Si-Tex T900, new standalone radar
Some boaters don’t like multifunction displays—the theory being that several dedicated devices will never leave a skipper functionless—and thus I’m sometimes asked to recommend a standalone radar. Which is tough, as the recreational models from Furuno, JRC, and Raymarine that I used to be familiar with all seem to be history. Well, check out Si-Tex’s new T-900…
At about $3,000 with a 24” 4kW dome (choices range from 18” to 4.5’ array), the T-900 isn’t as inexpensive as some of those little monochrome LCDs of yore, but that’s an 8.4” color screen and its showing off a dual range feature I’ve been fond of since crossing the Gulf of Maine with a Simrad CX (now also a “legacy product”). The T-900 also has advanced features like “true trails”, can alternately display camera outputs, and claims to eliminate noise and clutter with—get this—"Hyper-Digital Processing”, or HDP! Oh, and as shown below in a photo from the NMEA conference, it has a neat snap off bezel to simplify surface mounting.
Another somewhat new standalone radar that I’ve never mentioned here is Icom’s MR-1000. It even has a green CRT display—talk about old school!—which may be why the Icom guys at the boat shows seem a bit embarrassed about it. But I have heard that it’s selling well in certain areas, the coast of Maine being one, and it did quite well in a pretty comprehensive Cruising World multi-manufacturer radar test a while back.
Nice to see a standalone unit, but a Raymarine C70 with their 2kw dome can be had for well under $2000, a $1000 difference. So why skimp on the extra functions of a MFD?