What would you do?

[pumpkinpie]

My electronics are 10 years old.

Would you replace the electronics such as Chart Plotter, AutoPilot, WindSpeed, Depth etc etc.

Or would you keep your RayMarine... and just change out the Chart Plotter with a more advanced system such as RayMarine Chart Plotter touch screen?

I'm looking at Garmin and B&G... I also need Radar!

 

[Paul Mermelstein]

I went through this a couple of years ago. I replaced almost everything BUT if all your stuff works and you only want to be more up to date, then just get a chartplotter/radar combination. You can stick with Raymarine or go to another brand. Everything will work together, but you will need to understand the proprietary connectors each brand has and use adapter cables. That said, most likely you can connect the autopilot to the chartplotter via NMEA0183 (make sure the new chartplotter supports it, not just NMEA2000). If you stick with Raymarine, you can use their adapter to link SeaTalk (the one you have now) with SeaTalk ng (the new version). Not hard, but you need to study a bit.

 

[DougM]

I replaced my Raymarine chartplotter last year with a new Raymarine and added a Quantum radar. Installed with a new backbone and junction block to integrate old seatalk to seatalk ng. All of my ST60 instruments and autopilot communicate. No particular problems.

 

[dlochner]

You didn't mention an autopilot.

The wind, depth, and speed instruments will work with any MFD although cable adapters maybe needed to mate different brands.

The radar and MFD will need to be from the same company because the radar protocols are proprietary. That will be one determining factor. Take a look at the Raymarine and B&G/Navico radars and the features of each radar and MFD. The Navico Halo radar looks interesting. I have the B&G 4G radar and Zeus2 plotter and have been pleased with it.

The autopilot could be an issue. If you have a Raymarine AP computer, I"m not sure how it will integrate with B&G. The AP drive unit will probably work regardless of controller brand.

Depending on which transducers you have it may be possible to change out the displays without changing the transducers. Airmar makes almost all of the depth/speed/temperature transducers.

In the end it is about features and money. If money isn't a big factor then buy the features/brand you want and change everything, displays, MFD, radar, and AP computer.

 

[Terry Cox]

Our 1991 P42 came with all Autohelm (now Raymarine) electronics (wind/angle, speed, depth) including a 6000/7000 autopilot. Added a Garmin 178C Sounder chartplotter in 2005. All still doing their job and no plans to upgrade. No need for radar, AIS, etc., etc., etc. Now accepting donations for future upgrades. Thank you in advance for your support.

 

[jssailem]

@pumpkinpie You mention Radar at the end of your query.

I suggest you reverse this and look at it as the driving force in your decision.

There are a number of innovations and certainly it is clever to have the radar available on your plotter, but if you are going to be cruising a lot in weather reduced visibility you may want to have the radar a separate unit and the signal repeated on the MFD plotter. This way if the plotter goes gunny bag (and occasionally they do), you still have available radar information available. This supports having a common manufacture for the hardware.

In reviewing the radar systems look at the way you interface with the system. How the data is presented. How you change the gain or color. What data is presented. How many menu choices you have to go through to get the information you seek. At a recent class the instructor suggested a preference for the Simrad data displayed over the RayMarine. He had used RayMarine for years in the foul weather we enjoy in the PacificNW. We looked at the way the data shows movement of the returns (how the reflected images of targets are displayed by the radar). How the systems interpret movement and help filter the information.

Radar is nothing without an easy way to interpret the information you are receiving. For many sailors, they are just fuzzy green dots on a "real old" tv like screen. Take the time to look at real operating systems not just the "demo" images provided in a store.

Once you decide and install a system, you need to use it a lot so that you can understand the information displayed. You need to use it is clear bright sunshine when you can see the image on the screen then see it on the water around you. Only then can you build some reliability about your interpretations of the fuzzy green dots.