Radar - Mix and Match ?

[skipmac]

My boat came with an old CRT radar, a Raytheon R10XX. I see on eBay a number of display units for sale without the dome. So is it possible that a newer Raytheon LCD display could work with my old transmitter, for example a Raytheon RL-70?

[clsailor]

Sorry, not going to happen. All radar uints are sold as a uint, will not work with anything different.

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by clsailor

Sorry, not going to happen. All radar uints are sold as a uint, will not work with anything different.

Well, that doesn't seem to be the way new radars are sold. Order the multifunction display of your choice, then pick a transmitter, open array or enclosed dome. Different displays work with different transmitters, of the same brand anyway.

I'm not trying to mix different brands, just different models of the same brand.

[clsailor]

Good Luck

[Don1500]

"is it possible that a newer Raytheon LCD display could work with my old transmitter, for example a Raytheon RL-70?"

From Raytheon
"The RL70 Plus is a slim, lightweight, waterproof, display ideal for exterior and below deck mounting. The RL70 Plus is compatible with all Pathfinder radome and open array antennas so building a radar system to fit your needs is easy."

Short answer, No
Long answer, No. Because the cables are different and the signals going to and from the antenna are different. Different values and different protocols. The R10/R20 speaks a different language than the newer Radars.

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by clsailor

Good Luck

Thanks. Seems like I have gotten some good luck, or good news.

Just got a message from a marine electronics dealer/tech in FL that repairs and sells used Raytheon equipment. He confirms that there is cross compatibility with many displays and transmitters, but there are some cutoffs in the technology when there were major design changes.

He gave me the phone number and name of the radar tech guy at Raymarine who will be able to confirm which displays will work with my old radome based on the model and SNs of my old units.

But, just in case, anyone online that already knows?

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by Don1500

"is it possible that a newer Raytheon LCD display could work with my old transmitter, for example a Raytheon RL-70?"

From Raytheon
"The RL70 Plus is a slim, lightweight, waterproof, display ideal for exterior and below deck mounting. The RL70 Plus is compatible with all Pathfinder radome and open array antennas so building a radar system to fit your needs is easy."

Short answer, No
Long answer, No. Because the cables are different and the signals going to and from the antenna are different. Different values and different protocols. The R10/R20 speaks a different language than the newer Radars.

Thanks.

That's pretty much the message I got just from the radar tech. Compatibility with the Pathfinder series but apparently not with what I have. But there may be some other displays that will work.

Will see if I have any luck with Raymarine tech support.

[skipmac]

Report on answers from Raymarine.

My Raytheon radome will work with displays prior to the Pathfinder series but since they are all CRTs, for me there is no advantage to changing displays. To go with an LCD or other new technology display I will have to change the whole setup.

Raymarine tech support answered the line pretty quickly and the gentleman I spoke with was polite, helpful and knowledgeable. Did not expect to get such easy access to the answers from the manufacturer for such an old piece of gear.

[Don1500]

Still a few of us old analog radar engineers around. I used to work for a competitor of Raytheon's. (Sperry) The R10/R20 is a hybrid between analog and digital. Analog receiver/transmitter converted to digital for processing and back to analog for display on the CRT. This was also before many of todays protocols were codified (NEMA etc.) So any company could dream up whatever protocol they wanted. Raytheon could hardly speak to itself (Like the R10 to the RL70) let alone the rest of the electronic world. With the standards today a Garmin can talk to a Raytheon which can talk to a Feruno etc. And Apple can talk to invaders from outer space.

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by Don1500

Still a few of us old analog radar engineers around. I used to work for a competitor of Raytheon's. (Sperry) The R10/R20 is a hybrid between analog and digital. Analog receiver/transmitter converted to digital for processing and back to analog for display on the CRT.

Sounds like a pretty awkward system but guess it worked. Did they even have D/A A/D chips to do the conversions in those days?

Originally Posted by Don1500

With the standards today a Garmin can talk to a Raytheon which can talk to a Feruno etc.

Did not know that. So how come it seems so difficult to get a radar display on a PC?

Originally Posted by Don1500

And Apple can talk to invaders from outer space.

Read a really amusing comment about that when Independence Day was released. Some network engineer commented "I can't even get a Mac to talk to a PC on my office network and Jeff Goldblum can get one to talk to aliens".

[Don1500]

Originally Posted by skipmac

Did not know that. So how come it seems so difficult to get a radar display on a PC?

Come on, you want to make things easy?

It can be done, if you can speak Perl, fluently (I can't)

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by Don1500

Come on, you want to make things easy?

It can be done, if you can speak Perl, fluently (I can't)

Sure, easy. Don't you know that a lazy person will work very hard to make things easy. In my case cheap is also a big factor.

Will have to ask my buddy the programmer if Perl is in his list of accomplishments.

A few years ago for fun in his spare time he wrote a decompression program that runs under the Palm OS. This is the kind of thing that might interest him.