Alternative to Raymarine instruments

[claire]

Raymarine discontinued their ST60 instrument series and has not started shipping the new ST60 Plus series: everyone is waiting.

We need a complete new set of wind, speed and depth with transducers and repeater and cannot afford to wait indefinitely.

Any feedback on Navman instruments or other would be very welcome.

B&G also discontinued their line and started a new series with a single red (nasty looking) display: not very attractive

Navman prices are very good, at least 30% less than Raymarine. What about the quality and reliability?

Thanks,

[Ram]

hi Claire
I beleave Raymarine will be shipping the back ordered new gear series starting on the 17 of this month, thats what I was told, sooooooooo im waiting to!
Ram

[Alan Wheeler]

So far I am having a fantastic run with Navman. And personaly, I don't know of a better wind indicator display. I love the stuff. It was so easy to install and connect up and the ability to control everything is so simple. The interface and features are so inutitive. I picked them all up without even reading the book. I like that, I am a Kiwi Bloke after all. Instructions? I don't need no stinking instructions

[Weyalan]

The Nasa Clipper instruments look OK. I only have the GPS repeater so far, but hopefully, will end up with a full set eventually. Might be worth a look for you?

For an indication of price, try http://stores.ebay.com.au/Online-Marine-Mart

[crwber]

Hi Guys....first thread that i have read on this site....and thought i would give a few words on navman....Alan, i have a slight difference of opinion re Navman...they look pretty but there long term reliability is pretty poor. I can vouch for myself and two others whose instruments are pretty useless after 2-3 years...admittedly a lot of use in a climate that can be hot and humid through the summer...my vote..avoid them like the plague....ST60+ are the way to go....used a boat fitted with the tacktic system...i am sorely tempted but they are pricey

[Talbot]

Cant talk about the instruments, but have been very please with the performance of the 5500 plotter.

I have Silva data set as instruments - very cheep, and non nmea, but work fine together as a set, with VMG etc

[EngNate]

Nav Man stuff is worth the price, and exactly that. I've installed some & looked at others, it's not bad, but not intended for demanding usage over long term. Wait for the Raymarine; Try looking on ebay, there's a couple dealers selling old stock & refurb units. Going up the scale, look at Robertson/Simrad.

NEA

[claire]

thanks for all the inputs,we have ordered the Navman instruments as we can't wait for Raymarine.
Hopefully, it's going to last until the next lightning strike since the last one destroyed our old Raymarine wind indicator. I don't really think that one wind instrument resists lightning better than another one. But one is certainly cheaper to replace than the other one.
Regarding speed and depth, we are installing them as a duplicate of the old and still working Raymarine, in the second hull of our cat, to talk to the wind instrument.

Cheers,

[Alan Wheeler]

Interesting Crwbr, but I didn't think Navman has been around that many years. It used to be Standard Horizon and Navman brought the intrument side of them. Then they started designing and building their own stuff here in NZ. But they have only been doing that for maybe three years max. So surely any problems would have been under warranty.

EngNate, what do you mean it is not intended for demanding usage over long term? I would think Navman would take issue with such a comment. But have you personally found issue?

I have had mine for a year now, so I will keep you all posted if I have any issues.
For what it's worth, I have seen many problems with Raytheon. Silva is very expensive here in NZ. B&G I hoped have improved, but used to have a terrible track record. Can't comment on Simrad reliability, but I didn'tlike the display's personaly.

[southernman]

ok I'm a kiwi but I've got no bias. The navman stuff is pretty good but I have had a few problems with the 5500. The card reader f**ed out and would not read but Navman replaced without any questions at all. Raymarine stuff is ok also and we have a friend with a fully integrated Raymarine system that is pretty cool.

Out of interest most of the wind transducers are mad in the same factories anyhow. I know this for a fact as I'm the agent for some of this stuff here in NZ.

Be aware that a fair bit of the Raymarine stuff is cheaply produced in various countries around the world and their seems to be a fairly high failure rate but of course the cost of producing this stuff that replacements are always 'without question'

[claire]

We should arrive in NZ in 2 or 3 years and will let you know how the Navman instruments have performed.

[claire]

OK, we may not need to wait to get to NZ before telling you about our new instruments:

The wind indicator was not working out of the box! glad we tested it before installing the transducer on top of the mast!

It appears we cannot test the 3100 repeater with the 3100 multi (speed and depth) in sim mode, therefore, we have to go out and make real speed to test it: the first time out, we were focusing on testing the engines and had little bandwidth for the instruments, but the repeater was displaying less than half the speed on the multi.

Summary: out of 3 major data sets: wind, speed, depth, only the depth is working so far.....

[S/V Elusive]

The previous owner of my boat had such a mixed bag of instruments that I basically replaced everything (except the radar). I went with RayMarine (Raytheon). I've been very pleased with the units themselves, and the customer support I eventually figured out how to get (meet some RayMarine people at a boat show and don't leave without a business card!)- Kai can tell you that I seldom leave without what I want.

As for cost and reliability for units that might be built out of country - Try buying refurbished direct from RayMarine.

[Alan Wheeler]

Sorry to hear about the wind instrument. What was the problem?
Ummm, you do know you have to calibrate the speed instrument though don't you. Straight out of the box, they can be set to anything.

The most important issue however, which you are finding out about somewhat prematurely, is how is the back up service??? This is an important point as it is possible to have any make fail. And the first equal most important aspect of a make, is the back up. I hope it is good. I would expect imediate replacment, no questions asked.

Claire, do keep me posted. Seeing as Navman is made here, although recently was bought out by an American company, I may be able to contact the company and get them to comment here, or at least pass on any problems.

[claire]

Weels,

The problem is not the calibration of the speedo, it is that the repeater displays a different number than the speed/depth unit. I called tech support in the US, and they were very clear about the fact that the repeater should just repeat the data from the multi. Mine, out of the box, displays less than half the speed of the multi, while it displays the depth accurately.
As all the units are Navman, I connected the navbus wires together. So now, they are suggesting to try the NEMA interface instead
Sure, I can send it back... after it has been installed, and after another sea trial I have no time for, and less than a week from our planned departure....

I am awaiting my dealer's response, on Monday, about replacement of the wind system as a first priority. Will keep you posted.

Cheers,