Marine electronics are like computers: in five years, what was new has become obsolete. Until now. Thanks to revolutionary new products introduced this year by Furuno and Raymarine, GPS/chartplotter and radar systems that are a mere five months old are already out of date.
What's so different about these systems? Everything. If you haven't been looking at electronics since last year's big boat shows, get ready to learn about some shocking advancements.
FURUNOThe Navnet 3-D system has enough features to make your head spin—but it's so simple to use, it won't.
Fast processing, slick color displays, three–dimensional graphics and preloaded charts with aerial and satellite photography are the hallmarks of the latest networked systems. Add in advancements like high–definition digital radar, and it becomes clear that the latest generation of marine electronics is ushering in a paradigm shift.
The systems are expensive and they are still being tested on the water, but they are setting new standards for power and flexibility at the helm station – standards that will impact how we buy and judge electronics moving forward. Even if they are out of reach for now, it pays to take a look at what the latest and greatest in marine electronics can do before you lay your money down on something else.
SEE IN 3–D
Three–dimensional technology isn't entirely new in the marine world. For the past several years you could run any number of cartography programs made by Maptech, Nobeltech or Furuno on your computer. Three–dimensional bathymetric features (that's the measurement of the depth of the oceans, seas and other large bodies of water) in these programs would give you a fish–eye view of the world below the waves, and the ability to "fly" underwater, looking at all angles and depths. The down–side? You had to lug a computer onboard to take advantage of these systems while on the water.
Then came the Northstar 986, the first dash–mounted GPS/chartplotter unit to incorporate bathymetric cartography into the hard drive, giving you a 3–D view at the helm. Nifty stuff—but even this type of unit is going to go the way of the dodo, thanks to Furuno's new NavNet 3–D system.
The 986 merely added this capability to an otherwise standard (albeit high quality, and completely modern at the time) unit, while the latest and greatest systems on the market include complete software re–writes and hardware replacements, which combine to open a whole new world of capabilities and speed in marine electronics.
ENTER NAVNET 3–D
The Furuno NavNet 3–D system actually incorporates the cartography into the software in the chartplotter display head unit, which has its own hard drive. Wait a sec—I know what you're thinking: won't it be just as sensitive to shock and corrosion as other computers? Thankfully, the answer is no. These are water–tight, shock–resistant units that are designed and dedicated purely for marine use. Mapmedia vector and raster charts are on the hard drive, as well as satellite photography that covers just about any port you'd like to visit.
NAVIONICSNavionics bathymetrics are among the best.
Furuno took it a step father by creating the "Photofusion" feature, which blends satellite photos with chartography. Of course, you need a serious hard drive to perform functions like this. The NavNet 3–D system has it, though not in the same form we usually think of as a computer. And it's no slug. Since the processor is 100–percent dedicated to NavNet, it has plenty of juice, but Furuno won't disclose exactly how fast the processor is. It's proprietary and it's "blazing fast," according to Furuno rep Jeff Kauzlaric. "But it's not just the processor that makes our system so fast, it's also the software. We optimized it for speed, seamless redraws, and smooth zooms. The marriage of the software and hardware is what makes NavNet 3–D so quick."
After running the system, I agree: it's faster and smoother than anything else on the market. Those annoying charting re–draws we've all been irked by are gone, and waiting for the screen to load up is history. The same is true in other function modes, as well. When looking at the radar, for example, you can zoom in to a tighter range or zoom out to a broader one instantly, without shifting from one screen to the next to the next.
The real shocker? The system is also incredibly intuitive and easy to use. After pressing buttons for a few minutes, you'll have the system's basics more or less figured out. A combination rotary/push knob on the unit allows you to bring up a pop–up menu on–screen, choose from the options, and go directly to a different function without having to first enter a dedicated menu screen and choose from there. There's also a separate scrolling pad, so moving the cursor on–screen is easy and fast.
Of course, there's potentially a lot more to this system: multiple station capabilities; high definition radar options, from a 2–kilowatt, 5.2–degree beam–width dome to a 25–kilowatt, 1.4–degree beam–width open array; real–time satellite weather and weather faxes; dash instrumentation; autopilot; AIS; onboard weather station; and fishfinder modules pushing 600 watts to three kilowatts with 50/200 kilohertz beams through digitally–filtered signals.
