Difference between B&G Zeus Touch and Zeus2?

[Maika]

Which Zeus do you have? Zeus, Zeus Touch or Zeus2?

[a64pilot]

Zeus touch, V2 software

Oh tech at B&G did call back and told me N+ cards won't work, neither will "wide" cards according to him. GPS store said wide card will work and that is what I have coming I think, an N wide card.

I'm very close to removing this whole thing and offering someone a hell of a deal


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[travellerw]

I will take it!

[a64pilot]

It may well be for sale soon, it is a 7" Zeus touch, the 4G Radar, the Wifi module, and a so far un-installed shoot thu the hull xducer


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[Schooner Chandlery]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

It may well be for sale soon, it is a 7" Zeus touch, the 4G Radar, the Wifi module, and a so far un-installed shoot thu the hull xducer


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Sounds like you have the same thing we have.

Don't despair--you'll get it worked out. When we bought ours, we ended up with the incorrect C-Map chip but returned it and got the correct one.

There are some oddball things--for example, sometimes you can't get the radar to work if you've turned the unit on with the chart chip in the slot--it must be out of the slot when you turn it on (add power). It also has some other quirks that we don't particularly care for--but in general it is great.

Someone was talking about getting bearing/distance to a point (they couldn't get a line or do it?) and that's just a matter of tapping the point on the screen, then tapping "go to" this point and it gives you a shaded path to stay within as well as the distance and bearing to your current position.

Of course then when you "get to" the point it comes up with a big white screen asking if you'd like to continue navigating. Very irritating if you're in the cockpit at the helm and the screen is inside and you have to go back in to push the botton saying "no!" because that stupid white screen is taking up your whole chart space and you can't see what you're doing now. This is the typical end to a route leading into an anchorage. We're in the middle of taking down sails and I'm just taking a look in the companionway every once in a while to make sure we're where I think we are and all of a sudden--white message on the plotter that requires attention. GRRRR. hate that with a passion.

We couldn't get a larger unit to fit where we needed it to go, thus the 7". The split screen is bad at that small size but we figured we'd use the wifi and a tablet at some point and that could help. It's nice that you did get the wifi setup because that will let you use your radar and chart plotter from any location on the boat.

There are some other oddities of the split screen that defy reality. For example, when you split lets say you're using radar and you want to see targets on both screens. Depending on which screen is your primary, your radar will or won't show on the other screen OR it will be a giant "blob" of radar because it's just a blowup of the other screen. I've called B&G on this to obtain additional information/user training since I believe it has to be ME not the B&G that is so screwed up. Yet, no answers.

Having said that, I do think the radar is very good and you're not going to find another setup for the money that will work as flexibly as what you've just purchased.

[Maika]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

OK, have had discussions with B&G, bottom line, first you get different answers depending on who you talk to. Some 2015 N+ cards can be used, some can't, but they won't or can't tell you which those are, and apparently 2015 card aren't labeled as such, or at least not on web sites.
GPS store seems to know more than B&G, seems there are -N cards, N cards, N+ cards, more of course, that is just the N card variations, oh and there are "wide" cards and Max too.
N cards work, others not so much. GPS store is allowing me to send the 4G card back for a refund, which is amazing, no software can be returned, usually.
Oh and Jeppeson's site where compatibility is checked in one place says N+ cards are compatible and another says they aren't. No where does it indicate V2 software required, although I do have V2 software.


Bottom line, before you order a chart for a B&G product, unless you know what your doing, you had better call first, problem is who? I have two different answers form two different people at B&G. Still waiting on a call back from one at B&G, not holding my breath.

I definately agree with you, it is B&Gs responisbility to be absolutely clear about which charts are supported for the respective models, and this should be stated clearly both on the web-page and in the manual.

C-Map has the compability for B&G on page 7:
http://c-map.jeppesen.com/useful-inf...9746650fb74d3d

[sailjumanji]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

Oh and Jeppeson's site where compatibility is checked in one place says N+ cards are compatible and another says they aren't. No where does it indicate V2 software required, although I do have V2 software.

Read my post 74 again. It's not Jeppesen that says B&G V2 software is needed, it is B&G. Like I referenced, read the B&G V2 software notes, and it says V2 is needed for Max N+ 2015 features to be fully functional. That said, I don't know if the Touch is compatible with the 2015-designated line-up. I didn't know until a couple of posts ago that you have a Touch and not a Zeus2. I just looked on the Jeppesen website, found the compatible line of chips, ordered it. Mine is a Y027 Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean, which uses the Explorer charts in the Bahamas region. I think you said you were Bahamas bound. We are heading that way in Feb next year.

Good news is that once you get the right chip, it will be like the lights got turned on and you will have so much more map detail. And the 4G radar is outstanding. As you pointed out, the operating manual is a bit thin and not everything is so intuitive. I still have a Sailsteer that makes no sense, but spending four months of the boat cruising next year I think I can figure out whether something is not set right, or if it is just not working. And hopefully the sudden shutdown and restart issue goes away. Fingers crossed. Or we figure it out while still under warranty.

[Maika]

So back to the original question about the differences:
- Zeus2 supports the new C-Map Max-N+, which include Easy Routing, Dynamic Tides and Currents database. Same with the Navionics Autoroute.
- The Zeus Touch does not.
(I am still happy with my choice of Touch 12'', but I believe B&G would have benefited in listing these differences on their site.)

