Alternatives to Certain Maretron Gear?

[arisatx]

Originally Posted by delmarrey

On another note, I've found the some of the cable fittings are a little off from different manufacturers. I used some Maretron end fittings on a Garmin unite and found them to be a bit tight getting them on.

Also some of the after market cables are not color coded the same as Maretron.

I think Maretron's physical cabling / fittings are pretty robust!

[arisatx]

Originally Posted by Sir Rondo Normal

I am completely unhappy with my Maretron gear. Mostly because of the dealer, although Maretron did nothing to try to alleviate the situation and left me hanging out to dry. Over a year has past since my installation of the wso 100 and the dst 150, I was assured by the dealer that the N2K View software was compatible with Mac OSX. It is not! So I use my chartplotter software (MacENC) which can only interpret some of the data that the wso 100 will deliver. Also, my dst 150 quite often sends the wrong depth.
Maretron suggests, using their free N2K Analyzer to view the raw data as an alternative. It is not compatible with Mac OSX either. They just don't get it.

Sir R N:

I have a mac book pro. Why don't you try running Bootcamp to create a Windows partition so you can run Maretron's excellent N2KAnalyzer etc?

I am typing this post on my MBPr running Windows 7.

[Sir Rondo Normal]

Ya actually I have been there, done that. The Mac vs Windows thing is really besides the point. There are other ways around it as well, such as Wine, Parallels, etc.. They are viable alternatives but essentially, I left Windows and crossed over to the better side and ultimately I don't want to go back.
I do have a working system and can use my boat. However for the amount of money I paid and the promises that were broken, I am an unhappy camper and if it weren't so much money, I would rip the maretron gear out of my boat and find a more reliable alternative.
Maretron has held firm and so will I. I will not buy one more piece of their equipment and eventually I will find a way to utilize what I have to its full extent. Their loss because otherwise I would be buying all those other very expensive units to expand my system. They don't get that though.
At least now every time someone asks me about that cool looking weather station at the top of my mast I can launch into my anti-maretron rant.

[colemj]

Sir R N,

Your desire is rather unconventional - you want to use a $1,000 piece of software just to view wind and depth/speed data? That software is generally used in a client/server system on glass bridges to monitor multiple engines and engine rooms, cabin temperatures, bilge pumps, etc.

Most small boats simply use a small MFD like the B&G Triton or Raymarine i70 to view simple instrument data. Also, lots of computer and tablet apps can present these data.

However, whatever your desire, it sounds like it isn't working for you. The Maretron does list that software as working on Mac, and at one time I remember downloading it for my Mac just to take a look. Although I didn't have a license for it, it did run in demo mode using simulated data. They also have an iPad version, if you want to run it on a tablet.

The DST transducer is made by Airmar - Maretron simply rebrands and resells it like many other companies do. This particular transducer has been problematic for many, regardless of which manufacturer it was bought from. However, since Maretron sold it, it is their problem to fix.

Mark

[Sir Rondo Normal]

[QUOTE=colemj;1842551]Sir R N,

No I don't want to view JUST wind/depth, I would also like to see all the other data that the two of them can deliver. Plus, like I said, I would have kept adding to the system. Now I won't because of the way they've treated me.

Yes you are right, the N2K View does work on a Mac, It was the USB100 gateway that won't work with a Mac. The alternative is the IPG100 (twice the price).
So the dealer suggested to take back the USB100 and give me an Actisense NGT-1 gateway. So that is what we did.

The N2K View will work on a Mac, the problem is that the dealer said that the app was free. Only after having downloaded and installed the app did I find out that their is a large license fee.

At that point I'd had enough and contacted Maretron but to no avail.

[colemj]

[QUOTE=Sir Rondo Normal;1842682]

Originally Posted by colemj

Sir R N,

No I don't want to view JUST wind/depth, I would also like to see all the other data that the two of them can deliver. Plus, like I said, I would have kept adding to the system. Now I won't because of the way they've treated me.

Yes you are right, the N2K View does work on a Mac, It was the USB100 gateway that won't work with a Mac. The alternative is the IPG100 (twice the price).
So the dealer suggested to take back the USB100 and give me an Actisense NGT-1 gateway. So that is what we did.

The N2K View will work on a Mac, the problem is that the dealer said that the app was free. Only after having downloaded and installed the app did I find out that their is a large license fee.

At that point I'd had enough and contacted Maretron but to no avail.

Yes, I meant view all the data from just those two instruments. Our small Triton MFD does all of that, as does several inexpensive apps running on our iPad. There is only wind speed/direction, air temperature, humidity, depth, STW and water temp data available from those two instruments.

