Raymarine plotter upgrade

[RedneckRedcoat]

I have a axion 7 inch and a i70s at the helm and an axiom 9 plus at the nav station. Very happy with my purchase although even with the latest update for lighthouse 4 the 7 inch glitches. I’m actually thinking of swapping the 7 out put that on my dingy and getting something larger for the helm. If you want to run split screen get the 12. It’s a lot of real estate but I feel the 9 and 7 are two small for that. The I70 handles more than just wind and depth though. You can do AIS though it and it has other screens. Even though it’s a 12 inch remember is not the same resolution as you iPad or tablet. These are industrial grade LCD screens so hence the lower resolutions.

[shimari]

Originally Posted by wmcunninghamii

Nice. That feature is very interesting.

BTW, I found the 12 inch Axiom pro a bit pricy. But Ray offers a keypad/joystick remote which interfaces with the Axiom non pro, whatever they call it. so that would be viable in weather. Noted on Ray forum that Ray acknowledges rain, spray, etc can mess with the touch screen. No surprise. But, when you interface the remote you get the poor man's (that's me) version of the hybrid plotter. Nice.

I went with the Axiom 9 with the RMK keyboard on my last boat. It was, at the time, cheaper than a 9 pro and gave me more latitude with placement. Be advised that the RMK uses a Raynet cable to attach to the Axiom.

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by shimari

I went with the Axiom 9 with the RMK keyboard on my last boat. It was, at the time, cheaper than a 9 pro and gave me more latitude with placement. Be advised that the RMK uses a Raynet cable to attach to the Axiom.

The newer type of Raynet cable also with the circular connector.

[MJH]

Originally Posted by wmcunninghamii

I currently have an old Ray A51D plotter at the helm (wheel steering) and a older Garmin GPSmap at my nav table (backup). Both are functioning but the Ray brightness is terrible in daylight (considerably worse than the Garmin which is an older device) and dimming at night is not so good either. It is hard to describe but the screen seems to loose clarity as I drop the brightness to a tolerable level in the dark and I spend quite a bit of time in the dark... ha ha, literally as well as figuratively.

In addition I have broken the Ray power/data cable connector locking tabs so I have a few strategically placed mini zip ties holding the damn connector together at the plotter input port. Good luck finding replacement parts. This has resulted in some rather spirited dashes below to have a peak at the backup plotter when the conector glitches.

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).

I built a rotating panel which is mounted on a small platform on the helm guard. I single hand almost exclusively and it is really handy to be able to rotate the panel such that I can observe and interact with instruments (plotter, wind, Autopilot) from all angles in the cockpit. I have had this set up for years and thousands of miles and am really happy with it. The i70 instruments also allow me to see depth, speed, etc.etc. So everything is at my fingertips and observable from anywhere in the cockpit. The problem is the rotating panel is based upon the very cool A51D tilting and rotating cradle which came with the plotter.

All the modern Ray plotters have a single vertical axis cradle and do not rotate in the horizontal plane. I can fix the rotation problem but I won't be able to replicate the panel with the two additional i70 instruments.

So a question for modern Ray plotter users. Assuming you have enough screen real estate, is it possible to display full AP and Wind data in "windows" on the plotter? If so, I could remove the i70s and use the plotter exclusively ( I think). The other "must have" would be a hybrid control capability i.e. buttons, knobs or whatever which would allow management of the plotter without depending on the touch screen. Assuming yes to this, what size screen is necessary to make this practical? I sail a little Freedom 30 so 12 inches of screen would probably be the largest I could accommodate. I could probably go bigger but I don't want the boat to look like a jumbotron.

I reached out to the GPS store where I purchase all my Ray stuff but they were pretty clueless on this topic (surprisingly) so I thought I would try asking you all for some feedback.

My configuration of navigation gear is just the opposite of yours. I use my laptop charts at the nav station to plot my route then electronically transfer it to my Garmin GPSMAP handheld that is plugged in at the helm; what more does a guy need! This setup has taken me on roundtrips to Alaska and Hawaii successfully and it is a lot cheaper than multi-bucks for a big chartplotter and installation at the helm.

[philiosophy]

Originally Posted by wmcunninghamii

I currently have an old Ray A51D plotter at the helm (wheel steering) and a older Garmin GPSmap at my nav table (backup). Both are functioning but the Ray brightness is terrible in daylight (considerably worse than the Garmin which is an older device) and dimming at night is not so good either. It is hard to describe but the screen seems to loose clarity as I drop the brightness to a tolerable level in the dark and I spend quite a bit of time in the dark... ha ha, literally as well as figuratively.

In addition I have broken the Ray power/data cable connector locking tabs so I have a few strategically placed mini zip ties holding the damn connector together at the plotter input port. Good luck finding replacement parts. This has resulted in some rather spirited dashes below to have a peak at the backup plotter when the conector glitches.

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).

I built a rotating panel which is mounted on a small platform on the helm guard. I single hand almost exclusively and it is really handy to be able to rotate the panel such that I can observe and interact with instruments (plotter, wind, Autopilot) from all angles in the cockpit. I have had this set up for years and thousands of miles and am really happy with it. The i70 instruments also allow me to see depth, speed, etc.etc. So everything is at my fingertips and observable from anywhere in the cockpit. The problem is the rotating panel is based upon the very cool A51D tilting and rotating cradle which came with the plotter.

All the modern Ray plotters have a single vertical axis cradle and do not rotate in the horizontal plane. I can fix the rotation problem but I won't be able to replicate the panel with the two additional i70 instruments.

So a question for modern Ray plotter users. Assuming you have enough screen real estate, is it possible to display full AP and Wind data in "windows" on the plotter? If so, I could remove the i70s and use the plotter exclusively ( I think). The other "must have" would be a hybrid control capability i.e. buttons, knobs or whatever which would allow management of the plotter without depending on the touch screen. Assuming yes to this, what size screen is necessary to make this practical? I sail a little Freedom 30 so 12 inches of screen would probably be the largest I could accommodate. I could probably go bigger but I don't want the boat to look like a jumbotron.

I reached out to the GPS store where I purchase all my Ray stuff but they were pretty clueless on this topic (surprisingly) so I thought I would try asking you all for some feedback.

Contact Raymarines Texh support with your questions. I have had amazing support from them in Australia. The Sydney guys in particular. So much so I wouldn't buy anything else.