Fusion MS-BB100 vs Simrad SonicHub2

OS2Dude

OS2Dude

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May 7, 2011
206
Catalina 30 Lake Lanier
Thinking of getting a marine radio with NMEA2K compatibility. Can anyone offer an informed opinion on the following: Fusion MS-RA70Ni; Fusion MS-BB100 or Simrad SonicHub2? The backs of the SonicHub and BB100 look very similar, I wonder if Fusion makes the Simrad radios....
 
Jackdaw

Jackdaw

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Nov 8, 2010
11,386
Beneteau First 36.7 & 260 Minneapolis MN & Bayfield WI
Fusion does (or licenses them the technology), and now Garmin owns Fusion. Go figure.
 
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Joe

Joe

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Jun 1, 2004
8,005
Catalina 27 Mission Bay, San Diego
I have the Fusion RA70... it is pretty nice... however... the AM radio (for sports) isn't that great, also I really don't understand what the hulla balloo is about N2k on your media player. Most people now keep their music on a Bluetooth media device, ipod, smartphone... and though there is a small control panel on the chartplotter display..... I find it more convenient to use the smartphone to control everything.... the small display offers very limited options, it is not like a regular remote control. So any good quality BT player with adequate power would work ... N2k or no.

The reality is that Bluetooth has made all this docking and networking irrelevant... IMHO.
 
Jackdaw

Jackdaw

.
Nov 8, 2010
11,386
Beneteau First 36.7 & 260 Minneapolis MN & Bayfield WI
Joe said:
I have the Fusion RA70... it is pretty nice... however... the AM radio (for sports) isn't that great, also I really don't understand what the hulla balloo is about N2k on your media player. Most people now keep their music on a Bluetooth media device, ipod, smartphone... and though there is a small control panel on the chartplotter display..... I find it more convenient to use the smartphone to control everything.... the small display offers very limited options, it is not like a regular remote control. So any good quality BT player with adequate power would work ... N2k or no.

The reality is that Bluetooth has made all this docking and networking irrelevant... IMHO.
Click to expand
I have the same RA70 unit on BlueJ and it is a perfect small boat solution. Phone at the nav station, and I pick songs on my apple watch. No watch, then keep the phone with you.

However there is an NMEA2k Fusion unit on the 367, and I have to tell you, being able to use the plotters (and not a dedicated remote) is awesome for controlling it. This goes up 1000x when you are out of cell coverage and are now listening to sat radio or other non-streaming service.
 
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shemandr

shemandr

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Jan 1, 2006
7,072
Slickcraft 26 Sailfish
Joe said:
...the AM radio (for sports) isn't that great,...
Click to expand
I had another brand, but I couldn't understand why I couldn't get AM sportscasts on the boat and I could walk 100' to my car and have good reception. We tried a lot of different antennae, boosters etc. mostly to no avail. Someone, maybe on this forum, told be they put crappy AM receivers in the radios because not very many use them.
 
LeslieTroyer

LeslieTroyer

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May 20, 2016
3,014
Catalina 36 MK1 94 Everett, WA
I have the fusion 205 and NMEA 2K remote - Its nice to adjust volume at the helm - and the remote takes power from the network - so no additional cables running up the helm guard (this is the biggest advantage) - I rarely look at NMEA data on the remote.
 
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