We have the USB100 gateway and it has no problem at all working on the Mac. Maybe the combination of N2Kview and USB100 is a problem on the Mac? That doesn't seem likely, but I don't have experience.

It seems like the dealer was the problem here and not Maretron. The largest and boldest font used on the Maretron N2Kview website is the $995 price right on the first page.

Mark

[Sir Rondo Normal]

Maretron | N2KView

No price!

Secondly, see my first post. I said the dealer was the problem but Maretron did nothing to alleviate the situation.

[colemj]

Originally Posted by Sir Rondo Normal

Maretron | N2KView

No price!

Secondly, see my first post. I said the dealer was the problem but Maretron did nothing to alleviate the situation.

???? When I click on your link, the very first "word" in the page that comes up in giant bold blue letters is: MSRP $995

I don't know what your dealings with the dealer and Maretron are, but if the dealer said that software was free and it is not, I wouldn't expect Maretron to give it to you for free. If the dealer told you that certain gear would work with the Mac and it doesn't, that also is not Maretron's problem unless they gave you that guidance, or state it in their literature. This sounds like a problem with the dealer to me.

The DST problem does sound like Maretron's responsibility.

Mark

[DeepFrz]

???? When I click on your link, the very first "word" in the page that comes up in giant bold blue letters is: MSRP $995

Mark, try clearing your buffers. It may have been there but isn't now. At least not on my FF/Win 7 system. Although its possible that AdBlock Plus is blocking it.

I disabled AB-P and rebooted FF. Still no price.

[colemj]

I cleared the caches and history and still see the price. AdBlock and Ghostery are running and I see it. I'm using Safari on a Mac, but just tried it in Chrome and it also appears (with AdBlock and Ghostery running).

Mark

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by Sir Rondo Normal

Maretron | N2KView

No price!

Secondly, see my first post. I said the dealer was the problem but Maretron did nothing to alleviate the situation.

The app for IPlod or Android is indeed free. But only to holders of a paid license to the regular version of N2KView. This information is pretty clearly shown in the Maretron website.

N2KView is very, very expensive software. As someone said -- mostly intended for glass bridges in big power boats, not for the likes of us

The programming required to make most of the functions -- all of the ones relevant to us -- work in OpenCPN would be very slight. I wish someone would do it.

Someone HAS done an instrument view for N2K -- forgot what it's called -- with some fantastic screens -- wind display better than the Zeus SailSteer, for example. It costs $99. Someone should try it.

Just for calibrating Maretron devices, you don't need N2KView. You can use a relatively inexpensive DSM150.

[Lake-Effect]

I'll bet that Maretron pricing thing is geography: they are only showing the list price to US ip addresses.

Sir RN, I'm not clear on what would be an acceptable solution for your situation (other than someone developing a Mac version of everything). What do you think could be done if Maretron and/or the dealer were willing?

[Sir Rondo Normal]

Originally Posted by colemj

I cleared the caches and history and still see the price. AdBlock and Ghostery are running and I see it. I'm using Safari on a Mac, but just tried it in Chrome and it also appears (with AdBlock and Ghostery running).

Mark

Interesting. Here is my screenshot of that page

Anyways, I don't know why you're focussing on that. I simply stated what happened to me, with the dealer and how Maretron didn't care to help. In fact they defended their dealer in spite of the experience he gave one of the their customers.

[colemj]

I think Lake-Effect nailed it - two of you in Canada see no price, while I am seeing a price in the US. For me, the price is in giant bold blue letters right next to that instrument graphic - where the big empty space is for you.

Maybe it is free for you Canadians!

Mark

[Sir Rondo Normal]

Originally Posted by Lake-Effect

I'll bet that Maretron pricing thing is geography: they are only showing the list price to US ip addresses.

Sir RN, I'm not clear on what would be an acceptable solution for your situation (other than someone developing a Mac version of everything). What do you think could be done if Maretron and/or the dealer were willing?

Yup the geography explains it.

What could have been done to keep a customer happy? Well for starters, caring enough about a lowly little customer to suggest some way of helping. I bought over $2000.00 worth of equipment on the recommendation of a salesman. He "designed" a system for my boat and assured me that it would meet my requirements. One of which is compatibility with Mac OSX.

As a last ditch effort they could have offered me a IPG100 for the price of a USB100 if I bought the N2K View application. They indicated no willingness to try to alleviate the situation. As far as I'm concerned the dealer should have stepped up to offer up a solution but obviously he didn't feel he had to when he had the Mfg'er backing him.

So to hell with the customer, we have your money now go away! That is their attitude and I would never recommend any of my friends buy anything from Maretron or especially Global Marine in Richmond, BC.