Old Raymarine or New Raymarine?

[sailprincess]

My family and I are sailing from Victoria to La Paz, MX later this year. Our new-to-us-last-year boat came with a Garmin 720 Chartplotter and everything else Raymarine (tri data, autohelm). We need to add radar and also want to switch our chartplotter to Raymarine at the same time so that all systems will 'talk' and integrate smoothly. We are trying to decide if it is worth it to buy the new Raymarine E95, or pick up a used E80. We are thinking that the new Raymarine (Flir) is not made as well as the old Raymarine (Raytheon) and that it might be a better (and obviously cheaper) decision to go with the E80 classic. Either way, we have to buy a Raymarine digital dome and bracket to mount on the mast. Anyone care to share their thoughts?

[travellerw]

WOW.. I wouldn't change your Garmin, "Just Because". Thats crazy.. The 720 is a pretty modern plotter and speaks NMEA 2000 so will integrate with any new gear (Raymarine, B&G, Simrad, anything).

If you goal is to just add radar, then I would look at Garmin GMR series stuff. I'm pretty sure it will even interface to your 720 plotter. Garmin radars and plotters are pretty good gear!

If you want to feed your Seatalk data into the Garmin plotter than you can buy and Actisense device that will convert Seatalk 1 to NMEA 2000.

Pretty sure you could get away with under $2000 for the electronics (radar dome and converter).

[travellerw]

Further to this... I understand your need for radar sailing down from BC as fog can be a problem.. However, I also think you need to look into AIS in conjunction with radar. I don't want to start an argument, as there are TONS of threads on the merits of AIS and AIS/Radar. I will say that I wouldn't sail without AIS after having it (I won't say that about radar).

[evm1024]

To stick with your question (old vs new) I would say go with the new. There are 2 reasons - First is that the new MFD has newer software (lighthouse II) and the second is with the CCFL in the E80. The CCFL supplies light for the display and likely has many hours on it. Both the CCFL tubes and the HV power supply for the CCFL do go bad. You are likely to get greater life out of a new MFD.

[silversailor]

Will you have to re cable everything with the upgraded Raymarine? Probably.

[sailprincess]

Originally Posted by travellerw

Further to this... I understand your need for radar sailing down from BC as fog can be a problem.. However, I also think you need to look into AIS in conjunction with radar. I don't want to start an argument, as there are TONS of threads on the merits of AIS and AIS/Radar. I will say that I wouldn't sail without AIS after having it (I won't say that about radar).

Yes, totally agree with you. We are planning on also having an AIS receiver and transmitter as well. The reason we are thinking of getting rid of the Garmin (selling and putting $ towards the chosen solution) is that the screen is only 7" and does not allow for radar overlay, so screen is pretty small when you have to split it for the radar.

[sailprincess]

Originally Posted by silversailor

Will you have to re cable everything with the upgraded Raymarine? Probably.

Yes, if we do a Raymarine E80 classic or a new Raymarine E95, we'll have to re-cable and in some cases (the E95) install a converter to talk to our current tri-data devices.

[sailprincess]

Originally Posted by evm1024

To stick with your question (old vs new) I would say go with the new. There are 2 reasons - First is that the new MFD has newer software (lighthouse II) and the second is with the CCFL in the E80. The CCFL supplies light for the display and likely has many hours on it. Both the CCFL tubes and the HV power supply for the CCFL do go bad. You are likely to get greater life out of a new MFD.

Thanks a lot for your feedback. I hadn't thought of the tubes for the display. Good point. I wonder if the E80 Classic would draw more power than the E95? That might be another thing to consider.

[sailprincess]

Originally Posted by sailprincess

Thanks a lot for your feedback. I hadn't thought of the tubes for the display. Good point. I wonder if the E80 Classic would draw more power than the E95? That might be another thing to consider.

Just looked it up and the E80 draws 20watts while the E95 draws 16 on full brightness.

[travellerw]

Originally Posted by sailprincess

Yes, totally agree with you. We are planning on also having an AIS receiver and transmitter as well. The reason we are thinking of getting rid of the Garmin (selling and putting $ towards the chosen solution) is that the screen is only 7" and does not allow for radar overlay, so screen is pretty small when you have to split it for the radar.

May I suggest you spend some time and look at all the options. Raymarine isn't the only game in town any more, and frankly is not the best. If you pick Ray, you will be stuck with proprietary cabling.

Making your old Raymarine gear talk to any other brand is as difficult as making it talk to new Raymarine gear. I have mixed brand stuff on my boat (raymarine autopilot seatalk 1, Raymarine C80 with radar, B&G plotter, B&G Tritons, Vesper AIS) and it all talks just fine. The devil is in the installation details.

As to buying a C80 or E80 and doing radar on it. That is pretty dated gear that is still selling for loads of money (C80s listed for $700 on ebay). I believe that would be a poor choice and you would be stuck with antiquated gear.

[MarkJ]

Everyone knows Windows 10 is crap and 3.1 is far better... actually DOS is far, far better but no one remembers that.

Technology never advances. Well, not on the internet!


Go the new one!

[monte]

We've had both. The newer is quite a bit nicer but the main improvement is built in wifi to iPad. Not a huge difference otherwise. Screen is probably a bit clearer but not majorly so.

[Wallaby]

Originally Posted by travellerw

Stuff deleted
As to buying a C80 or E80 and doing radar on it. That is pretty dated gear that is still selling for loads of money (C80s listed for $700 on ebay). I believe that would be a poor choice and you would be stuck with antiquated gear.

Gotta wonder why that C80 lists for $700 on Ebay if it is so 'antiquated.' Boat electronics are like car models--manufacturers make minor changes so people keep updating.

[travellerw]

Originally Posted by Wallaby

Gotta wonder why that C80 lists for $700 on Ebay if it is so 'antiquated.' Boat electronics are like car models--manufacturers make minor changes so people keep updating.

Since I work in EE and have had my C80 completely apart, I'm gonna call ******** on you here. The difference between a C80 and a modern chart plotter is HUGE. Or any modern boat electronics against 15 year old gear.

Think about it.. Cell phone progression over the last 15 years has been explosive. Processors alone are 10 - 20 times faster and use 1/10 the power. Do you think that the plotter manufacturers haven't adopted this new technology?

Hell, the difference between the CCFL and LED backlighting is worth the upgrade. Not to mention the bonded glass technology that B&G Tritons use. Absolutely no way for water intrusion to kill them (how many ST60 died from this).

People are paying $700 for antiquated technology because they don't understand the different communication protocols and think they will need to ditch everything if they replace the plotter with a new one. This has bred and artificial market for old gear.

[autumnbreeze27]

We have a Raymarine E127. One major advantage is you can get electronic charts from Blue Latitude. They have the best charts for Pacific Mexico and the Sea of Cortez. Of all the electronic upgrades I did to our boat before we left, those charts are the most beneficial!