ACR or McMurdo

C

cemiii

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C Dory Year
1987
C Dory Model
22 Angler
Vessel Name
The Last One........ III
I know this has been talked about a lot, but it appears the two are now getting very competitively priced. The ACR aqualink with gps is now around $350 and the fast find is about $300. The ACR does appear to float and I don't think the fast find does and the ACR has a strobe. model 2882 at anchor express. I have a spot but subscriptions are due and it probably makes a lot of sense to switch.

Does anyone know enough about both to help me in making a decision?

Thanks, Chris
 
Hi Chris,
The ACR floats, offers a 66 channel GPS, and 35 hours of transmit time. The Revere does not float, offers a 50 channel GPS, and 24 hours of transmit time.

Hope that helps.
 
http://www.equipped.org/McMurdoNewFastFind.htm

That has a review of the McMurdo and it seems pretty positive. Compared to the new ACR, I'm not sure how it would stack up. I think the best thing about the ACR is that it floats. I have the McMurdo, and since it doesn't float I have it attached to my life jacket. I don't really care about 24 vs. 35 hours of transmit time, since if I haven't been rescued within much less than 24 hours I'll probably be long gone. The 66 channel GPS receiver may indeed work better, but from the equipped.org test it seemed like the McMurdo is much better than previous generations. The strobe is also nice, although I have a separate one on my lifejacket.

From a features point of view the ACR wins, but I think the McMurdo is adequate as well. I'm not sure which I'd buy if I were doing it again...
 
I currently have 2 3 year old ACR-s. At that time they were far better than the McMundo. They seem close to being equal currently. I have been using ACR EPRIB's for over 30 years, and am sticking with them for the known quality.
 
Thank you for the replies. Does anybody know if there is any advantage of one over the other as far as battery replacement down line? Or with rapidly changing technologies should these be viewed pretty much as a 5 year life item?

Chris
 
They both have a "five year battery"--that is more safety driven than actual battery life. If not used, the battery probably has a realistic shelf life of 10 years--with slightly less transmit duration each year after 5. The battery replacement cost is some where in the $150 to $250 range. Hard to know what difference in technology will be in 5 years, but at this point, a 20 year old EPRIB (406) still works well--but no GPS inside....
 
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