Furuno 3d radar without mdf

Afraid not, Warren. That's been discussed on Panbo before and though I can't find the exact entry right now, it's been confirmed that there has to be an MFD in the system to run radar. In fact, MSTZ only does basic radar controls. Set up and deeper menu choices are done on an MFD.

Thanks Ben

Would the Raymarine's hd domes work with the Raytech software? Once again without a display.

Is the br24/Expedition going to ever become available?

I am trying to explore all computer based radar options. The only one so far seems to be Koden's.

Nope; you need a Raymarine MFD to run a Raymarine radar.

I've been pestering Navico about the BR24 third part strategy, but have yet to see anything definitive about it.

There've been rumors bruited about for months about BR24 compatibility with Rose Point Coastal Explorer, but still no announcements. At the moment your only options for MFD-less PC radar are either Rose Point or Nobeltec with the Koden radars, which I think are hugely overpriced for aging technology. If you aren't in a hurry it seems like your best bet is waiting at least through the summer to see if the BR24/Rose Point thing comes to fruition.

I have also long followed any information and pestered poor salespeople on directly connecting a Furuno digital radar to MSTZ. From what I learned, it seems to have been possible at a time but the loophole was plugged by MaxSea with a new software version a while ago. For me, the bottom line is that they don't want it to be possible and in that case it makes no sense for me to pursue this solution any further because I can't invest thousands of dollars (euros in my case) on something that is essentially a trick played on the manufacturer.

If I gave in an got an an MFD, then, apart from having to pay for it, I would have to power it up at all times, probably in exactly the right order with the PC and the instruments. All my critical connections would be completely different from how they would be without the MFD. I would be buried in setting up two ethernet network segments with a bridge between that does not route dhcp packets or the laptop connected to both using an additional network adapter (I don't like WLAN on my boat). I can already picture myself hand-editing routing tables on the laptop (isn't ease of use for non-technical users advertised as a reason for the "special" way Furuno MFDs and MSTZ handle IP?). This is in addition to any MSTZ or MFD software bugs that seemingly every related thread is full of. Why is it that all of these threads quickly get a mile long?
If Furuno offered an "MFD get-out-of-jail-free-card" in their price list, costing the same as an MFD-8 but consisting of just a paper certificate and a magic flick of a switch that would remove the technical requirement for an MFD and make all these problems go away - I would seriously consider it.
Russ just commented that if you want to tell your customers what they want then your product must be as good as Apple's. It really doesn't seem like we're there yet plus I don't even buy Apple so, as much as I would love state of the art radar, I have to look elsewhere. It is probably my admiration for an excellent radar that makes me rant like this...

The most relevant entries on this subject, I think, are:
https://www.panbo.com/archives/2008/05/nn3d_shipping_facts_the_time_zero_connection.html
https://www.panbo.com/archives/2009/12/free_range_radar_navico_broadband_and_expedition.html

The Koden PC-scanners probably are dated technology but they are available and intended and sold for PC-only use. I see them on German lifeboats, too (the scanners, most likely not the PC product).
They are supported by a number of charting applications, one of which, SeaPro, supports British Admiralty ARCS charts which is likely irrelevant for you but very relevant for me.
I am currently tending towards Coastal Explorer, SeaPro and one of the Koden PC-products because combined this will give me near-ideal chart support, all with radar overlay (Chart support and availability also does not appear to be a strong point of Furuno/MSTZ while the older MaxSea version even supports ARCS). If I had unlimited funds, I would also get Expedition, which is another one of the applications supporting Koden.
It seems that with Koden I can make a happy selection of the software I like best or, if I can swing it, buy them all and start the one I feel like today.
What I would have to accept in return is "dated technology" that is "overpriced". I would love to get some input on that, preferably first hand.

The BR24 will be very interesting for me if it does materialize, though if Rose Point were the only vendor supporting it, I would not get my beloved ARCS charts. Expedition is likely to also support it (technically it already does) and they have impressive chart support but not ARCS.
Also, based on Ben's tests, I am not sure if the BR24 is any good at seeing squalls approaching or distant land.

On my seriously long boat equipment todo list, I have the radar decision-and-acquisition down for "winter 2011/2012" so fortunately I can and will wait for a while.

On the up-side, for Furuno, I have two of their RD-33, one GP-33 and maybe even a FI-50 on my list for "winter 2010/2011".