Boat Electronics

[Tstar266]

My boat (Princess 266) has a Raymarine install which is some 15-20 years old and I'm planning to upgrade over time to bring things more up to date. Although the majority of cruising will be done on the broads I do plan to do some coastal work as I gain experience. The current set up includes the following:

2kw Radome

C70 Chartplotter

RC335 Chartplotter

ST60+ Depth (not working)

Autohelm speed log

The transducer is at fault on the depth log so its a lift out job to replace that, and my thinking was get the new bits installed at the same time.

I've been looking at some of the new Raymarine equipment but would like to know what others think of other brands such as Garmin  / Simrad?

Some of the questions I've been pondering on are...

Should I go for a multi instrument for speed/depth or are seperates the way to go? Could a MFD (multi function display) do this job on its own?

Which MFD do you choose assuming youre spending mid range money

How essential is radar for limited coastal cruising?

I'm not intending to end up with the starship enterprise as there isn't enough room at the helm, but I do want to make the right choices with the basics so that I can build on the system if required.

Thanks in advance for any help or guidance with this one :)

Matt

 

[LondonRascal]

Well I can only offer the opinion of myself Matt, but this is on the list for independence which has a mish mash of original SImrad equipment that is trying to work with Raymarine equipment and a lot of the stuff is ether broken (upper helm) or not in good enough shape to trust it alone.

Boat navigation and general electronics were for a long time vastly expensive stuff based over a Windows operating system on things you might well expect to find in an average laptop. It even came in the same old grey colour schemes Laptops of the day used.  Then Apple came out with the iPhone and iPad and people began to supplement their marine electronics with these and as time went on and as Apple improved the devices and developers made more and more powerful Apps  it made the expensive marine electronics seem archaic.

First it was touch screens, but people wanted ease of use and speed and so today while they cost relativity speaking the same, all the kit is so much improved and is so much more like using a tablet.  Now you won't go wrong with Garmin, Simrad or Raymarine they are all very good at what they do but it is how they do it and what they offer and because it is a costly experience I advice to get some hands on use with each manufactures kit to see how it performs

Personally I don't like Garmin because it is all touch screen based and a lot of the mapping and overlays is proprietary to Gamin - but they are simple and look very similar in look and use as a modern sat nav in a car. Raymarine has some good units out now too, but regardless of what people say in my experience they are not as fast to pan, zoom and use as the Simrad kit. The Simrad stuff may cost a bit more, but it has both touch and physical controls which is so much easier to use when you are in a rough sea than trying to keep your finger on a screen to move or select an item.

My idea is to have a central MFD on the lower helm and then a couple of small colour screens that can network to it and provide things from depth to speed to course etc. I then would use my iPad Pro as a secondary roaming screen that will tie in to the SIMNet system and allow me to have full control over the main MFD anywhere onboard - and with a suitable protective case also from the upper helm. I also recommended having things like an iPad because Garmin, Raymarine and Simrad all have Apps for these and these can act as great backups.

Have a look at You Tube for Simrad they have some great videos showing the power of their kit, as does Raymarine but not quite in the same way.

 

Raymarine:

Simrad:

Garmin v Simrad Routing:

 

[scaniaman]

Hy Tstar, welcome to the forum.  The best place to start would be to read  robins bloggs on independence & no doubt Robin will be along shortly. he`s the man for this

[scaniaman]

Oh bummer he beat me to it well done Robin.

[Smoggy]

Check how much coastal you think you will actually do before you take too much of robins advice, theres no point spending a fortune for the odd trip to southwold and robin loves his gadgets.

I'm sat at woodbridge after a foggy trip down with a 30 year old foruno radar and garmin 557xs plotter with no concerns.

Garmin are renowned for customer service, don't know about others.

 

[Tstar266]

Thanks for the info Robin, initially I had thought Raymarine all the way, but looking at the Simrad products I'm not so sure. I think I will try and find a dealer for each to have a proper look first.

There is such a wide range to choose from and I guess its down to cost / benefit at the end of they day.

I'll keep an eye on your blog to see how your updates are coming along and hopefully you don't mind the odd question along the way.

Nowt wrong with "if it aint broke dont fix it" Smoggy. 

[Baitrunner]

Also raymarine do a hybrid screen. Touchy screen and knobs and buttons to push. 

Also if your not one of the got to have the latest model you can get some decent second hand or refurbished kit. 

depends on depth of your pockets and need. My 15 yr old raymarine is fine. Got an updated map as well. 

In 6yrs never used the radar other than in broad daylight to see how good it was. I don't intend going out in fog or going round Britain. 

good luck whatever you choose. 

[NeilB]

Garmin have a remote you can use if you don't like the touchscreens, can also vouch for their customer service.

[Guest]

5 hours ago, Tstar266 said:

My boat (Princess 266) has a Raymarine install which is some 15-20 years old and I'm planning to upgrade over time to bring things more up to date. Although the majority of cruising will be done on the broads I do plan to do some coastal work as I gain experience. The current set up includes the following:

2kw Radome

C70 Chartplotter

RC335 Chartplotter

ST60+ Depth (not working)

Autohelm speed log

The transducer is at fault on the depth log so its a lift out job to replace that, and my thinking was get the new bits installed at the same time.

I've been looking at some of the new Raymarine equipment but would like to know what others think of other brands such as Garmin  / Simrad?

Some of the questions I've been pondering on are...

Should I go for a multi instrument for speed/depth or are seperates the way to go? Could a MFD (multi function display) do this job on its own?

Which MFD do you choose assuming youre spending mid range money

How essential is radar for limited coastal cruising?

I'm not intending to end up with the starship enterprise as there isn't enough room at the helm, but I do want to make the right choices with the basics so that I can build on the system if required.

Thanks in advance for any help or guidance with this one :)

Matt

 

An accurate depth finder is probably one of the most essential instruments so if it were me I'd get that fixed,

Then I'd go to sea few times gain experience of your boat and navigating with the existing instruments and paper charts a few times, that will put you in a much better position to decide what features you want when looking at the hundreds of options currently available with new equipment.

Personally I don't like touch screen, great when moored but in a rough sea can be difficult to use and as for radar when you really need one only a radar will do.

[Smoggy]

With my garmin I wanted a repeater screen so £60later and an android tablet gives full remote over wifi.

[Tstar266]

Thanks for all the feedback, I will let you know how I get on.


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