[a64pilot]

I'll be at the boat this weekend, I'll try the new chip then, only thing I like about it is being able to view and control everything from below, I'm using an Ipad and it works well for that, I'm waiting till the Ipad Pro can be bought with my Amex points and I'll put it down below on a mount.
I have not yet found a way to get a course line, or to display time to waypoint etc, I do seem to like the Radar, although I've not noticed it being any better than my Garmin HD, and the Garmin would overlay the chart with Radar image, without buying a heading sensor.

The B&G seems to have a lot of bugs, like the re-booting, the can't turn it on with chip installed and other things, as well as a terrible manual, which you need as the thing is not intuitive to me, the Garmin didn't need a manual, very easy to figure out, and I had all engine, fuel etc data run into the Garmin without any issues at all.


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[colemj]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

the Garmin would overlay the chart with Radar image, without buying a heading sensor.

I don't understand how this is possible, unless COG was being used. I wouldn't think COG would be very accurate in this usage.

Mark

[Maika]

I just got a quote from my B&G dealer/service technician for a C-Map Max-N, but at the same time he STRONGLY recomended me not to buy C-map, since these are quite buggy with any B&G/Simrad/Lowrance plotter. He said Navico and Jeppesen is working on the issue, but they have done so for quite a while, so he does not expect it to be resolved in the near future. The plotters has been designed from the the start to work with Navionics charts, so these works much better together.
Also, some years ago C-map had better charts, but at least in Norway this has changed. Everybody has access now to the norwegian chart information database. Also Navionics updates their charts on a daily basis, C-map twice a year.
So I guess I go for Navonics

[Saltyhog]

Originally Posted by Maika

I just got a quote from my B&G dealer/service technician for a C-Map Max-N, but at the same time he STRONGLY recomended me not to buy C-map, since these are quite buggy with any B&G/Simrad/Lowrance plotter. He said Navico and Jeppesen is working on the issue, but they have done so for quite a while, so he does not expect it to be resolved in the near future. The plotters has been designed from the the start to work with Navionics charts, so these works much better together.
Also, some years ago C-map had better charts, but at least in Norway this has changed. Everybody has access now to the norwegian chart information database. Also Navionics updates their charts on a daily basis, C-map twice a year.
So I guess I go for Navonics

Well, that just about takes *any* Navico branded chart plotter off my list because we'll be spending a *LOT* of time in the Bahamas where C-Map charts (based on the Explorer charts) are the only real deal. That's a shame since other than the problems so many seem to be having with Navico stuff, I really like the features and low power draw of their stuff. I guess I'll have to take another look at Garmin.

[colemj]

Originally Posted by Saltyhog

I guess I'll have to take another look at Garmin.

Garmin does not use CMap. I am unsure of their completeness in use of Explorer charts. Here is what Explorercharts say:

Garmin Chartplotters come with preloaded maps for all U.S. coastal areas and the Bahamas. The current release (February 2015) does NOT have Explorer Bahamas data for the Little Bahama Bank, most of Grand Bahama, the Abacos, Great Inagua, and the Turks and Caicos.

Given that statement, it leaves unclear whether Explorer data are included for the parts of the Bahamas specifically not mentioned.

I do know that the Garmin iPad app appears to have Explorer data for all of the Bahamas.

Another choice for CMap compatibility is Furuno.

Mark

[Saltyhog]

Originally Posted by colemj

Garmin does not use CMap. I am unsure of their completeness in use of Explorer charts. Here is what Explorercharts say:

Garmin Chartplotters come with preloaded maps for all U.S. coastal areas and the Bahamas. The current release (February 2015) does NOT have Explorer Bahamas data for the Little Bahama Bank, most of Grand Bahama, the Abacos, Great Inagua, and the Turks and Caicos.

Given that statement, it leaves unclear whether Explorer data are included for the parts of the Bahamas specifically not mentioned.

I do know that the Garmin iPad app appears to have Explorer data for all of the Bahamas.

Another choice for CMap compatibility is Furuno.

Mark

Thanks Mark. Yeah, I knew that Garmin doesn't use C-Map, but they claim they base their Bahamas Cartography on the Explorer charts, so would be a good solution for me. Except now with what you just quoted, maybe not so much.
WRT Furuno: You know, the engineer in me really likes their offerings. Just reading through the manuals, they seem to actually provide factual technical information that makes sense to me. Some manuals from other marine electronics companies seem to be written to dumb things down. The Furuno radar seems to be the gold standard for small radars. I really like the new TzTouch2 platform, it's just a little big for at my helm. I suppose I could make the 12" model fit, but I'm hoping that they come out with a 8" or 10" model soon. Their autopilot seems due for updating though, as it's based on a fluxgate heading sensor. I read on their forum that they strongly discourage using any other heading sensor for the autopilot, including the Airmar. And their power consumption for their chartplotters seems really high when compared with others, especially against B&G/Simrad. How does your Furuno charp plotter do as far as power consumption? Maybe their power consumption numbers are very conservative and the average (normal) power is more in-line with what the other guys are listing?

[DotDun]

Originally Posted by colemj

I don't understand how this is possible, unless COG was being used. I wouldn't think COG would be very accurate in this usage.

Mark

from a Garmin manual:

When using the Radar overlay, the chartplotter aligns radar data with chart data based on the boat heading, which is based by default on data from a magnetic heading sensor connected using a NMEA 0183 or NMEA 2000 network. If a heading sensor is not available, the boat heading is based on GPS tracking data.
GPS tracking data indicates the direction in which the boat is moving, not the direction in which the boat is pointing. If the boat is drifting backward or sideways due to a current or wind, the Radar overlay may not perfectly align with the chart data. This situation should be avoided by using boat-heading data from an electronic compass.