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Anyone know anything about Sperry electr

Discussion in 'Technical Discussion' started by vlafrank, Jul 6, 2010.

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  1. vlafrank, Jul 6, 2010
    #1
    vlafrank

    vlafrank Senior Member

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    I was hunting for info on a C Plath compass the other day and learned that Sperry and C Plath are apparently joined at the hip. As you likely know, Sperry builds a variety of radars, sonars, depth sounders, you-name-it, for big ships and naval vessels for the US and other countries. They call that line of electronics their BB (Big Boat) equipment, as does Furuno.

    Can anybody tell me why I literally NEVER hear of Sperry radars, etc., being used on megayachts? I have not done a unit-to-unit BB comparison between Sperry and Furuno so I don't know if Sperry gear is competitively priced or not, but clearly something is going on here. Anyone know what or why? All input welcome, including personal opinions.
  2. AMG, Jul 6, 2010
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    AMG

    AMG YF Moderator

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  3. K1W1, Jul 6, 2010
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    K1W1

    K1W1 Senior Member

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  4. captholli, Jul 6, 2010
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    captholli

    captholli Senior Member

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    Back in the 70s & 80s Sperry marine had a 65' or so ft Burger Yacht based in South Fl. named "Sperry Star" that would take clients out for test / sales rides in the local waters. Even though Sperry built bullet proof equipment it was viewed as to commercial or bulky for yacht use however some of their equipment (Gyros) did end up on yachts in the '70s & '80.
  5. thebighawk, Jul 6, 2010
    #5
    thebighawk

    thebighawk New Member

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    Sperry

    Navipilot autopilots get most attention from the yachting community, in USA.
    Furuno seems to have market cornered on all other bridge product.
    Easy to buy, and service.
  6. cabobo09, Jul 6, 2010
    #6
    cabobo09

    cabobo09 Member

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    Sperry makes great stuff but I understand very expensive to get serviced.

    Does anyone have any experience with the serice side of Sperry?
  7. vlafrank, Jul 7, 2010
    #7
    vlafrank

    vlafrank Senior Member

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    Nothing to do with megayachts? At no time did I ever represent that I did. At no time. What the [bleep] difference does that make? No, boss, aside from attending FLIBS and carefully checking the spec sheets on every new launch and every re-fit I can find, preparatory to buying a yacht of my own, it's safe to say that I haven't had a lot to do with megayachts, having been too busy earning the money to buy, maintain, insure and staff one. Does that make you feel better? I really didn't expect entirely gratuitous cheap shots on an otherwise helpful, even classy, forum.

    "Plenty of Sperry stuff out there " No, there is not! That's precisely my point. In all of the research mentioned above, NOT ONCE did I see a Sperry integrated bridge system listed in the specs, and I would like to know why.
    In the links you kindly provided me, Sperry says they've installed 1500 IBS worldwide; I suspect Furuno does that many every two years or so. I would like to know why. And at the FLIBS show, I didn't see even one Sperry IB system, nor even one Sperry radar/chartplotter/depth sounder. I would like to know why. I readily concede that I didn't board every boat at the show, but I boarded most of the biggest ones and noted the foregoing dearth of Sperry gear. Hence my question.

    I post on this forum to learn. Not to teach, not to pontificate, not to lecture, and not to indulge in thinly veiled insults; I fully expected to receive the same in return. Win some, lose some, I guess -----

    And thanks again, sincerely, for the helpful links you provided for me.
  8. K1W1, Jul 7, 2010
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    K1W1

    K1W1 Senior Member

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    Hi,

    I am sorry you feel so offended by my post.

    I guess you didn't really mean what you wrote in your first post as quoted above.

    What size of megayachts have you been looking at?

    I posted the link to the Sperry IBS as an example of what is available, Sperry along with other manufacturers also make a lot of standalone items that are used in non Integrated Bridges.

    These days there are a number of IBS Suppliers that are not as well known as these two.

    I went around the world on a yacht that had a pair of Furuno Black Box Radars, they were the most un reliable pieces of junk onboard closely followed by the Furuno Depth Sounder. There were a lot of Power Supply problems and the only place we could get parts from was Aberdeen - a well known Furuno Service centre if ever there was one. The first few units we were sent were previously repaired units with very badly damaged PC Boards where components had been pulled out and re attached, not that this would be a modern problem with the majority of components being surface mount.

    A system worth looking at if you are seriously looking at an IBS for your yacht is the offerings from IMTECH. If you are going down the IBS road it would also make sense to have a comprehensive Alarm Monitoring and Control system, the same Co make a pretty good system to cover this as well and no I don't work for them, never have and probably never will.

    I am currently using one of these: http://www.raytheon-anschuetz.com/index.php?StoryID=57&pid=55
  9. pbekker, Jul 7, 2010
    #9
    pbekker

    pbekker New Member

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    IMTECH = radio holland.

    the home base is in holland.
  10. K1W1, Jul 7, 2010
    #10
    K1W1

    K1W1 Senior Member

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    IMTECH do indeed own Radio Holland, I am not recommending Radio Holland ( they were the goons supporting the Furuno Radars I wrote about above) here but the Parent Co.
  11. vlafrank, Jul 7, 2010
    #11
    vlafrank

    vlafrank Senior Member

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    Now that's funny! And a very valuable piece of information to have. We're really making progress here; this is precisely the kind of information that I want to know.
  12. pbekker, Jul 7, 2010
    #12
    pbekker

    pbekker New Member

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    radio holland also install c-path
    all the boats that they have the nav installation contract of at heesen yachts, they install c-plath steering compass and use b&g depth/speed.

    but yes they use the furuno radars blackbox

    i dont know if they also sale/install c-plath /sperry radars
  13. Loren Schweizer, Jul 8, 2010
    #13
    Loren Schweizer

    Loren Schweizer YF Associate Writer

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    My dear ol' Dad worked for Sperry Gyroscope out on Long Island during WWII.
    Give the outcome of things, I guess they turned out a decent product at one time...
    I realize that this doesn't have Jack to do with vlafrank's original post other than to satisfy my own sentimentality.

    Next!
  14. thebighawk, Jul 8, 2010
    #14
    thebighawk

    thebighawk New Member

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    Sperry

    A lot of yachts use the pilots, but use other components in a bridge set up. You don't see a lot of the complete Sperry bridge unless it's specified in the build brief. Sperry/Anschutz/Furuno/JRC all build an IMO bridge.