Making sense of raymarine, making a system.

[northoceanbeach]

I am finding this harder to wrap my head around than I thought I would at first. Every time I think I've got it, something else crops up.

I'm updating my boat electronics and am learning a lot. I decided to go with raymarine. Mostly I suppose because of the autopilot. I kind of built everything around that. I thought I would run a simple N2K backbone and have some non raymarine products but raymarine doesn't use N2K. So I have adapters, and then there is the older stuff. The 0183, and I need a box, or converter. It's like they are halfway there to updating their product line. Some things like the wind transducers and smart controllers for autopilots aren't updated. Here's what I need to know.

What chartplotter is best for under $1500. What is the difference between the e, c, and a series?

Which depth sounder can be epoxied to the hull and shoot through it, so I don't have to haul out? The p79?

How do I get the underwater sonar? Does the p79 do that? Do I need a chirp box for $500 or do some of the chartplotter said have that built in?

The new i70 displays. What do you use them for besides autopilot and wind, wind only if you buy the itc-5 to convert analog to Seatalkng.

Can an older depth sounder that is already in a through hull be made to work?

Why do I need a box to bridge between my chartplotter and depth sounder? They sell smaller ones and then the larger itc-5?

[colemj]

First, good luck, I have never made any sense of Raymarine products.

Second, I think all current RM products are fully N2K - they just use a different proprietary connector. If this is a problem, most likely you can just cut it off and use a terminal strip or micro-c connector.

Third, the i70 display is a nice piece of gear (yes, I said that). It is a MFD that can display just about any N2K data on the network - AIS, depth, speed, wind, temperature, GPS, etc.

Coming full circle, I can't make any sense in why RM requires a bridging box to the depth/speed sounder. Nobody else does. Personally, I find RM about the dumbest choice in current equipment, but they are popular.

The rest of your questions about chart plotter series and sonar require you to do some research, because you will need a deeper understanding of the equipment and integration for your needs to avoid making a mistake. Any good dealer should be able to help you with those.

Mark

[meridian28]

You shouldn't need a special transducer to mount inside the hull. Bed it in silicon.


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[northoceanbeach]

Thanks. Yes. That's what the marine electronics dealer told me. That I could mount any transducer to the inside of my fiberglass until I hauled out next time and it would work. I was just sketical.

Another question. Some of the chartplotters have a video cable coming out the back. I have a video camera I want to install. But they both are female connectors. Is it a simple matter of getting an adapter or am I missing something?

[mstrebe]

Raymarine SeaTalkNG is N2K--you just need to buy their adapter cables and everything works.

I love their new EV serious autopilots. Best in the business. Don't know anything about their chart-plotters however.

[undercutter]

Raymarine is easiest to install when you have all Raymarine gear however even then you must ensure that you have the latest software so that everything will talk to each other. With an e series or I series chart plotter everything can be connected through this device be it 0183, seatalk, NG (N2k), or highspeed ethernet not to mention wireless with the latest i series.

You can talk to Raymarine directly or through their website (can't recall the link) and the website will allow you to review previous questions and answers on other peoples problems. We have their full suite of gear including digital radar, AIS, E series Widescreen x 2 (now i series), sol xp autopilot, and all instruments. System works great.

Others will disagree of course.

[northoceanbeach]

I know it will be fantastic once over it all hooked up. I'm just scratchingy head because not very good at electronics yet I like them.

For instance just tonight I read that to get that remote to work i need a pod. But to hook the pod up to ng I need adapter cablaes. I think. I'll take a step back and read more.

[Tessellate]

Yes, Raymarine is very confusing, and I totally agree with you it's like they're halfway through updating their product line. It's confusing because they put so much effort into staying backwards compatible with their old product lines, yet incompatible with competitor's product lines by making everything slightly different from the standards.

Raymarine has an online forum where their techs are pretty good about responding, so you might try there too. I asked about their lack of digital wind anemometer, and they said it's in the works but no word on when it might be released:

Digital Wind Transducer? - Raymarine Technical Forum

[hoppy]

Originally Posted by northoceanbeach

What chartplotter is best for under $1500. What is the difference between the e, c, and a series?

The simple difference is

a - touch screen
c - control dial and buttons
e - both

e has more connectors than a & c.

In a wet environment like the cockpit, I would not want to have touch only. I have an e7 and if it's raining or there is a lot of spray I find its best to turn off the touch.



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[Compass Rose 2]

About the remote.
Yes you do need the adapter to go from the original SeaTalk to the SeaTalk'ng (current version). It's a wire with the older conecter to the remote's transceiver box to the ST network. Quite simple really it's color coded yellow with all other connections white or blue.
I just bought the EV-100 autopilot with the SmartController remote with the adapter kit for the remote. Got it from Anchor Express best price I found, just a hair over $1900 overnighted to my door. I chatted with them about everything I could think of then contacted RM directly. RM backed up everything AE told me . Can't wait to start the install. Already have the e7D MFD, i70 for wind and speed and yes that little devil does everthing except swab the deck. l've been very satisfied with RM.

[adlib2]

Raymarine does use N2K (NMEA 2000)
Look here for installing a N2K backbone and making connections.~~
Updating Onboard Electronics with N2K - Practical Sailor Print Edition Article

[jessehunt]

The transducer for the depth sounder will shoot through the hull with no problem provided it is a solid fiberglass hull. You can test it by placing the transducer in a plastic sandwich bag, put some water in it, and seal the top around the cable with tape, and place it where you plan to install it. If the hull is suitable, you'll see a bottom trace on the sounder. I used a cut off 4 in pvc pipe coupling, glued it to the hull with sealant, then mounted the transducer with 2 part epoxy. Works fine.

[domander]

Just finished a new installation of an E7, radar, and AIS all joined together by Seatalk NG, and my old A57D chartplotter, autopilot, depth sounder and wind instruments is in there also. Keeping everything Raymarine certainly kept it easy. I have nothing but praise for Raymarine technical support who answered all of my email tech questions promptly and with utter detailed clarity, far surpassing any other company's support. But if you're going to make use of any rebates make sure you dot all your i s and cross your ts and PHONE them if you have any questions about it. They're looking for any reason to disallow a claim.

-Brian Domander

[northoceanbeach]

It is nice to be able to call the, on the phone. Garmin is really good about that too. But I think raymarine seems more knowledgeable.

It's really coming along good now.m but I do have an issue. It has to do with the vhf. It is a standard horizon 2150. I also have a garmin 300 for ais for my plotters so I don't need the standard horizon ais, but it would be nice to have.

It's not working though, is there a special way to hook it up? Also, it beeps loudly from the mic after about five minutes on and says something like can't find POS.

Lastly, probably the way things are wired, which I did go to my circuit panel and uninstall everything, detangled all the old wires, ran mostly new wires and freed up a lot of switches that weren't attached to working things anymore like my tie nav light.

However, if I turn on the light in the bathroom, the vhf turns itself off and immediately back on. Also, when I push the button on the mic to transmit, it dims the whole boats lights. What is going on?