Onwa electronics

Razorbill RIBs · 28 December 2014, 00:37

Anybody using / have any experience of this brand..... Chinese but now has a Uk distributor.....

Just curious really....

Daniel · 28 December 2014, 08:09

Yes have installed one.

Exactly what you'd expect cheap & Chinese, does what it says on the tin.

Lacks refinement but ultimately works and is less than 1/2 the price of an euilavent garmin or Raymarine !

Razorbill RIBs · 28 December 2014, 15:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daniel

Yes have installed one.

Exactly what you'd expect cheap & Chinese, does what it says on the tin.

Lacks refinement but ultimately works and is less than 1/2 the price of an euilavent garmin or Raymarine !

Thanks Daniel, noticed there was a dealer your neck of the woods..... How cheap and Chinese

? I've got a 12 inch plotter to replace.... And that's all it needs to be.... A plotter. I've not particular issue with the Chinese thing, but 18 months warranty and just one importer..... I guess what I'm asking us whether you'd stick one on your boat? After all this will probably just go for a known brand, but the prices are very tempting

Daniel · 28 December 2014, 18:18

Yes the uk importer is in kent, and the chandlery next door retail the units. They have nearly all the models on display to try and id be only to pleased to make the coffee and chat RIBs if you're passing !!

The model I fitted was the 12" with built in AIS transponder. At well under £1000 this is truly exceptional value.

A friend has bought one for his RIB when he swaps to a larger console in the new year, the same model I believe.

My comments (based on very brief use) would be:

-Chinese AIS programming interface very chinese and clunky to get working. Needed to google instructions plus a bit of undocumented trial and error.

-good solid well made unit.

-IP rating a little grey but seams to translate to suitable for RIB use.

-screen refresh when zooming in/out a little slow by modern standards. Could live with that (think 10yr old garmin).

-general interface a little clunky. A lot less intuitive than a modern "big brand" but all the basic functions seam to be there

-no nmea 2000 (and nor would I expect it at this price point)

The units support c-map max so no worries there.

Would I fit one to my own boat? Yes, if I were on a budget.

Will I be fitting one? No, I'd rather spend that bit more for the big-brand user interface and quicker processor plus expansion and upgrade options for these units seam limited.

Daniel · 28 December 2014, 19:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daniel

Yes the uk importer is in kent, and the chandlery next door retail the units.

That's the chandlery next door to me in the royal harbour; RAMSGATE

Razorbill RIBs · 28 December 2014, 20:46

Thanks very much for that Daniel, extremely useful! Food for thought.... Will let you know what we decide.... Need to get the new boat here first, so a few weeks off before we have to make a decision.... Thanks again!

Razorbill RIBs · 02 January 2015, 15:25

Okay, so having wrestled with it i've gone ahead and ordered the 1299A (with built in AIS Transceiver)..... Dealt with Alan Vicks (importer) directly. Have had other positive reports on the product and Alan himself.....a very nice chap to deal with.

It may be considered a bit of a gamble, but the (worldwide if you search) reviews i've read seem positive and to indicate it will suit my needs (thanks also /again to Daniel for his feedback). It comes with UK cartography and at a very strong price point.... I also mentioned this thread to Alan, so he may be along at some point.

Will let you know how we get on when it arrives..... linky below: Scroll down to the 'A' version for specs Onwa chartplotters from AVES Marine Ltd

Fully aware this wont appeal to the tech heads, but so long as its an easy to use / reliable plotter (AIS a bonus) i'll be happy.... I can honestly say I never use anything like the full capability of the Lowrance HDS we have, most of the capabilities are wasted on me

gotchiguy · 02 January 2015, 18:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by Razorbill RIBs

It comes with UK cartography

Does it have its own style or is it one of the existing ones like Cmap or navionics etc?

willk · 02 January 2015, 18:12

ONWA Electronics - Conceal Owners IT

Daniel · 02 January 2015, 19:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by gotchiguy

Does it have its own style or is it one of the existing ones like Cmap or navionics etc?

I understand they have their own chart available at about £25. From what I saw it was not detailed enough for rib style navigation (lacked detail at higher zooms)

gotchiguy · 02 January 2015, 21:41

Yeah I'm not surprised - half of the pictures on the link above seem to be Google maps screenshots. Oh well!

