Raymarine plotter upgrade

[Peregrine1983]

And I hear you on having the charts on a swivel mount - really key on long passages, so you can lounge about the cockpit and just turn it towards you.

[Peregrine1983]

The new Furuno units. Excuse the bad pic quality - it's a video grab.

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by Peregrine1983

Just my 2c on Raymarine. I have an es78 MFD and I've been incredibly unhappy with it.

I was never able to get it to recognize a Raymarine wireless wind instrument or microtalk wireless unit. The es78 would simply not see either. I worked at this for months and since Raymarine customer support is somewhere between nonexistent and zilch, I was never able to get it to work.

My es78 remains a highly overpriced chart plotter - and my iPad running Navionics is significantly better in every way -brightness, side visibility, accuracy, and touch response.

The touch screen functions on an es78 are like a deli ATM machine.

Since I can't get the es78 to communicate with instruments aboard, I have started upgrading to Furuno (now have two Furuno FI70s for depth and wind) and I plan to upgrade my MFD to Furuno when the time comes.

I have been very happy with the Furuno equipment. The displays are bright as all heck during the day (and can easily be turned down at night), they're clear, easy to configure, and feel truly professional grade.

The wifi on the raymarine does not broadcast nmea 2000 or accept it. So why would it recognise a wireless wind instrument Ray don’t say it will.



My last 6 raymsrine systems from E series through gS and eS have been excellent

I have telephoned rays engineers several times and found them excellent ( in Southampton )

[wmcunninghamii]

Originally Posted by Peregrine1983

That sounds about right to me Yeah, I would not recommend trying to do wireless with Ray gear. I should clarify that I didn't have any sort of network backbone before buying the Furuno gear (hence why I was trying to use wireless Ray equipment).

This is the specific Furuno package I bought - https://www.defender.com/product.jsp...rpoWRYI0GAwfGc - $1895 for wind anemometer, depth transducer, and two FI70 displays (which can be set to display a number of things at the same time like speed thru water, top speed, average speeds, apparent vs true etc etc). Seemed like a good deal for two nice displays and two transducers. All are hard wired.

I've got them in the front of my cockpit, so they're visible from anywhere. I've really come to like the iPad (in a proper weatherproof case) on an Amazon rail swivel mount right below my "backup" es78 for my charts.

Edited because I hit send a little early on that.

I have pondered the companionway pod mount approach at great length. I am very good at pondering, esp. at great length... I have hesitated due to the wiring and drilling and whatever which would be required to install the pod. They are not cheap either. But I have to admit, that kind of set up makes a lot of sense with regard to data display. Not so much for things you need to touch like the AP and the plotter. Those I like to have close at hand while near the helm which is where I normally perch. I do a lot of perching on the Freedom 30 with the self tacking jib. Occasionally i work up the energy to tack the boat which requires me to standby the AP and turn the wheel. The humanity!

BTW, never been a fan of the AP tacking function. If i could get that worked out all I would have to do is push a button hahaha.

I do have a wireless AP remote but I always worry I am going to drop it overboard or get strangled (that little neck strap safety release doohickey has released accidentally more than once). So stays stays in its cradle in the cabin mostly.

Kind of like the RUS Black Sea fleet in Sevastopol te he.

[Peregrine1983]

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

The wifi on the raymarine does not broadcast nmea 2000 or accept it.

You're absolutely right. The es78 has 1 x NMEA2000/SeaTalkng port. This is what I connected to a backbone with this wireless converter and wind indicator:
https://www.hodgesmarine.com/rayt703...MaApNgEALw_wcB

The es78 would never, ever recognize either unit. Are you in the UK? I wonder if we get routed to different customer service centers because I was always initially routed to someone not in the US or UK who didn't have any idea how to fix the problem, and when I was finally able to contact a US based engineer I had to leave voice messages - which were never returned.

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by Peregrine1983

You're absolutely right. The es78 has 1 x NMEA2000/SeaTalkng port. This is what I connected to a backbone with this wireless converter and wind indicator:
https://www.hodgesmarine.com/rayt703...MaApNgEALw_wcB

The es78 would never, ever recognize either unit. Are you in the UK? I wonder if we get routed to different customer service centers because I was always initially routed to someone not in the US or UK who didn't have any idea how to fix the problem, and when I was finally able to contact a US based engineer I had to leave voice messages - which were never returned.

Raymarine were originally a U.K. company and the tech guys are great in Southampton. Ive spoken to 2nd and 3rd level techs. As far as I’m aware US tech support has long been found wanting.

