RIP Northstar Electronics

[jim rosenthal]

The first GPS I ever owned was a Northstar 951XD; this was in the pre-WAAS days, so it had two antennas, I think. I had that one for a long time, and it generally worked quite well, although I think after several years it went back for a new keypad. I finally sold it and got a 6000i- I needed a much bigger screen, and I wanted some of the new features like the sonar and the multiple-head capability. I bought a larger display for the 6000i, also- I haven't got around to putting the older, smaller display at the lower helm, but I plan to. Sort of a backup at the inside helm, where I seldom drive the boat. Or, I thought, I could have two screens at the upper station...

At least I did plan to, until today, when a new Consumer's Marine catalog came in the mail. I did the same thing I always do- turn to the Northstar section to see what upgrades they'd brought out for the 6000i and 6100i.

There's no 6xxxi section at all. Where did it go? So I called CME, and they told me (Brian, in sales, told me) that Navico, which owns Northstar, Simrad, Lowrance, and I think B&G, have d/c'ed the 6000 series completely. The 8000i is still made and sold, and the non-modular Northstars which were repackaged Navico units are still in the line. But no 6000i. They do make a Simrad which incorporated some of the Northstar 6xxx features, but it isn't compatible with any Northstar equipment. He said they will continue to offer service for the Northstar units. But when I asked him if the Northstar brand was going to disappear, he said more than likely it will. Their plan is to have Simrad for the high-end bluewater market, and Lowrance for the inland stuff.

So, as far as I can tell, no more Northstar. Pity. One of the great things about Northstar was that they tried hard on forward compatibility- for example, I have an old Northstar 800X Loran, an actual NOS unit. I had planned to hook it up and have it on the boat (until they pulled the plug on Loran altogether this year) It would have been fun to play around with- I learned radionavigation on Loran and was looking forward to trying it again. I know from the owner's manual for the 6000i that old Northstar Lorans can be connected to the 6000i and interface with it. They cared about making their new stuff compatible and functional with their old stuff, because their old stuff was made well enough that it might be still usable when you bought new stuff, hopefully theirs.

Now it's ALL going to be old stuff. What a shame.

Some of you have noted that I have a thread up where I am looking for a sailboat for my godchildren and myself to cruise on. It will probably need a new nav system when I find it. I think I'll look at RayMarine or Furuno. It would be difficult to bring myself to write a check for anything made by a company who had so little regard for what was a proud name and an innovator in marine electronics. Vote with your feet, I say.

[Avenger]

That is a shame. But typical big business behavior.

I remember on my dad's boat we had gotten a Northstar LORAN C. Memory says it was a 900, but I could be wrong. It was a long time ago. It was THE unit to have at the time, and when I sold the boat it was probably 10 years old. The buyer was kind of nickel and diming the sale, so I pulled the LORAN off and sold it to a commercial fisherman for almost $1000.00 which was probably what my dad paid for it new. Great unit, probably the foundation of the Northstar brand.

And BTW, I'm still really P.O.'d about them killing LORAN. Dumb@$$ move if ever there was.

[Canuck Dennis]

I still have an 800 x, combination loran/gps, still works great, had a software upgrade in 1999 and no problems so far, I used to have it interfaced with Lazerplot which in early 90's was really snazzy software, I took my Yacht from Ft lauderdale to Vancouver BC via Panama using lazerlpot as our primary electronic nav system, It got a hydraulic drip on the computer and we had to fedex it to Northstar from Jamaica, came back 100 %..no charge...I still keep it turned on for any trips of a lengthy nature.

[jim rosenthal]

Yes, I think the Canadians still have functioning LORAN chains, don't they? A lot smarter than we are. The Brits have digital LORAN, or eLORAN, or something. Maybe it will come back someday, but I won't hold my breath. Too bad.

[Genesis]

I think I still have a Northstar Loran in my garage, in a box. I took it off Gigabite and kept it laying around. It still worked. Pretty interesting, when you consider it had a 1985 date on the chassis. Old enough to drink when I decommissioned it, and it still did what it was supposed to.

How much of what we buy today would last that long?

There's something to think about.