Hi everyone,
Our
boat has a
Raymarine RL70 Plus, monochrome
chartplotter. Compared to the
Raytheon version, the Plus series has additional CPU and memory, HSB2 interface, MARPA, and supports the CMAP-NT+
charts. I have
current CMAP-NT+
charts for our sailing area. Overall, I've been happy with the RL70Plus (even though B/W).
We've wanted to upgrade to a color display without spending big bucks and replacing the
radar,
GPS, etc. I picked up a ~2001 color
Raytheon RL70C color
chartplotter for a reasonable
price (I have the option to return). This is the Raytheon, pre
Raymarine version.
In comparing the RL70 Plus to the RL70C, the RL70C has trouble displaying zoomed-in chart detail, say at 1/2 or 1/4 mile. Sometimes the chart is not shown, and if you pan around, the chart appears. Other areas can zoom in to 1/8 mile. Obviously it can't load the higher level detail - possibly due to limited memory. I have reset the unit and turned off plotter mode, as suggested on the Raymarine
forums - this helped, but not always.
MARPA is one of those features we use, especially when crossing the
shipping lanes. I think I'd miss that, especially since
AIS doesn't show on this era
screen. The uncertainty of the chart display is my main concern.
HSB vs. HSB2 is not a concern - I can't
fish the HSB/HSB2 cable to the nav-station, so I'm not networking the displays.
At one point Raymarine offered an upgrade to the Plus series. I'm not even sure if this is still an available option or worth the cost.
What do you think? It is a bit of
work to remove my monochrome chartplotter from my nav-station and I'd rather not go through this if I'm not going to be happy with the older color unit. Are there any other upgrade options (e.g., memory)?
Should I keep it, or return and keep looking for a color RL70C Plus?
As usual, I appreciate everyone's input,
Don