Need advice, Raymarine C80 Dead.

[Finn.G]

Hi All,

I have the following on my 91 IP35 that is new to me:

Raymarine c80 MFD
Raymarine radar
B&G H1000 Autopilot
Autohelm st50 sailing instruments
Comar CSB 200 AIS transponder
Raymarine E85001 interface
B&G H1000 Universal interface

The C80 died and I am trying to figure out what the best way forward is. Coastal/bay Cruising at present. I do not have a big budget to get things working again.

It would be nice to just replace the MFD to something current as long as i can maintain functionality. The communication protocalls have me confused.

Interested in what the community has to say. Your wisdom appreciated.

Greg

[Pitchondesign]

Any of the new equipment would require a replacement of the radar. The other equipment could remain. If on a budget, get a used Raymarine E80, as it is very similar to the C80, but updated. With an E80, its a plug in.

[Finn.G]

thanks Pitch.

I am thinking about an Axiom. I can live without radar for the time being.

The autopilot communicates on Fastnet 0183. What do you think the best way to go for interface?

[Pitchondesign]

OK. I just switched from a system with an e80, e120, radar, st290, and Raymarine autopilot. I got an Axiom 9, Axiom Pro 12, and Quantum Radar. I left the st290, and autopilot installed.

If you want an Axiom, you need to decide where it will be located. If in the cockpit, exposed to moisture, the Axiom Pro series is way better. The reason is the Pro series has dials and buttons in addition to touch screen. Any touch screen when wet is extremely difficult to control as it responds to moisture, almost to the point of not useable. If the Axiom is at the Nav Station, the standard Axiom is fine.

Since you need to interface with 0183, you will either need a NMEA 2000 to 0183 converter, bi directional. The external converters are about $200. If you have the Axiom Pro, you don't need the converter as it is built in. The Axiom will not control the autopilot, but will send waypoint and course information to the autopilot. As said before, the radar won't work and there is no way to interface it.

[neflier]

There is a company in Florida that may be able to repair the C80. Raymarine directed me to them when my C80 wasn't working. They were able to fix it, but my radar could not be saved. I ended up upgrading to an Axiom pro 9, quantum radar and evolution a/p.

[JasonS]

Max Marine Electronics in Pompano Beach are awesome. They will tell you what it will cost to fix, and they likely also will have used C80 or E80 for sale. They actually can refurbish LCD panels. Amazing stuff.

Our c70 died early this year. We replaced with Axiom Pro 9, Quantum 2 radar, new evolution autopilot system, and 3 P70s displays. MaxMarine bought several of our displays and the rest we sold on EBay, which is another possible source.

Even our damaged C70 sold to a company in Miami that refurbs displays, so you might want to look at Miami too (he buys/sells on EBay primarily).

We used an ITC-5 converter you keep our wind instruments and analog through hulls.

Good luck.

[Finn.G]

Thanks for everything guys. I am inclined to do get an Axiom 9pro to avoid the screen issues and it has better options for connection. As for the c80, I will try to sell it on ebay. I will install a radar next.

[Brewgyver]

For those of you who are running the Quantum radar, did you get the wired or wifi version, and how do you like it?

Thanks!

[stewy]

My C80 died last year on the water. Frightening. Had a tablet backup. Once safe at anchor I read some blogs highlighting a common problem of a ribbon connector between two boards loosening over the years. With nothing to loose I took it apart, disconnected the ribbon, sprayed contact cleaner on it, reassembled it and voila it's worked fine ever since.

[neflier]

Originally Posted by Brewgyver

For those of you who are running the Quantum radar, did you get the wired or wifi version, and how do you like it?

Thanks!

I purchased the wired version, but would have had to unstep the mast to run the new cable, so mine is connected to the Axiom pro 9 by WiFi. It works flawlessly and is mounted just above the spreaders. I was able to reuse the power from the prior radar.

[Quebramar]

Originally Posted by Brewgyver

For those of you who are running the Quantum radar, did you get the wired or wifi version, and how do you like it?



Thanks!

I also had connection probs between C80 and radar, on top of erratic operations of the radar. I went for Axiom 12 and Quantum, wired one as to not rely on WiFi from high in the mast. Just replaced the old wire with a new one plus the supply one (so 2 instead of 1, need to make sure you have the space in your mast).

Re. Using autopilot, it is indeed not bi-directional because there needs to be a nmea183 input into the AP, I read that this conversion is not difficult to make. Look up the Raymarine forum for it.

[skipgundlach]

Briefly, amen to the repair shop in FL.

Ditto for keeping what you have; our reasons to not update include that we had to buy the radar to make our update of the time (using used gear at the time, but it needed a newer radar) and we'd hate to toss a nearly-new one to get into the next generation.

But if you have the bux, by all means start over. The C and E series are at least two generations out of date, likely 3 or 4, and even for Raymarine, obsolete.

The good news for folks with shallow and holey pockets is that they are relatively commonly available, and, as noted, have a MUCH more responsive and speedy repair solution (Raymarine is the horse' mouth, but took a very long - and in the end frequently expensive - time to get anything done) available, now.

In my place, I'd either fix or replace it, as I can't afford to do a complete system change and would not be without radar...