16 year old NavNetVX2: time to upgrade.

[Foulweather Jack]

So the display on my old Furuno NavnetVX2 (2007 vintage) is getting long in the tooth, as are most of the other electronics on the boat (the VHF radio, the Mercury Smartcraft gauges, trim tabs, etc.)

I’m considering having the boat rewired, and have spent a number of hours online looking at new components.

A few questions if I may:

1) If I replace my old NavnetVX2 display with a new one (TZTouch 2 or 3), are the new displays backwards compatible with my old components (the transducer and the radome) or do I need a new radome, transducer, and cables?
2) Looking a the size of my console, the best fit would be the 15” TZTouch2 or the 12” TZTouch3. Is there a reason to get one over the other? I actually like the look of the all glass console of the TZTouch2 better. I use my boat mainly for short family outings, but where I live in coastal Georgia sandbars and extra low tides are a reality and I need an excellent depth finder, which I had, but the depth finder on my Navnet now works less than 50% of the time.
3) Do the newer displays and components draw less power than the old ones? I’ve found that if I run the radar with my current system, it’s a huge drain on the battery.
4). If I go the the TZTouch2, recognizing that it has an internal GPS, would there be any advantage to connecting it with a GPS antenna?
5). These are uncharted waters for me. Any suggestions as to things I’ve not considered would be welcome.

Thank you In advance for your advice.

 

[Johnny Electron]

1) You should be able to re-use any transducer you have and if the sounder is a DFF1 you can re-use that as well. You can not use the old analog radar. Radars have changed greatly and you wouldn't be able to re-use that.
2) If your upgrading the boat I would recommend the newest series (TZT3) as it appears you keep your system for many years. Depending on the transducer you could most likely directly connect your existing transducer to the internal sounder of the TZT3. More information would be needed from you to know 100%.
3) Yes in general the backlighting changes from CCFL to LED has lowered power consumption on newer devices compared to older MFDs.
4) Of all the items you want to have redundancy on is GPS. I always recommend a good external source in most installs.
5) I would recommend you make a full list of existing items and talk to a Furuno sales or Tech support guy on the phone to talk over all the options.

 

[Foulweather Jack]

1) You should be able to re-use any transducer you have and if the sounder is a DFF1 you can re-use that as well. You can not use the old analog radar. Radars have changed greatly and you wouldn't be able to re-use that.
2) If your upgrading the boat I would recommend the newest series (TZT3) as it appears you keep your system for many years. Depending on the transducer you could most likely directly connect your existing transducer to the internal sounder of the TZT3. More information would be needed from you to know 100%.
3) Yes in general the backlighting changes from CCFL to LED has lowered power consumption on newer devices compared to older MFDs.
4) Of all the items you want to have redundancy on is GPS. I always recommend a good external source in most installs.
5) I would recommend you make a full list of existing items and talk to a Furuno sales or Tech support guy on the phone to talk over all the options.

Thanks, Johnny, for your comprehensive reply. I'm meeting with a local marine electrician this afternoon. I may be back with more questions, but that's what I love about Furuno: excellent and knowledgeable customer service.

 

[Foulweather Jack]

PS: just met with my local marine electrical contractor. Interestingly, given that I am just a casual, inshore/nearshore boater, and not a hardcore offshore fisherman/cruising type, he feels that the Garmin graphical user interface would be more user friendly and that I should switch to Garmin components.

Any comments from the forum? Is it worth staying with Furuno, or would Garmin be easier for a casual boater like myself?

 

[Johnny Electron]

Is your contractor listed under our "Where to buy" as a Furuno dealer/reseller? My guess he wants to sale what he is more familiar with or makes a few extra bucks on. Garmin radars are not great in comparison but the sounders are pretty good. I guess it all depends on what you really want. They don't conduct repairs so if looking for longevity and a repair center, I of course recommend the Furuno. To each his own. Debates between brands is better on boaters forums like thehullthruth. We focus on the Furuno product troubleshooting and Q&A here.

 

[Foulweather Jack]

Thanks, Johnny. Your comments are well taken and I will take all of this into consideration. I truly appreciate your expertise.

 

[gtstang462002]

Every "electronics installer" that has Garmin in their lineup pushed the Garmin product(profit margins I suspect). I fish a lot of different boats in my marinia, most of them are equipped with Garmin because that is what the local installer pushed on them. Most are not happy with their installs, while usable, the menu structure on the Garmin is cumbersome, as Johnny mentioned, there is no comparison in the Radar ( Furuno blows them away). The only thing that they do well is their charting (they should since they own Navionics) and sounders. I am willing to take anyone on a ride that is local to me (Solomons, MD) to give you a hands on experience with Furuno. Depending on who is going out in the marinia I may be able to get you on a Garmin equipped boat as well.

 

[Foulweather Jack]

Thanks for all of the help. I’ve decided to stick with Furuno, and I’ve ordered a new TZT3 MFD, sonar, and radar. I’m excited for the project to move forward