| Re: Northstar Electronics
Kid,
I have had some Northstar gear on my last two boats (30' Skipjack and 35' Cabo) as well as a 24' CC that I own with a buddy. There's alot to like in my opinion. But, there are some areas where others do it better.
On my current boat, I have a 15" Northstar 6000i combo plotter. On that same unit, I have a blackbox radar (6kw 4.5ft open array 72 mile) and a blackbox sounder (50/200khz with a combo 1kw transducer). I run Navionics Gold on the plotter.
I really like Northstar's GPS/Plotter unit. The interface is very easy and intuitive and the graphics are superb. Nav Gold works well for me. I llike the waypoint interface and all the alarm functionality. I can't think of any significant criticism of the Northstar plotter.
The radar is good but there is room for improvement. The auto tuning is worthless. The graphics are quite good but it's tough to dial in although I run alot at night in all kinds of weather and my expectations are high. Overall I've been happy with the radar but I do believe that better products are out there. I'd say Furuno for radar but some would disagree.
The blackbox sounder is quite good. I would have to nitpick and say that, on the margin, Furuno has better color gradiation (is that a word?). In other words, Furuno gives you more color differentiation which, given I fish WSB alot, is helpful in seeing those fishing hovering just off the bottom. Easier to pick those fish up on the Furuno (shades of red). But, the Northstar sounder is otherwise good. I have a Furuno FCV 1100 commercial grade sounder set up at different frequencies with a 3kw/2kw wetbox ducer unit - so it's an unfair comparison against the Northstar unit since that Furuno unit is a Ferrari.
Overall, I like Northstar. They support the product according to the install guys I know. I've had virtually no problems in the units in any of the 3 boats I've run with Northstar.
Good luck. If you have further questions, PM me.
| 
Linear Mode
