B&G vs Raymarine

[BigAl.NZ]

Originally Posted by donradcliffe

..... as the new Raymarine touch displays are useless outdoors....

Not sure which Raymarine touchscreen you are talking about, but I have the Axiom and a Axiom Pro. I am super happy with the touchscreen on the Pro, and even the one on the standard Axiom is pretty good.

Not much fun when it gets wet, but with the pro you can lock it and use the dial/joystick. Thoroughly recommend the pro model.

[BigAl.NZ]

Originally Posted by Salja03

AIS VHF with DSC transponder (I like the B&G model a lot, and haven't found similar units that meet it's specifications from other vendors - open to suggestions)
I will also connect to NMEA via laptop to run OpenCPN at the Nav station
Predict Wind (and will also be purchasing an Iridium Go in time).

I went Raymarine the whole hog. AP+Radar+Plotter+Instruments+Wind.

I am very happy with it, and the service over the phone has been excellent.

I have not had any failures and the gear is now about 3 years old.

The plotters I got was a mix of the Axiom and Axiom Pro - I definitely recommend the pro model (which has the buttons as well as touch screen). They have added a lot more sailing functions like auto tack and laylines in Lighthouse III - which is getting updates about every 2-3 months.

The only non Raymarine product I got was the AIS which is Vesper Watchmate and it also serves as a wireless gateway for my NMEA data to Open CPN etc. - there has been no integration issues with the other RM gear.

Thats been my experience. Can send you photos of the setup if you want.

[mikedefieslife]

Originally Posted by Suijin

I put all B&G/Simrad on my boat over the past few years. There were some teething pains, given that Navco was introducing new products across their subsidiary brands that were essentially variations on the same hardware with differences in software, but all have been sorted out.



Generally happy. Wind anemometer occasionally takes a dump now after its first hard squall. May have to replace it.



The UI is straightforward and easy to navigate. Displays are nice. Night mode charts are not all that readable in my opinion.



The big plus is that the "sail to wind" and tacking functions in Sail steer are fabulous. I have a wind vane but when I'm hard on the wind I punch in an apparent wind angle and the AP does a laudable job of helming. Exemely happy with it.



As a single hander on a cutter rig, the auto-tack feature is brilliant. You can set the number of seconds for the AP to complete the tack. I hit "tack" and set about bringing the jib across, then the stay sail, then bringing the traveller up and can completely ignore the helm. Just a great feature. Not sure if it's available on other brands, but the B&G implementation is impressive.



I've only called support once and the technician was knowledgeable and immediately helpful. MARPA was not working and the tech quickly figured out the problem. The radar interface box connects to the NMEA2000 backbone with a Simnet cable with it's proprietary plug at the box end. I put my own NMEA2000 field plug on a Simnet cable, and evidently the pinout is not the same as the standard. I was impressed that the tech figured it out within a matter of minutes just through a few questions.



On the flip side, I had a problem with the AP computer (which in fact turned out to be a faulty brand new breaker at the panel) as I was coming down the east coast of the US. Assuming I needed to exchange the brand new computer for a replacement under warranty I was startled to learn I would have to send it to California, from where it would be shipped to Mexico, then back to California, and then to me, with a minimum turnaround time of approx three weeks. Ridiculous.

This is an issue i have with the Raymarine AP. The tack feature is dog slow. It doesn’t turn the rudders hard over. There’s no method of changing it.

Also had the same issue getting marpa to work with my simrad 3g radar. Connect a simnet cable from the radar breakout box to the nmea2000 network and nada. No difference the thing still can’t see the compass/heading sensor.

I’d be keen to know what the pin out is then as I followed pin outs i found online. The only difference i remember between the aimnet and seatalkng cables was the white/yellow iirc.

[slug]

Originally Posted by donradcliffe

I deliver boats with all three systems. I am still looking for someone to come out with a superior system, because they all have their faults. If it was my boat, I would probably go with B&G , even though its UI is not very intuitive, as the new Raymarine touch displays are useless outdoors. The Garmin systems are not user friendly to set up and maintain. I would go with a standalone Furuno radar.

Well , I went thru three brand new B and G touch screens in 18 months

Unresponsive touch screen and screen de lamination around the perimeter

[donradcliffe]

Originally Posted by slug

Well , I went thru three brand new B and G touch screens in 18 months

Unresponsive touch screen and screen de lamination around the perimeter

Iv'e had problems with the Bull**** and Guesswork too, but not as bad as the DeathRays. I think they are all made in the same factory in China. Did you listen to the marketing and try to use the touchscreens outdoors?

[PedPox]

I'll throw a wrench into this: I have used and still use both Raymarine and Garmin. I have tried several times to get the Raymarine Autohelm fixed or replaced to no avail. I also had a new Ray GPS/MFD and got rid of it as it was so feature rich that it was too confusing to operate...especially when most urgently needed.

I have always had good luck and great support from Garmin. Currently I'm running 3 Garmin GPS/MFDs, and Garmin RADAR and Garmin AIS across two boats. Plug and play, very intuitive, and no MA issues.

That said, all this equipment is great now, and you cannot make a bad decision. Go with what seems most natural to use. IMHO, the best palce to check it out is a good boatshow where you can compare them side by each.

[donradcliffe]

Unfortunately, the sheltered, immobile, and dry confines of a boat show are NOT the place to compare the real world performance of marine electronics.

[Suijin]

Originally Posted by Salja03

AIS VHF with DSC transponder (I like the B&G model a lot, and haven't found similar units that meet it's specifications from other vendors - open to suggestions)

I would only buy one of their units if you can put a WIRED remote mic at the helm, or you don't need a remote mic.

The B&G (Navico) wireless handset is complete trash. It's sturdy and functional, but the sound quality out of the speaker is so bad as to render it useless unless getting crystal clear reception.