nasa 'supernova' led nav lights

D

danera

Well-Known Member
Joined
8 Jul 2003
Messages
90
Location
London
dixdesign.com
nasa \'supernova\' led nav lights

Saw these at the boat show and on line here : http://www.marine-super-store.com/posit/shop/index.php?selectedpartno=99192518 and was wondering if anyone else has had a look at them. They appear to be a bit of a lopolight clone with half the number of leds, but I wasn't that impressed with the heeled brightness when viewed from an angle as the leds seemed rather more directional. You get what you pay for I guess...
 
Re: nasa \'supernova\' led nav lights

[ QUOTE ]
You get what you pay for I guess...

[/ QUOTE ]Guess you do. I wouldn't buy anything with a Nasa badge on it.
 
Re: nasa \'supernova\' led nav lights

[ QUOTE ]
I wouldn't buy anything with a Nasa badge on it.

[/ QUOTE ]

Bit harsh - not exactly high tech, but I've found their echosounder, GPS repeater & battery monitor to be very reliable. Does what it says on the box and did not break the bank.

OTOH; I've heard horror stories about their windex and Navtex.
 
Re: nasa \'supernova\' led nav lights

My Navtex has been pretty good. The Radiofix RDF was horrid ( showing my age now). But where else can you get a Radar for 200 quid? :-)
 
Re: nasa \'supernova\' led nav lights

[ QUOTE ]
The Radiofix RDF was horrid

[/ QUOTE ] Most rdfs were as far as far as I can remeber but that was all we had in those days.


PS anyone want to buy a little used Seafix.
 
Re: nasa \'supernova\' led nav lights

Ah, the Seafix. Nostalgia attack! Many happy hours spent listening to strange whining noises. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
Re: nasa \'supernova\' led nav lights

[ QUOTE ]
Bit harsh - not exactly high tech, but I've found their echosounder, GPS repeater & battery monitor to be very reliable. Does what it says on the box and did not break the bank.

OTOH; I've heard horror stories about their windex and Navtex.

[/ QUOTE ]I just think the products are badly designed, poorly made, look "clunky", have lousy documentation and a dysfunctional website. "Made in Britain" - not a good enough reason to buy poor gear.
 
Re: nasa \'supernova\' led nav lights

Have you had some bad experiences?

Had Wind / Depth / Speed / Battery Monitor on my previous boat without any problems and definitely much cheaper than the alternatives.

Admittedly current boat has Raymarine, but only as thats what they fit as standard.

I think NASA do fill a useful part of the market if your on a budget and I have always found them helpful on the phone or in person.

With the Nav lights - I am not sure any LED Nav lights are quite there yet......
 
Re: nasa \'supernova\' led nav lights

Well, I have a NASA GPS repeater that is 6yrs old now and has seen out three sets of Navman instruments. I also have the Nasa AIS set which again has proved to be reliable, well made and simple to use, what more could one ask.

Ted
 
Re: nasa \'supernova\' led nav lights

[ QUOTE ]
Have you had some bad experiences?

[/ QUOTE ]No bad experiences at all, in stark contrast to a lot of forum members with Nasa wind instrumentation. As I said they're "badly designed, poorly made, look clunky, have lousy documentation and a dysfunctional website" - I wouldn't buy them in the first place.
 
Re: nasa \'supernova\' led nav lights

I have had Nasa instruments before and found them sensible reliable and ecconomical, its not so much that you get what you pay for as that you get what you want. I agree about the web site by comparison to Raymarine its pretty basic but perhaps thats why you pay 5x the price for getting the same info from a raymarine instrument as a Nasa one.
 
Re: nasa \'supernova\' led nav lights

OK, so you agree the website's rubbish. What about the look of the things? And don't assume I've got Raymarine instruments, I have an ancient Stowe system. But if I were in the market for new gear, I wouldn't even consider Nasa, no matter how cheap they were.
 
Re: nasa \'supernova\' led nav lights

If it works, fits my budget and is reliable I'm not too fussy over appearance. I rather like the look of the NASA stuff anyway, simple and with nice big numbers. As I rewire Jedi this year the fancy Eagle all singing all dancing fishfinder will probably go in the bin and the simple and foolproof NASA depth gauge will be installed. The basic range is fine and the only time I have ever had a unit not seem to work NASA tested, fixed and returned it for a tenner. I suspect that they are an electronics company with a website rather than a website design company who do a bit of electronics on the side:-)
 
Re: nasa \'supernova\' led nav lights

I think Nasa are generally great value, no worries at all.

The RADIOFIX.. I still have it and use it, but for a differing purpose.. it makes a superb rfi detector for troubleshooting radio rfi problems..

Great piece of kit.
 
Re: nasa \'supernova\' led nav lights

I can't see any justification for the adverse comments on Nasa above.
I bought a battery monitor last year, and in comparison to the one from Sterling, or anyone else it's the best I've seen. Clear, easy to install, set up, read and interpret, reliable, good looking.. what's wrong with any of that?

For example by comparison the Sterling one looks overly complicated and difficult to interpret at a glance. Lots of funny LED's all looking like a 1980's VW Polo instrument panel. I have to say I really can't see what PVB is going on about.

I do agree Nasa's website is poor though, but I didn't buy that!
 
Re: nasa \'supernova\' led nav lights

[ QUOTE ]
Lots of funny LED's all looking like a 1980's VW Polo instrument panel. I have to say I really can't see what PVB is going on about.

[/ QUOTE ]Your comparison with old-fashioned car design is appropriate. One of the reasons I wouldn't buy Nasa kit is because of the very dated appearance of many of the products, especially the graphics. Electronics can be stylish.
 
Re: nasa \'supernova\' led nav lights

OK PVB - guess we will have to agree to differ. As I said got a number of years of good service from my NASA kit.

Pays your money takes your choice and all that :-)
 
Re: nasa \'supernova\' led nav lights

Well I have just bought a NASA target windex to replace the old Stowe unit that must have been 10 plus years old ( before my ownership ). Quite honestly at £139 it was so much cheaper than any other wind indicator I was happy to buy it.

BTW I think they now do a 'NASA Cruiser' for about 10 or 15 quid more which looked a bit sleeker if that is what you want.

I tend to be pretty careful with my gear..ie it all get brought in during the winter...for a bit of effort it is not so hard to dis mount a lot of gear ... halyards, masthead light, windex and Air-X ...its all inside rather than blasting away in the winter gales... prob this makes more difference that paying for more expensive gear.

Regards Nick
 
Re: nasa \'supernova\' led nav lights

pvb, you do have a point, to a degree. There is, it would seem, nothing wrong with the product, it does the job well. I hope that is the case as I now own a NASA AIS receiver!

Where I do agree with you is the image of the company, its branding and its customer interface (web site).

If they were to bring in a marketing agency to make them more sexy (and that is I believe what your getting at) then they would have a wizzy web site, sharp graphics for their corporate branding and new instruction books (aimed at an international market so the book would grow to cover 10 different languages).

The products themselves would have new cutting edge cases and fittings, but the clockwork would stay the same.

This would create new markets for them, and I would love to have them as a customer!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top