Sailboat Electronics: Raymarine, Simrad, B&G, Garmin, Other

woodster · Jun 13, 2015

Re: Sailboat Electronics: Raymarine, Simrad, B&G, Garmin, Ot

make sure whatever you get that you get a hard wired system no bluetooth as they are not as reliable as hard wired

Meriachee · Jun 13, 2015

Re: Sailboat Electronics: Raymarine, Simrad, B&G, Garmin, Ot

Quite impressed with the features of the Ray stuff, using Navionics+ charts and it seems to work well. The upgrade process, when the daily firmware is released, not so much.

chuckwayne · Jun 13, 2015

Re: Sailboat Electronics: Raymarine, Simrad, B&G, Garmin, Ot

The B&G/Simrad gear is fantastic - excellent performance and features and a lot of capability tailored for sailboats. The broadband radar is unmatched by anything else on the market. You can see very fine detail right in front of the boat - we can see lobster pots in the water here in Maine. In addition, the power usage of the gear is much lower than the competition

CarlN · Jun 13, 2015

Feature wise, they are all light years ahead of 5-10 years ago. I really don't think you can make a mistake.

But in my opinion, ease of use has gotten worse as the manufacturers have added features. Definitely go to a boat show and spend an hour using each MFD you're considering. If you would need a manual at your side, that's strike one and strike two.

Also have your spouse do the same thing. I was OK with several of the brands but my wife found the Garmin much more intuitive -- so that's what we got because she's at the helm a lot.

Finally, I find more and more cruisers are using an Ipad and a MFD. The MFD is used for by the helms person - it's zoomed in fairly close in and may have a route going. The Ipad is being used by a 2nd person to look farther ahead, find the night's anchorage, and to keep an eye on the course without hovering over the helmsman trying to see the MFD. Several Ipad apps also run Active Captain which is invaluable in strange waters.

An Ipad (especially the mini) is much cheaper than a 2nd MFD and less trouble than a notebook. I think all major manufacturers also now offer a wifi connection that let's you see and control the MFD from an Ipad. Ours works great.

We didn't even bother with a waterproof cover for the Ipad as it's used on the chart table below except when motoring in good weather - just like a paper chart.

Carl

CarlN · Jun 13, 2015

Look very carefully at the charts. They are quite different and you may have a personal preference about detail and legibility.

The Panbo site has some excellent pictures of the different charts. Make sure you understand how text is displayed differently in vector and raster charts. I don't like raster charts when I'm steering as I much prefer "Head up" mode on the MFD.

Carl

Bill Roosa · Jun 14, 2015

Re: Sailboat Electronics: Raymarine, Simrad, B&G, Garmin, Ot

Stick with one manufacturer, try and use NMEA 2000 (Ray Seatalk HS is a superset of NMEA 2000 BTW, plug and play with other stuff that is 2000 compatible)
Check the charts as some are proprietary and you have to go to the manufacturer (or his suppler) and updates can get expensive.
boat shows are a good place to start.

sailaway78 · Jun 14, 2015

My only experience

My experience is limited to Ray and Garmin. While Ray works as good as Garmin, I have found Garmin to be much more user friendly.

JamesG161 · Jun 14, 2015

I recently upgraded my Raymarine 1998 to 2015. I didn't look at others since all but the radar (old was analog, new digital) was upgradeable.

All control/instrumentation are "hard wired" to separate 12VDC (power) and a ethernet cable (communication/control). The communication cable runs NMEA 2000 protocol which means they can be compatible with other non-Raymarine devices.

There is a WiFi network and Bluetooth, not for normal control, but remote apps to do 2015 things using iPad, iPod, iPhone stuff (check their web site for all other copy cat devices). Their 9" MFD (Mulit Funtion Display) is an exact match for my iPad and allows a WiFi remote to be at my Nav Table below for additonal cost. I use the Blue tooth to control my iPhone Music volume from the Helm.

So....

Bluetooth/WiFi is for remote monitor normally and iPad can be used for remote Control, if you wish, but it is NOT normal control.

I suggest looking at brand names website for all the Accessories that can be added to your new system and step into the "2015" way of control and call each dealer for a quote and analysis.

I was impressed with 2 key things with Raymarine.
1) 3 year parts and labor world wide warranty
2) Compatibility with the new Marine standards.

This is not a Raymarine ad, but my experience.
Jim...

PS: i continue to be "mouth dropping" amazed and I am just seeing the tip of the iceberg after 2 months.

JamesG161 · Jun 14, 2015

exact match for my iPad and allows a WiFi remote to be at my Nav Table below for additonal cost

in my post should be corrected.

Since I owned a iPad already, there was NO additional cost to me. Also since the "Admiral" also owns her own iPad and a second remote monitor or control station. Raymarine has 3 apps for free.

Attached is Captain iPad at the Helm of my boat using my iPad and auto pilot.
Good luck...
Jim...

Paul Mermelstein · Jun 14, 2015

Re: Sailboat Electronics: Raymarine, Simrad, B&G, Garmin, Ot

I don't believe statements that one brand is superior or better than the others. They are all pretty much the same in reliability, functions, and features since they are all in the same competitive market. When one comes out with a feature, they all play catch up to remain competitive.

They do differ, however, in HOW they implement the features and functions, and that is largely a personal preference issue. Intuitiveness and usability are in the eye of the beholder. Do you like their particular menu system? Do you like how they implement touch screen commands? Do you like the controls? So, like others have said, go to a boat show, West Marine, and other places where you can get some hands on experience and see what you personally prefer. There is no one universal answer; only one answer for you personally.

