Quality of newer Raymarine chartplotters?

[Beausoleil]

We're looking at replacing our old E120 Classic with a new chartplotter. Currently I'm evaluating the new e125/127 and a Simrad NSS- or NSE-12. We have Raymarine DSM300 sounder as well.

There seem to have been lot's of problems with the classic E-series, so I'm not sure about the replacement e-series. Any comments regarding the build quality of the new FLIR/Raymarine vs. Simrad?

We have no current N2K gear, and the original Seatalk stuff can easily be converted to NMEA-0183 by our ST-60+ graphic repeater, so that's a non-issue.

[Matt Johnson]

I have the C95.. not touch screen, but uses the new Lighthouse interface. The setup is nice, but have had it freeze and restart five times. Two times it did this at night while I using radar to figure if I'm crossing on a vessel. Wasnt good timing, and it took about 5-10 minutes to get a GPS lock after restarting.

[MANUIWA]

Just bought a ramarine e7touchscreen chartplotter a few months ago to replace our e120classic. The touchscreen is very responsive and the wifi system can intergrate/ connect to android and apple devices; such as iphones and ipads.
All the best on your search.

[Beausoleil]

Well, the E120 was known for flickering display (mostly at night) and crashing (again, mostly at night). People say it's because of power issues, but it's happened both with and without the alternator charging.

And now the display is no longer readable in daylight.

[svpattyd]

We just installed the Simrad Nse 8. Not a touch screen. When sailing with our touch screen last winter, I had to remove my gloves to navigate. The Simrad is easy to operate.

[Bash]

Originally Posted by svpattyd

When sailing with our touch screen last winter, I had to remove my gloves to navigate. The Simrad is easy to operate.

North Face makes gloves with what they call E-tip technology. They work with touch screens. I was given a pair last Christmas, and they really do work.

[44'cruisingcat]

I have newly installed an NSS12 touch screen. I'd much rather there was another way to move the cursor. I hate dirty smudges on screens! I find placing a waypoint accurately in a moving boat can be tricky.

Also I find the Navionics charts to be inferior to the C-Map ones. Similar price (Navionics gold), but far less information.

Dissapointed too that the NSS only has one card slot. And WHY use those fiddly little micro SD cards?

Another minor annoyance was that even with it's $3500 price tag, you still need to buy another $50 cable to connect it to Simnet.

The NSS has a built-in GPS receiver, works very well on my boat, but might require an external antenna on other (ie metal) boats.

As far as I can work out, it won't communicate with third-party AIS receivers. It will only transmit and receive NMEA 0183 data at the same baud rate, but (AFAIK) most AIS units receive data at 4800 baud, and transmit at 32400 baud.

It does interface very well with my Simrad autopilot though, and has some nice features for sailing.

[CAELESTIS]

Call Ray customer service and you will be on hold until your cell battery is dead. I sent them an email with a question and got a form style response 5 days later.

Simrad or B&G Zeus is next for me.

[xymotic]

Originally Posted by 44'cruisingcat

I have newly installed an NSS12 touch screen. I'd much rather there was another way to move the cursor. I hate dirty smudges on screens! I find placing a waypoint accurately in a moving boat can be tricky.

Also I find the Navionics charts to be inferior to the C-Map ones. Similar price (Navionics gold), but far less information.

Dissapointed too that the NSS only has one card slot. And WHY use those fiddly little micro SD cards?

Another minor annoyance was that even with it's $3500 price tag, you still need to buy another $50 cable to connect it to Simnet.

The NSS has a built-in GPS receiver, works very well on my boat, but might require an external antenna on other (ie metal) boats.

As far as I can work out, it won't communicate with third-party AIS receivers. It will only transmit and receive NMEA 0183 data at the same baud rate, but (AFAIK) most AIS units receive data at 4800 baud, and transmit at 32400 baud.

It does interface very well with my Simrad autopilot though, and has some nice features for sailing.

Em-trak AIS has NMEA 2000 and works great with the simrad stuff.

[Roy M]

I have an E120 system with all the bells and whistles. I'm also a Raymarine certified installer. I am going to keep my my system as a spare. My primary system will be the Simrad NSS 12, with 4G radar and all the other bells and whistles. The NSS uses BOTH touch screen and buttons/dials. It's the best compromise currently on the market. It should last a long time for my intended needs.

[44'cruisingcat]

Moving the cursor, positioning waypoints, scrolling the screen, even entering waypoint names - all rely entirley on using the touch screen. Or at least that's all I can find in the manual. (Which also isn't as comprehensive as it should be for such an expensive plotter IMO)

[44'cruisingcat]

Originally Posted by xymotic

Em-trak AIS has NMEA 2000 and works great with the simrad stuff.

Thanks, I'll look into it. Bit annoyed at having to get rid of the current one, which worked perfectly with the old plotter though.

[TheOffice]

I have an E7, Airmar Triducer and X5 all using NMEA 2000. No problems after the initial install. Ray support has had me on hold for no more than 10 minutes. You can also get answers through Facebook faster than the website.

[MARC D]

Originally Posted by Beausoleil

Well, the E120 was known for flickering display (mostly at night) and crashing (again, mostly at night). People say it's because of power issues, but it's happened both with and without the alternator charging.

And now the display is no longer readable in daylight.

AH!! Exactly what just happened to us. CCFL PC board kaput. Would like to repair it. Anyone ever did that?? I've been told parts are no longer available from Raymarine for E-Series. Already too old (2009). I am trying to find another source for parts but no success so far.

Marc

[colemj]

I think Raymarine has a fixed-price service on these. A friend just sent his E120 back after a lightning strike took out the Seatalk board on it and Raymarine fixed it for ~$300, which is the fixed price for repairing anything wrong with that model (other models will be different prices).

Mark