New Wireless Radar from RAYMARINE

[Black Diamond]

Has anyone examined the pros and cons of the new QUANTUM wireless radar from Raymarine?

I'm willing to grant that one of the major impediments to people upgrading the radar on their boat is that it often requires a complete change of in-mast and thru-boat wiring, however some of the rationale for this still eludes me..

1. You still need to run power to the radome, and that is usually part of the same thick cable that feeds your existing radome, therefore you probably need to run a new wire anyway. Are you actually saving any effort?

2. While its probably a simpler connection to make (wireless interface to display devices) I worry about it during electrical storms and getting interfered with at just the wrong time (while you are getting tossed). I'm not sure how real this is, but....

Anyone have any thoughts on this?

Rick
S/V Black Diamond
Hylas 49-057
Portsmouth, RI

NEW Raymarine Quantum - CHIRP Pulse Compression Radar | Raymarine

[J Clark H356]

If you have to run wiring to power it up, I see no advantage. The primary device like a Chartplotter would be more reliable if connected direct. I guess the advantage would be that you could get a wireless signal on your other devices like IPad, IPhones, etc. however, the Raymarine system retransmits that information wirelessly anyway?


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[bstreep]

We bought one, haven't installed it yet.

Here's the advantage: 14 gauge wire for as long a run as you would like. That's all it takes. I'm sure you could piggyback on your old cable, if you wanted to.

So far, we've removed about 40 lbs of old wiring in our instrument replacement prep. It's insane how the technology changes are reflected in lower power draw and much smaller wiring. We really looked forward to getting rid of the old wiring.

BTW, you can wire it if you want. The new cable is a fraction of the size of the old.


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[Afrinus]

Originally Posted by bstreep

We bought one, haven't installed it yet.

Here's the advantage: 14 gauge wire for as long a run as you would like. That's all it takes. I'm sure you could piggyback on your old cable, if you wanted to.

So far, we've removed about 40 lbs of old wiring in our instrument replacement prep. It's insane how the technology changes are reflected in lower power draw and much smaller wiring. We really looked forward to getting rid of the old wiring.

BTW, you can wire it if you want. The new cable is a fraction of the size of the old.


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bstreep

I'm looking at acquiring radar as well. If i may ask, why this model and not something else?
Just the less complicated wiring?

Pete

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[bstreep]

Originally Posted by Afrinus

bstreep

I'm looking at acquiring radar as well. If i may ask, why this model and not something else?
Just the less complicated wiring?

Pete

Sent from my SM-T310 using Tapatalk

We looked at Garmin, Raymarine and B & G. We have experience with all 3. We have Nexus, now Garmin, wireless wind and depth. Our old wind/depth was B & G. Most of our existing equipment is Raymarine (radar, plotter, pilot).

When we bought the boat 8 years ago, we had some issues with a chartplotter. After that experience, we swore off of Raymarine. We love our Nexus wind/depth, but Garmin has done a really poor job of absorbing them. We had a failed mast top unit that took months and 3 shipments (all paid by credit card by us) to get it straight. It took a while for the returns to catch up, and it seems that there's really no one at Garmin that understands the Nexus stuff. What we had to go through reprogram our system was very, very technical. I think I wrote it up elsewhere. So our Garmin tech support experience wasn't very good.

When in the planning stages, we contacted Raymarine for advice. Their advice was PERFECT and timely. Called us back to clarify, gave us good options, etc. Very impressed with them. Their online Forum support was also excellent.

The Raymarine "solution" of radar, pilot, AIS, and 12" chartplotter was about $1500 less than B & G and Garmin. We are keeping our old pilot as a backup, so it did make the decision to stay with Raymarine easier, as did the wifi radar. And the tech support. So that's what we did. Once we get it all together, I'll update everyone. Right now we are in the "pulling the old crap out" mode.

[Hearts Content]

My understanding is that the wifi radar has half the range and cannot see weather. The latter being a deal breaker.

[bstreep]

Originally Posted by Hearts Content

My understanding is that the wifi radar has half the range and cannot see weather. The latter being a deal breaker.

Where did that come from? Any reference?

The range is 18 feet to 24nm, which is less than our 72 mile open array, but since it's mounted only 15 feet up, who cares? At 15 feet, the target has to exceed 250 feet in height to be seen at 24 miles. At 35 feet, the target has to exceed 190 feet.

Weather is one of the much touted improvements in this radar over magnetron radars. I'll let you know how well it works when we get it installed.

Here's the Raymarine info on it. Weather is clearly highlighted...

FLIR Announces Raymarine Quantumâ„¢ Wireless CHIRP Marine Radar

[Lantau]

We just got the Raymarine Quantum for our boat. It works great. I'm shocked at how sensitive it is; it detects mooring buoys, wood kayaks, etc. The wireless is just so much simpler. Yes, you have to run the power cable, but often the source of power is a lot nearer than the chart plotter (it is in our case), so not having to run the data cable makes installation much easier.

Here's a picture of the display (below) of our new Raymarine chart plotter showing one of the radar images. You can see more at our boat's website: https://pacificseacraft37.com/more-photos/

Our boat is for sale (a Pacific Seacraft 37), so if you buy the boat you get the radar for free ;-)

[Black Diamond]

True... the data cable is the thick, heavy beast...

[Perdiem]

I just started down the Raymarine road for electronics (a98 so far but will add an a75 - cheaper than one 12 inch screen - and then radar).

Does Raymarine have a history of bringing out a basic product and then improving it over the first couple of years? Will their Quantum radar get the features found on the other Broadband radars?
- dual range
- beam sharpening (effective 2.6 deg horiz beamwidth)
- 36 mile range
- target tracking (like the Furuno)

Many thanks,
Gregg

[Black Diamond]

It's not been my experience. Outside of firmware upgrades the basic functionality seems to stay the same and some new bus or series gets the good stuff

Rick
S/V Black Diamond
Hylas 49-057
Portsmouth, RI

[Black Diamond]

As an aside, 15 year old raymarine radar has target tracking via MARPA. I've had as many as 7 targets being tracked at the same time in busy waters. That's not new functionality

Rick
Hylas49-057
S/V Black Diamond
Portsmouth, RI


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[Matt Johnson]

Originally Posted by Perdiem

I just started down the Raymarine road for electronics (a98 so far but will add an a75 - cheaper than one 12 inch screen - and then radar).

Does Raymarine have a history of bringing out a basic product and then improving it over the first couple of years? Will their Quantum radar get the features found on the other Broadband radars?
- dual range
- beam sharpening (effective 2.6 deg horiz beamwidth)
- 36 mile range
- target tracking (like the Furuno)

Many thanks,
Gregg

The new Flir-Raymarine does an outstanding job of updating firmware on any of the their Lighthouse based equipment. It seems every time we reached a good internet signal, I was downloading a new update that added some feature. I was very happy with them.

I went with B&G on the new boat due to cost. They were deeply discounting their older equipment, and it was much cheaper than Raymarine.

Matt

[Valmika]

I know this is a thread from last year but do any of you have an update on the wireless radar? It seems a few of you were almost finished with the install but hadn't yet used it. I only read one review for it and it was on the west marine site. They had problems. Its almost time to pull the trigger on this. I have a new c97 with lighthouse already. Which radome is the better one for more detail?

[bstreep]

We've had our Raymarine wireless radar installed for almost a year. Works perfectly.