ALNims · Jun 14, 2015

Bill Roosa said:
Stick with one manufacturer, try and use NMEA 2000 (Ray Seatalk HS is a superset of NMEA 2000 BTW, plug and play with other stuff that is 2000 compatible)
Check the charts as some are proprietary and you have to go to the manufacturer (or his suppler) and updates can get expensive.
boat shows are a good place to start.

This is great advice.

JTulls · Jun 14, 2015

B&G makes some nice kit that let's you integrate in with other instruments (great for racing) and also gives you a lot data in addition to just the charts. I've raced offshore on a few boats with them and I find them really nice -- I think the Vulcan is the low level option and the Zues is the next step up, but I could be wrong with that. Another good choice is Raymarine. I find their interface is pretty easy to figure out. I also heard Navionics reintroduced the plotter sync option, so you can transfer routes/waypoints wirelessly between the app and the charts which is a nice feature if you have the Navionics app. Whatever unit you end up with, make sure you explore all of the chart options available since that will be one of the most important things in the long run!

chuckwayne · Jun 14, 2015

Re: Sailboat Electronics: Raymarine, Simrad, B&G, Garmin, Ot

nope to both - one of the unique features of the Navico broadband radar is the ability to see very fine detail very close to the boat - there's no "main bang" dead zone while the radar switches between transmit and receive because the radar uses 2 separate antennae. It's as close to an F-16 fire control radar as you can get as a civilian. The broadband radar is so precise you can use it to navigate into a crowded marina, seeing pilings and vacant slips

chuckwayne · Jun 14, 2015

Re: Sailboat Electronics: Raymarine, Simrad, B&G, Garmin, Ot

Also, Navico uses standard NMEA 2000 protocols and connectors and pays a lot of attention to maintaining compatibility between generations of equuipment

FastOlson · Jun 14, 2015

Re: Sailboat Electronics: Raymarine, Simrad, B&G, Garmin, Ot

We are very happy with the ease-of-use in our two year old Lowrance touch screen 9" plotter combined with their hi rez radar.
I just added their vhf with AIS to it --- same bus.

One thing that no one has mentioned so far is compatibility with the usual sailboat mounting scheme with the main instrument mounted on the guard right above the ship's compass.
Any of them with a strong perm. magnet chart chip door are disqualified for use on most boats. (full page full bleed color ads using pretty girls and conveying "dominance" of the seas, to the contrary...)

Our local electronics dealer let me trial fit several models and all of them moved the compass except the Lowrance with a friction-closure chip door.
While I fervently wish that the new radar could actually show a little crab pot buoy in the ocean... no luck! Still, the target resolution is much much better than our former top-rated Furuno conventional radar.

(Other trivia that I believe to be true: all of the B&G stuff, like Simrad, Lowrance, and Navico, uses the same network. That helped us when we recently bought a new VHF and the Simrad radio had a matching wireless remote mic and the same radio from Lowrance did not.)

The ability to chose to display full charting, split screen with chart and radar side by side, or overlay them is waaaay cool.
!!!

We had a fairly windy trip down the coast last summer and this combo brought us into Grays Harbor @ one am, pitch black, with the main inner ATN off line, with 24 kts true NW wind, and 4' seas smacking us on the port bow for a rather "tense" approach. (!)

And yup, having read all of the 'net questions about getting different instrument networks to talk to each other with various black box solutions, I would also say stick with one brand. Matter of fact, our older and reliable Raymarine Seatalk instruments talk only to each other and tell us true and apparent wind, that's all I need from them!

Cheers,
Loren

Mystiko · Jun 15, 2015

Electronics

We have a Marine Electronics division in our firm and offer these services to our customers. We always first recommend either B&G or Simrad. Both are very similar with B&G having some additional software capabilities. This is the first equipment we recommend...not that we are "delaers" we can and do purchase all major brands but prefer the Navico line including the lower end value items from Lowrance with work on the same network with Simrad or B&G. Yes those may cost a little more but well worth the piece of mind. I personally have all three brands on my boat, mostly Simrad, a few B&G and one Lowrance and I am in the business. Durable, easy to use and set up. Simrad makes the best auto-pilot system hands down and then build your system and N2K network around that. Jeff in Miami, FL

Bkrisko1 · Jun 15, 2015

Re: Sailboat Electronics: Raymarine, Simrad, B&G, Garmin, Ot

I've been a marine electronics sales and install/repair technition for over 25 years, and I can say that Raymarine would be the last Mfg. I would choose to put on my boat! They may become better in the next few years, now that Simrad bought them, but right now I would highly recommend Garmin. Easiest to use, complete systems, and very reliable!

dc78212 · Jun 15, 2015

woodster said:
make sure whatever you get that you get a hard wired system no bluetooth as they are not as reliable as hard wired

This is good advice... everybody wants "wireless" for everything, but you have to think about how you are going to use the boat. If you are a habour to harbour sailor I wouldn't worry about it... but if you plan on crossing ocean(s), now or in the future, this may have to do with keeping you safe at sea at least, and I would hate to think my data is dependent on a Bluetooth connection that they can't even keep from dropping out from time to time on a cell phone yet...

Wireless on a boat? Nope - unless all you want it for is the "coolness" factor, then yeah WOW the other dock queens with your toys.

Garmin is known worldwide - service centers everywhere.
Raymarine - heard lots of good, and probably just as many bad about.
Simrad - Like my autopilot so far.

Yeah wiring is a big PITA... but use the correct wire, secure it (mine is all in looms) and you shouldn't have any issues. I avoid yards for that kind of work because they don't really care where or how they run it... If you insist on paying someone to run wire, I'll do it - $65 / hr.

Sailboat Electronics: Raymarine, Simrad, B&G, Garmin, Other

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SBO Weather and Forecasting Forum Jim & John

SBO Weather and Forecasting Forum Jim & John

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