Where to find chart chips for Raymarine C80 (2005)

[OTWMedia]

Hi all!
I've searched a little here and have not found a good answer, I'm hoping someone can point me to the right place.
I'm in contract for a 2005 Jeanneau. It has a Raymarine C80 Nav system but as the boat is in Annapolis, the chart chip only has up to Cape May.
I'd need NE charts, but when I contacted Raymarine they told me to "Check eBay".
Are the chart chips backwards compatible? I see some online, but I don't understand the jargon and would rather not do trial and error, ordering multiple chips and returning ones that don't work.
Does anyone know what I should be looking for? With all the boats purchased and sold from the 90's and prior, I have to believe these chips are available somewhere.
Thanks!
Matt

[Sayluh]

Hi Matt,
Although it's not the reply you were asking for, the answer here is to not buy new charts for the system. They will be incredibly overpriced, hard to find, and most importantly, dangerously out of date, which defeats the entire point of digital chart plotters.

There are two solutions to this, for varying budgets. One is to buy a modern Chartplotter system which nowadays is really called an MFD (Multi Function Display) because of everything they can do. This is expensive, but an investment. Charts on these can be updated daily, online, at little cost compared to chips. The capabilities of the Axiom range from Raymarine for instance is impressive. If this is an option, then further research into brands and systems is definitely recommended.

The cheaper alternative, which is equally viable in your case, is to purchase a Navionics subscription on a handheld device like a phone or tablet. This will cost no more than 70$ a year and will give the most up-to-date and detailed charts possible.

If you have any questions, let me know.

Jake

[OTWMedia]

Thanks so much Jake, very much appreciated.
The more I look in to it, the more I think you're right!
We'll get a new one and make sure it has some up to date data.

All the best
Matt

[Sayluh]

Glad I'm able to help.

If you need details or suggestions for anything, feel free to message me.

[jdtcanuck]

Charts for the Raymarine C series classic can be purchased directly from the Navionics web site. The C series classic requires the charts to be in the Compact Flash (CF) format. Before upgrading my chart plotter I had a C series classic from 2006 and had no problem purchasing charts. There is also a discontinued SD to CF adapter that Raymarine sold which allowed the newer sd format chart cards to work but it is very difficult to find a used adapter.

On the Navionics chart compatibility page, the Raymarine CF charts are shown near the bottom of the compatibility list below the section for newer Raymarine plotters.

John

[pjShap]

Originally Posted by OTWMedia

Thanks so much Jake, very much appreciated.
The more I look in to it, the more I think you're right!
We'll get a new chart plotter and make sure it has some up to date data.

Another vote for upgrading the plotter. I had a C120, and it required the last firmware update to read current charts. It was quite a challenge getting the firmware updated, and then the unit died a year later.

[Dave Lochner]

A word of caution about upgrading the Chartplotter. The chart plotter will determine which radar you choose and which AP you choose, so choose carefully. Chartplotters are not cheap.

The best short term advice is to go with a tablet, IOS or Android and a spare battery pack. While others have recommended Navionics, Aquamaps is less expensive and every bit as good.

Get your boat home, get to know it, do the research on your electronics systems. Then invest. A year or two NMEA released the OneNet standard. New equipment that supports this standard should be coming out soon. OneNet is an ethernet standard that allows supports greater data rates than NMEA 0183 (ancient) or NMEA 2000 (just old).

[Scubaseas]

Club c- map. C- map.com

Pretty expensive though. I have a c80 and am relying more and more on open cpn on laptop and aqua maps ( for ICW) on my phone.

[Dave Lochner]

Originally Posted by Scubaseas

Club c- map. C- map.com

Pretty expensive though. I have a c80 and am relying more and more on open cpn on laptop and aqua maps ( for ICW) on my phone.

AquaMaps has a lot going for it. I used it extensively on the AICW. It also runs on the new M1 Mac Laptops. The one big drawback is the battery draw, after a couple of hours with the screen active, the batteries are drained and it is necessary to connect to a battery pack or have a USB charger on the boat's DC system.

[Rjt]

I’m still using a C80 (east coast of Australia) I can’t buy new Compact Flash charts, but I have a wide selection of used C series AND E series plotters that include newer charts. There are many available in the USA.
A used plotter is around AUD100 - 250 more than just the charts. So you get a spare plotter.
I’m not changing to the newer chart plotters for several reasons, but a big one is much of my existing system, including radar, would need replacing. Big dollars.
I’d also recommend a tablet based backup system.
You get updates and they’re good for route planning when you’re cruising,

[ggray]

Is this CMap?

I have a bunch of them, but they are 10-15 years old.

[skipgundlach]

I'm a bit confused by all this, as:

My C120 uses the same CF chip which the C80 uses.

The two chips I have are Northern Bahamas and East Coast US and Southern Bahamas and central/South America (away from the boat so not dead certain on those labels but it covers from the top of the US to the bottom of South America). The first card - CF/16XG - is described by a vendor:

"This card covers the entire US East Coast – Including Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket, Hudson River, Long Island Sound, Block Island, Delaware Bay, Chesapeake Bay, Northern Bahamas to Great Exuma Island, Cay Sal Bank, Florida Keys, Dry Tortugas, Fort Myers and Tampa Bay. Please see photos showing coverage areas to determine if this card is the correct card for your needs."

There are many available on eBay: https://www.ebay.com/p/1322785882 has the subject item with many others shown below.

The southern one is a Navionics CF/3XG Gold Central and South America. As we based out of Fort Pierce when we were doing the Bahamas, we could use that one, too; its description:

"This card covers a vast area from Southern California and the Channel Islands, Baja, Mexico, entire Caribbean, Venezuela, Cuba, entire Bahamas, southern Florida to Fort Pierce, Fort Myers and Bermuda, South America, Brazil, Argentina, Chile – From Trinidad and Tobago to Cape Horn to Isla Hanover, including Martin Vaz Island, Trindade Island, Atol das Rocas, Fernando de Noronha archipelago, Golf of San Matias, Golf of San Jorge, Bahia Grande, Strait of Magellan, Falkland islands, South Georgia, Panama, Cape Horn, Bahia Blanca including Colon archipelago and Cape Disappointment."

Thus, with two cards, you have the entirety of the US east coast and all of Mexico, Bahamas, Central and South America...

Hope that helped...

[Pizzazz]

I would just follow Raymarine's advice. Get the charts from eBay ($100) and also download the Navionics app for more updated charts on your tablet that you check before your journey. This is what most people do.

If you find yourself navigating treacherous waters often, then you may want to upgrade your chart plotter, it is safety vs. cost. The reason why CF charts are not sold anymore is that the market is niche and the old chart plotters do not have the horsepower (CPU) to display modern features such as 3D, photo overlay, etc.