Furuno repeats as winner of coveted NMEA Technology Award for Multi-Beam Sonar, along with Best Commercial Radar
The National Marine Electronics Association (NMEA) held its 46th annual conference and expo in Bellevue, Washington last week. This year, Furuno proudly claimed the highly sought-after 2017 NMEA Technology Award for their new Network Multi-Beam Sonar, DFF-3D.
“We are extremely humbled to have received the ‘NMEA Technology Award’ for the second year in a row after our Solid State Doppler Radar DRS4D-NXT was honoured with the same award last year,” stated Brad Reents, President and CFO of Furuno USA. “Furuno specializes in developing unmatched sensor technology for the maritime industry and the DFF-3D is our most recent example how Furuno continues to move our industry forward”.
A panel of four judges, including media and dealers, sifts through nominated products and decides each year on the technology winner. “What stood out about the Furuno DFF-3D from the many worthy contenders is that it is the industry’s first deep-water multi-beam sonar,” the judges said. “It delivers a side-scan range of more than 650 feet and can see straight down to over 1,000 feet. Its unique 165 kHz frequency allows you to view the DFF-3D sonar while simultaneously utilizing your conventional or CHIRP (TruEcho CHIRP™) sonar. On top of that boaters can customize its display using four modes—cross-section, 3D sounder history, triple/single-beam sounder and side scan”.
This was the second year for the “Commercial Product of Excellence” category, and Furuno once again was the winner as their Radar FAR-2127, 25kW IMO Radar, claimed the award in the Commercial category, among a substantial field of 10 nominees. This workhorse Radar, which is part of a larger series that includes both X-band and S-band Radars, can be found installed on thousands of commercial vessels worldwide and is also widely used on larger recreational boats and yachts.
Furuno’s long and distinguished tradition of producing top performing and highly reliable Fish Finding and Radar products was reaffirmed with these awards from the NMEA. For those of you keeping score at home, that brings Furuno’s grand total to an astounding 220 NMEA awards!