Sadly under Flir things are taking a dive.

I do some development work on Raymarine newest plotters.

Currently the wifi to nmea 2000bridge within the plotter is seriously deficient, Ray know this. Watch this space.

To get Info onto nmea 2000 you need to use a dedicated wifi bridge like the Yacht devices one. Even then you can have protocol clashes

[wmcunninghamii]

Originally Posted by Peregrine1983

And I hear you on having the charts on a swivel mount - really key on long passages, so you can lounge about the cockpit and just turn it towards you.

Yes indeed, mine has gone RT to Hawaii twice. But I do use my swivel mount all the time when out racing singlehanded here in the SF Bay Area. If I were ambitious I would design something from the ground up rather than depend upon the really nice A57D cradle. I guess I could use one of the Pods mentioned in the thread for this purpose, Just have to engineer the swivel mount.

[wmcunninghamii]

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

Raymarine were originally a U.K. company and the tech guys are great in Southampton. Ive spoken to 2nd and 3rd level techs. As far as I’m aware US tech support has long been found wanting.

Sadly under Flir things are taking a dive.

I do some development work on Raymarine newest plotters.

Currently the wifi to nmea 2000bridge within the plotter is seriously deficient, Ray know this. Watch this space.

To get Info onto nmea 2000 you need to use a dedicated wifi bridge like the Yacht devices one. Even then you can have protocol clashes

Sorry, I did not intend to cast aspersions on Ray. I assume everyone has their challenges regardless of equipment. I will say that Ray's proprietary NG makes life a bit more difficult though. On the other hand, the Axiom looks like a pretty good solution for a guy like me who wants it all in a single box.

[Peregrine1983]

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

Raymarine were originally a U.K. company and the tech guys are great in Southampton. Ive spoken to 2nd and 3rd level techs. As far as I’m aware US tech support has long been found wanting.

Sadly under Flir things are taking a dive.

I do some development work on Raymarine newest plotters.

Currently the wifi to nmea 2000bridge within the plotter is seriously deficient, Ray know this. Watch this space.

To get Info onto nmea 2000 you need to use a dedicated wifi bridge like the Yacht devices one. Even then you can have protocol clashes

Yeah, that was my takeaway too regarding the FLIR purchase. Sadly, but not unexpectedly, a lot of the great old-school electronics brands have been gobbled up and you don't get that personal touch anymore.

Luckily you still do get great service with a lot of small companies making yacht things (PYI, Beta Marine, Walter, etc)... just not really the electronics.

I would have to be very convinced before I spent another dime on a Ray piece of gear.

[Peregrine1983]

Sorry for the Ray rant, but I spent over $3000 spent on gear that simply doesn't do what's it's supposed to do and they won't help me fix it.

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by Peregrine1983

Sorry for the Ray rant, but I spent over $3000 spent on gear that simply doesn't do what's it's supposed to do and they won't help me fix it.

Well you were seriously misled on the capabilities of the wifi interface. That’s somebodies fault and led you down a cul de sac

Pity that. I have heard bad things about Rays US support expertise.

[Peregrine1983]

https://youtu.be/aPVLyB0Yc6I

[Pete7]

Originally Posted by wmcunninghamii

What can I say, I am cheap. Fortunately sailboats don't go that fast...well not THAT fast.

Anyway, I really need a new primary plotter. I would like to stick with Ray because everything else on the boat is Ray (except my B/U which is not networked).

Faced with a similar requirements we opted for the Element 9. Nice bit of kit, cut down from the Axiom so it doesn't compete with that range, but we wanted buttons that work with wet fingers.

We then mounted it in a Navpod that had previously held a RM C80.

Pete

[Sailer_Med]

I just went through an upgrade on my new to me sailboat. Originally Axiom 9 was suggested, however, i decided to go to Axiom 12. It’s mounted at the helm on a welded up SS mounts. Looks good, like we did it on purpose!

I figured I could get an android tablet (WiFi connection - just leave it onboard they are cheap) as a display at the nav table, or anywhere else although I haven’t found much use thus far.

But the point is, unless you have a painting someplace aging in your place, the bigger screen is useful

[jerryf609]

I use an Axiom 9+. It does not have button or knobs. Touch screen works well for me. I have a wireless Ray radar that works well. You can use it as touch screen and if you have issues with rain then later buy the RMK 11 control pad with knob and buttons.

So far I havent found a need for the Rmk and I've been in some stormy weather.