.
I have experienced both and would say Furuno is worth a 50% premium over Raymarine based on quality and reliability.
However, I completely get why buyers wouldn't be inclined to pay more for what is essentially the same thing
And, when it comes to plotters, the need to upgrade to latest tech' often occurs before they wear out or break anyway.

 

[Forty_Two]

All i can say is my Furuno 1830 radar still works perfectly. I installed it in 1989, probably why so many commercial vessels use them.

They did replace the magnetron in the first year under warranty, with a 4kw, as the original 3kw couldn't take the output. I did have to replace the drive belt after 20 years

 

[lustyd]

Still works perfectly…within the parameters of a 1980s radar. It might have been a better outcome if it broke and enabled an upgrade to something more modern.
Sorry, thats dangerously close to a “CQR is good enough” twist to the thread

 

[fredrussell]

Still works perfectly…within the parameters of a 1980s radar. It might have been a better outcome if it broke and enabled an upgrade to something more modern.
Sorry, thats dangerously close to a “CQR is good enough” twist to the thread

His post is useful and relevant to the thread, yours is just unhelpful and rude.

 

[lustyd]

Not sure why you think its rude, radar has changed significantly in the past 35 years so the survival of a legacy set might be impressive but even the company will have changed significantly in that time so is no guarantee of current quality whatsoever. So much so I’d say a 35 year old set is irrelevant to the thread. As was recently discussed on another thread, older radar needs training and understanding to use it without putting yourself in danger while modern sets with full integration use less power, are obvious how to use to the point the training course is obsolete, can act as multiple virtual sets simultaneously with different settings, have both a longer long range and shorter short range, are more sensitive to smaller objects like pot markers, and overlay on charts as standard.
Furuno make some good solid kit but radar has not been a standalone thing for a long time so unless diving in and getting it throughout the boat theres little to recommend a standalone radar these days as that is an outdated way of working for leisure vessels. Unfortunately for Furuno, advances elsewhere are more important and the likes of Garmin and Navico will out innovate them every time on that front.

 

[Elessar]

In any of the chartplotter/tech/electronics threads on here you see the expected brands mentioned: Raymarine, Garmin and B&G mainly. Where does Furuno fit in with this lot? Are they aimed more at the commercial sector? Are their ‘recreational’ boating products (assuming they do this) any good? Anyone on here have a reasonably current Furuno MFD, for instance?

They have great radars but terrible chartplotters IMO.

 

[Sumara of Weymouth]

In any of the chartplotter/tech/electronics threads on here you see the expected brands mentioned: Raymarine, Garmin and B&G mainly. Where does Furuno fit in with this lot? Are they aimed more at the commercial sector? Are their ‘recreational’ boating products (assuming they do this) any good? Anyone on here have a reasonably current Furuno MFD, for instance?

I have Furuno GPS and Navtex and they have proved to be sturdy and reliable. As you sail into the higher latitudes you will see more and more Furuno. Nearly all the fishing boats in the Arctic ports use Furuno gear. I think it is built for reliability under severe conditions. I reckon it is worth considering if it meets your specs.

 

[lustyd]

They have great radars but terrible chartplotters IMO.

Can a modern leisure radar be great without a compatible and great MFD? The majority of radar functionality is MFD driven these days so if thats bad then the quality of the radome is almost irrelevant.

 

[Elessar]

Can a modern leisure radar be great without a compatible and great MFD? The majority of radar functionality is MFD driven these days so if thats bad then the quality of the radome is almost irrelevant.

No idea. The radar bit works well. The chart plotter bit is unintuitive. As far as I am concerned that makes my statement correct whatever the technicalities behind the scenes.

 

[lustyd]

No idea. The radar bit works well. The chart plotter bit is unintuitive. As far as I am concerned that makes my statement correct whatever the technicalities behind the scenes.

Im sure you’re correct, but if the MFD isnt intuitive then presumably that leaves you learning how to use radar rather than integrating it which is one of the major advancements i was talking about earlier.
Im strictly talking leisure boats here so yes large motor yachts and fishing boats will probably do different things.

 

[Elessar]

Im sure you’re correct, but if the MFD isnt intuitive then presumably that leaves you learning how to use radar rather than integrating it which is one of the major advancements i was talking about earlier.
Im strictly talking leisure boats here so yes large motor yachts and fishing boats will probably do different things.

I spent about a month and did 3000 miles in a furuno equipped boat a few years ago. Brand new kit costing about £70k at the time. That’s the nav gear not the boat. A 6ft and 4ft open array radar. Fully redundant autopilots. Multiple plotters. I knew how it worked by the end of the trip but hated it. Both autopilot failed and I had to hand steer for 1000 miles which didn’t help. But I just didn’t like its interface.

I have recently acquired a furuno equipped craft. Again I can use the radar overlay. I’m not stupid. But I hate it. Admittedly only about 350-400 miles done so far and it will do for the summer but it will be thrown in the skip over the winter.

I accept with plotters that it is a bit like the Mac/pc debate - they all do the job and you will argue for the one you are familiar with. And I am most familiar with raymarine. But I’ve driven lots of different boats of different sizes and with different nav kit. I like lowrance raymarine and garmin. But really dislike furuno.

 

[lustyd]

I accept with plotters that it is a bit like the Mac/pc debate - they anll do the job and you will argue for the one you are familiar with

Really good insight in that post but will call this bit out. Im very familiar with B&G (Navico/Lowrance) but often explain why not to buy one on these pages as they have shortcomings.
Everything breaks so id forgive them that but your insight into the interface is very valuable, some tech is just awkward to use and thats worth mentioning regardless of perceived quality.