Raymarine C-80 (old)

[Sandero]

Yesterday the C-80 did not get a fix... It has worked since 2004... so it's now 10 yrs old. It was fine for my needs and not being aware of all the new bells and whistles saw no need to upgrade. And I may not need those bells and whistles anyway.

I have an even older Horizon CP170 which works but is not an MFD.

Last year the Nasa AIS data stopped showing on the C-80. I attributed it to a broken connector which I meant to replace but it was a low priority. I have a 2kw radar scanner for the C-80 and I have yet to test that and see if it still works.

So now I am wondering if:

The software has been corrupted... it is a older version 4.26.
The antenna failed (checked the connections and they were fine)
I did not do a factory reset...I have to back up WPs before I attempt that.

Does it make sense to "repair" for example replace the GPS antenna...which I believe IS a GPS itself?

Or is it time to replace the MFD and radar? YIKES a new radar, MFD is pretty spendy. And while the old C-80 has been retired by Raymarine, it did what I needed and I would probably be fine getting it back up and running.

Any advice here on what I might do? I plan to call Ray Tech support and discuss the matter with them.

Thanks!

[ReneJK]

which GPS antenna do you have ?
I know the raystar 120 has a lithium battery that can die and may need to be replaced. this is not really a serviceable battery so the battery may need to be soldered off (solder wick etc)

Raystar 120 GPS lithium battery anyone replaced one?

[Pete7]

This is a picture of the underside of the circuit board of my Ray125 GPS antenna. I have replaced the battery twice now. It's a 10 minute job with some small screw drivers.

Pete

[ReneJK]

Do you know which CR number battery it is ? CRxxxx

[djmarchand]

I just went through this drill.

Turn on your chartplotter and look at the top of the GPS receiver. There is a little light. If it pulses red, that means it is essentially dead. If it pulses green that means it is trying to acquire satellites and even with a dead battery should acquire them within ten minutes. Once it acquires a fix, it turns solid green.

If you have a Raymarine tech shop in your area take the GPS to them. They can hook it up to a working chartplotter and see if it connects. But I think a blinking red light is a 99% sure indication that it is shot.

A replacement GPS is available. Raymarine doesn't make the 125 anymore. They make a model 130 but it has a new connector and new network protocols that won't work directly with your old C80. You have to also buy a converter kit. The GPS costs roughly $300 and the connector kit another $100.

David

[Pete7]

Originally Posted by ReneJK

Do you know which CR number battery it is ? CRxxxx

No and the spares are on board unfortunately. Something like Varta CR 2032.


Pete

[Sandero]

Ray tech told me the old GPS antenna died and I need the new one and converter kit... ordered. We see. Stay tuned.

[Cuttyhunk]

Originally Posted by Sandero

Ray tech told me the old GPS antenna died and I need the new one and converter kit... ordered. We see. Stay tuned.

That should work, and now you have an NMEA 2000 (Raymarine version) network! A very expensive one. I sold a lot of Ray 130s and conversion kits when I worked the electronics desk at a marine supply store. I'm glad my boat's 120 was replaced by the PO.

[Sandero]

Here's a strange twist.... new antenna/GPS did not arrive. I go out to the boat and turn the unit on.... 10 minutes it works! Next day... Sat AM we set off for a little outting... and again no FIX.... but wait a few minutes later YES it works... What's with that? Worked fine for 5 hrs... Now after dinner on the hook I fire it up...and waiting...no fix...

I restarted the GPS in the GPS menu and after a few minutes YES it did produce a fix!

ooops now it crashed...

rebooted and it works... very suspicious

[transmitterdan]

Sounds like loose wire or corroded connection. The internal GPS battery might be the problem.

[Pete7]

Originally Posted by transmitterdan

Sounds like loose wire or corroded connection. The internal GPS battery might be the problem.

Nah, it's the battery. It will take progressively longer each time to find itself as the battery slowly dies. Worst case took a couple of hours and at that point I started to investigate. I had a friend who worked at Raymarine UK at the time and they were baffled too.

We borrowed a spare 125 which showed the chart plotter was okay as it fired up and found itself straight away. At that point with nothing to loose we took the 125 apart and found the battery on the underside of the circuit board.

Pete

[Sandero]

So.... turn it on...no fix... go to GPS set up and no satellites are showing... restart GPS and in 30 seconds it works! Pulls in sats and produces a fix...

Is this software? Why do I have to manually "start" the GPS?

[transmitterdan]

The internal battery being dead means the GPS software has to do a "cold start" every time you turn it on. It doesn't know where it was when it powered down so it only knows it is somewhere on the planet. It takes a long time to figure that out and some older software from years ago fails a cold start sometimes. That's why they have the "restart" option in the software. Also, a weak battery may allow the memory to be corrupted such that the software incorrectly assumes it is on the the wrong side of the world and will never get a fix without a restart. Typically they will eventually do a self restart but you may not be patient enough to wait that long.

[Sandero]

So the battery is not replaceable? I should upgrade to the newer antenna/GPS? It will arrive this week.. so I can install it... and I suppose toss the other one out (120).

Thanks for the reply!

[transmitterdan]

I suspect the battery can be replaced. You could ask Raymarine as they have an excellent product support web site.