Raymarine autopilot Evo 100 and Axiom 7

RAD88

RAD88

.
Dec 15, 2008
163
Hunter 30 Glen Cove, NY
Hi - i am looking to upgrade my autopilot and chart plotter and was looking at Raymarine.
This is for a 30 ft sailboat. Am I on the right track? Is the Axiom 7 an easy to use chartplotter with a bright screen?
Is there other manufacturers I should be checking out?
 
jviss

jviss

.
Feb 5, 2004
7,089
Tartan 3800 20 Westport, MA
Do you want to replace the autopilot, too? There isn't any viable wheel pilot alternative. Belowdecks is better, but much more expensive.

For chartplotters, it's pretty much down to Raymarine, B&G, and Garmin.

I am experienced with the first two, only, but not the Axiom; I had the e7 and before that an ancient 425. I liked the e7 and didn't experience any of the problems people have reported.

I like the B&G. I have the Zeus2 9" and 7" displays. Everything is networked, including the Simrad AC42 course computer w/AP24 AP control heads, Raymarine Winds/Speed/Depth, Vesper AIS, etc. These days you should be able to network everything. The B&G are easy to read, easy to use. Has a zoom knob and touch screen, but lacks a joystick. Nice sailing features, too.
 
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Davidasailor26

Davidasailor26

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May 17, 2004
5,544
Beneteau Oceanis 37 Havre de Grace
I agree wit jviss that B&G isn't a bad choice. Although I'd recommend the newer Zeus3, which is a bit faster, and does have a directional button pad in case you can't use the touch screen.

Do you have any other components on the network? It's best to stay within a vendor if possible, although NMEA 2000 provides some flexibility.
 
Sailavie1

Sailavie1

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Oct 31, 2012
465
Hunter 2008 H25 Lake Wabamun
I have the Ev100 and axiom 7 networked with the i70 wind instrument. All works great together and the screen visibility is very good. Love these when sailing solo. Typically I have noticed that Raymarine systems tend to go on sale more often so you may want to keep a lookout for that
 
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Ward H

Ward H

.
Nov 7, 2011
3,774
Catalina 30 Mk II Cedar Creek, Bayville NJ
This past spring I installed the Axiom 7 and EV-100 wheel pilot. I found the Axiom to be user friendly. With the EV-100 on the same Seatalkng network you can control the wheel pilot with the Axiom.
I also installed an i70S (replaces the i70) and iTC5. This allows you to use existing depth sounder, speed transducer and wind transducer if you have one. The i70S is needed to set up and calibrate the transducers via the iTC5. Then you can use the i70S to display the depth, speed and wind data AND also display it on the Axiom.
As @Sailavie1 said, the Axiom screen has great visibility.

PS: In order to update Raymarine products like the EV-100 and i70S, you need the Axiom chart plotter so it does make sense to stay with the same vender.
 
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BarryL

BarryL

.
May 21, 2004
1,057
Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 409 Mt. Sinai, NY
Hey,

You have received good advice so far. A few additional comments regarding going with 1 vendor or going with multiple vendors.

If you have a raymarine autopilot AND a raymarine plotter you can:
-Control the pilot from the plotter as well as the pilot control head.
-Easily upgrade the plotter firmware.
-Stay with all SeatalkNG cableing and connectors

If you have a raymarine autopilot and a different manufacturer for the plotter:
-You can pick the plotter that works best for you. Personally I like B&G over Raymarine for the sailing specific functions.
-Both pilot and plotter can easily share data such as routes, waypoints, boat speed, depth, etc.
-you can only control the pilot by using the control head.

Barry
 
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