Anyone have and pros or cons on the raymarine radar/chartplotter
RL80CRC with E52038 and the Path finder radar dome 24"4kw M92650? 2003 vintage
thanks
Kevin
I had a RLC80CRC on my last boat...a 2002 Albin 35 FBSF. When I sold the boat the radar failed during sea trial in a blinding rainstorm. It has worked perfectly until then. I made an allowance and the sale went through. I thought it was a good unit but the chart coverage was small and expensive.
My current boat has a 2006 model Raymarine E-120 and a 2016 Simrad NSS Evo2 16". Both are compatible with Navionics charts which you can get in a variety of coverage areas.
My Raymarine E-120 currently has a cartridge that covers the eastern U.S.
We are on a little trip away from Punta Gorda. Currently in Jacksonville. On the way here the Simrad chart ran out in the Palm Coast area so I switched to the embedded standard chart in Simrads, Insight. That is truly the worst charting system I have ever seen. Barely usable. I relied on the Raymarine to get us to JAX.
When I pulled the Navionics Micro SD chip from the Simrad it was a Platinum+ for Central and South Florida...a very small area.
The Navionics web site lists two types of Micro SD chips for the Simrad...Navionics+ and Platinum+. The Navionics+ has one for the entire U.S. and Canada for $199. The Platinum+ that I needed for JAX covers part of South Carolina and North Florida. On sale at WM for $159.
What is the difference besides coverage area? Navionics+ has 2D charts plus Sonor contours at the 1' level as an downloadable option. The Platinum+ has 2D, 3D, Sonor contours at the 1' level and satellite photos all pre-loaded. Both options have exactly the same 2D charts.
What to buy?
Although I may never need the wider coverage I bought the Navionics+ with U.S. and Canada pre-loaded. I did not see any advantage to 3D or satellite photos.