Razorbill RIBs · 03 January 2015, 08:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daniel

I understand they have their own chart available at about £25. From what I saw it was not detailed enough for rib style navigation (lacked detail at higher zooms)

Apparently it's a new version and no harm I trying it as it's free.....Matters not as we have C Map.... Will see when it arrives I guess

Razorbill RIBs · 03 January 2015, 08:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by willk

ONWA Electronics - Conceal Owners IT

very good

Razorbill RIBs · 03 January 2015, 21:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daniel

I understand they have their own chart available at about £25. From what I saw it was not detailed enough for rib style navigation (lacked detail at higher zooms)

Bit of an update Daniel.... In confirming delivery etc. Alan from Aves advised "Just a mention about the K charts; they were only released at the METZ exhibition in Amsterdam in November 2014, so are quite new. I have used the UK chart around my home area around the Kent Coast and it's superb.....it has all the navigation aids you expect to see on a paper chart.... pretty much everything I can see on my Jepperson C Map chart in fact" apparently there is an update due very shortly to add tidal streams also..... If we want the Europe wide are available for the cost of an SD card too.....

Sounds interesting, will feedback when we receive it / install.....

gotchiguy · 03 January 2015, 23:35

Certainly will be interested to see these charts, being Chinese I suppose it's possible that they've managed to use the official admiralty colourscheme

Looking forward to some feedback, but so far it would seem that only a lack of nmea2k is the main downside. Does it suppose 0183 output for a VHF DSC?

Daniel · 04 January 2015, 05:16

Yes NMEA 0183

avesmarine · 08 January 2015, 13:29

Hello to everyone on this forum and thanks to Dan of Razorbill RIB Charter & Marine Services for suggesting I visit.

As an introduction:

I am a UK Distributor for Onwa Marine Electronic; although I can sell the whole product range I choose to specialise in their chart plotters. Onwa has bases in Hong Kong and the Philippines and they produce some really great products. They have manufactured mostly for the professional shipping and fishing industries in the past but recently their decision to expand into the leisure and small boat markets has given us all a chance to get our hands on really functional kit at a sensible price. I first come across Onwa in 2012 when, as an impoverished small yacht sailor, I bought a budget 8299 plotter on the internet and I have been a devotee ever since!

Just to clarify a few points: Onwa charts are free apart from a fiver for the SD card (let me have the card back and it's completely free) the charge suggested by my dealer in Ramsgate was the result of a misunderstanding and is incorrect. At the moment it is the policy of Onwa that charts are offered as a free incentive to buy their product. Chart updates are also free.

Firmware updates are free (usually every 6 months) and incorporate changes suggested by dealers and users. Firmware update is an easy user function that you can do yourself. - just copy the new software onto a blank SD card, pop it into the SD card slot of the plotter and the plotter does the rest. If you don't have a card copier I can send you the update on an SD card for the cost of the card and post.

Chart detail depends very much upon the set up menus - leave something turned off and the detail just isn't there. The charts are also subject to constant improvement so any suggestions - please let me have your opinion for future additions. The chart details are not quite up to C-Map but not far off either and please bear in mind that they were only released In November last year so are going through a period of revisions to improve them (latest addition released just this month).

AIS set-up - This isn't a user function so doesn't show on the menus which I suspect is what Daniel meant by having to Google the information. Normally I will input the customer's MMSI etc into the plotter before delivery unless the customer wants to do this himself. However, in Daniels's case when he bought his 1299A from my dealer in Ramsgate, he took delivery at a time when I wasn't available so this information wasn't passed to him - apologies Daniel. However, I have learnt from this and all my plotters with an AIS transceiver built in will now be dispatched with information on the AIS set-up method. Oh, and a bit of good extra news - MMSI details can be edited by the owner if he accesses the AIS set up page so the plotter isn't tied to one boat once it has been set up and you don't have to return the plotter to an agent to have this done.

Any comments or questions are welcomed.

Alan Vick
AVES Marine Ltd
UK Distributor for Onwa Marine Electronics.

Razorbill RIBs · 07 February 2015, 11:51

A brief update while waiting for epoxy to cure.....

The unit arrived a while back, checked in UK by Aves and shipped on with AIS set up instructions (see Daniels earlier post)... Alan had offered / will set up, but I opted to do it myself.... The quality is IMO excellent, a very robust and well made piece of hardware..... Yet to fit as we're still completing deck work, but initial impressions are very good!