Radar troubleshooting help needed

My "new to me" 2004 Mainship has the Raymarine package with the Raymarine Chartplotter SL70RC, autopilot, depth gauge and radar. Everything works except the radar and, before I try and replace the radome with one off eBay, I'd like to be reasonably certain that therein lies the problem.

Upon startup, the display say "Warming Up" which takes about a minute to a minute and a half. After warm up no targets show up on the screen and all I get are the rings and a vertical line. I suspect the magnetron is not working. I took the dome off and the array does spin.

Raymarine does not support this equipment anymore so they are of no help.

Is there any way to isolate the issue to either the chartplotter/MFD or the radome before I buy a used radome?

BTW, I am not ready to spend the money to upgrade to the new technology as I would have to re-fit both upper and lower helm stations and that's not in this year's budget.

TIA!

Well if the array doesn't spin then it could be a problem with the wiring from the display to the dome or it could be a problem with the dome itself.


I would first look at the wiring, unplug all connectors, spray with WD40 or similar and plug in again and see what happens. Also check the wiring to the screw connectors inside the dome.



David

On mine after it warms up I have to push the power button, then another button for it to transmit otherwise it just sits there like yours is doing. Kind of strange operation on my C120 so make sure you read the ops manual you might just need to push a button. If not what David said about the plugs/connection is what Id be looking real close at.

Yes, I have multiple generations of Raymarine equipment and I always have to turn on the transmit function after the warmup period. If you are not turning on the transmit then that is most likely the problem since you said the scanner does turn. Check the manual to see how to turn it on.

The array DOES spin so I am thinking it's not a power or cable issue.

I do have to hit the power button to start the transmission but nothing seems to happen after that. If there is another button I need to hit I am missing it. I'll read the manual again when I get back there this weekend.

It never worked since I got the boat last September so I don't know what it is supposed to look like when it's working.

Yeah, sounds like the magnetron is the source of your issue. The big question is if you can obtain another. If so, I’ve heard they’re pretty easy to replace.

There are a lot of settings that if they are turned way down or up you might not get a hit on anything. If you can find a factory reset you might try that. Make sure you have all your waypoints ext saved first though. The cable has more then just power pins its got the transmit pins and the other stuff it could just be one pin is corroded.

If you check the manual and find you are doing the correct proceedure to turn it on, then I would power everything down and reset all the connectors several times to clean off the pins so they are making good contact. Is the radar the only thing on the display? If so maybe the backlighting of the display is turned down, once I thought my display had died because the trip before we were out at night and I had dimmed the display down and turned it off without turning it back up.

I have an older Raymarine stand-alone. The start-up is a multi-step process. if you are just hitting the power button, it is likely you are doing it wrong. Seems to me if the magnetron had failed , you would still have a sweep, just no targets.

It has been awhile since I used the old SL70 series equipment. However I do know that it will tell you if it is in Standby mode or Transmitting mode. I believe all you have to do is tap the power button and it will tell you. If you see transmitting and no targets or if you can’t get it out of Standby by hitting the power button then it is a radome issue. These systems are now 20 years old and the raydome was the weakest link. I believe buying used raydomes for this model is just throwing good money after bad. Not to mention, you need to make sure you get a compatible ray dome.

Radar basics:
Assuming not in Standby mode...
Change Range down to 1 mile or less.
Does raising the gain have an effect? Turn it up full to see if there is an effect.

Too much Sea clutter will wipe out targets. Turn it to zero.

Too much Rain clutter will wipe out targets. Turn it to zero.
Is the Tune adjusted?

Try a factory reset when all else fails before you buy parts.

Sounds like you have the radome down where you can work with it. I was having problems and found a junky old AM/FM radio would give me a tone when placed in the beam. I also used the old trick of moving near the circuit boards the verify activity with a variety of RFI tones. May not mean anything if you don't get a signal but if you do you can experiment with it. Being close to a 3 or 10ghz transmitter overloads the radio front end. Be careful you don't get cooked in the process. I understand it hits the corneas 1st.

All great ideas, maybe the gain is way down so I'll definitely look at that. I don't see a sweeping line on the display, just one vertical line from the center of the rings up to the top of the screen. Should this line be sweeping around the screen?

Should be a self test menu item that might point you in the right direction.

I had a problem on a Navico 4G that had a fixed line but the array wasn't rotating. Could be the rotation motor encoder (or wiring) on yours since it rotates if it uses one (usually on the rear of the motor). Otherwise, sounds like circuit failure.

Have you actively put the system into Transmit Mode? If not, that is your problem and I would pursue that line first.

1) Power on Display
2) Power on Radar
3) Wait for radar warm-up period
4) Put radar into Transmit mode.

All of my various Raymarine radar have worked this way.

Well, I followed the advice and was able to see the sweep and some returns on the radar if I turn the gain up to about 80/100. Initially, I could also see the land features but I couldn't get the adjustment to be able to see boats or buoys. It seems that either I get a whole lot of clutter or basically nothing. I will spend more time adjusting some of the other settings to see if the radar functions correctly.

After messing with it for a while, it then stopped showing the land features so I don't know if it is really transmitting.

Thanks for all the suggestions, I'm gonna keep trying.

Magnetrons are not expensive and they are not proprietary to a specific brand.

Panasonic, Sanyo and other manufacturers have cross reference charts for looking up a replacement. eBay often have magnetrons for sale at reasonable prices.

Installation is easy but you may have to make some adjustments to the pots inside the monitor. I use Furuno for radar and there are instructions at the back of the manual for adjustments. I would think Raymarines manual should too.

Raymarine does not support legacy products. This is one reason to stay away from Raytheon and Raymarine electronics. Between the company being bought, sold and company name changes, Raymarine doesn't carry parts for or support older products.

On the other hand, Furuno provides support for their legacy products just like they do their new products. I just took two radars to Furuno at Camas for service. One was a 1989 1830 radar and the other a 1994 Furuno FCR 1100. Both units were bench tested, weak components replaced and the units run for 72 hours at the shop to make sure there were no other issues. Total cost $172 for both units.

garmstro55 said:

Well, I followed the advice and was able to see the sweep and some returns on the radar if I turn the gain up to about 80/100. Initially, I could also see the land features but I couldn't get the adjustment to be able to see boats or buoys. It seems that either I get a whole lot of clutter or basically nothing. I will spend more time adjusting some of the other settings to see if the radar functions correctly.

After messing with it for a while, it then stopped showing the land features so I don't know if it is really transmitting.

Thanks for all the suggestions, I'm gonna keep trying.

Click to expand...

The picture shows you're receiving but not transmitting. You can try reseating the connections but it's doubtful you'll have any luck. You're best off to buy a used radome that works with the SL/RL series and not spend (waste) too much money on that system if it isn't in your budget to buy a new one now. Your system, even in working condition, isn't worth any more than $200-$300. Just remember, the radome needs to be an older one that works with the Pathfinder series. Even though later models look the same , they wont work with your display.

boomerang said:

The picture shows you're receiving but not transmitting. You can try reseating the connections but it's doubtful you'll have any luck. You're best off to buy a used radome that works with the SL/RL series and not spend (waste) too much money on that system if it isn't in your budget to buy a new one now. Your system, even in working condition, isn't worth any more than $200-$300. Just remember, the radome needs to be an older one that works with the Pathfinder series. Even though later models look the same , they wont work with your display.

Click to expand...

Yeah, I was thinking that was my best option, just wanted to exhaust all options before I sprung for the used radome.

Thanks Shawn.

Well, I got the radar working. Or should I say it was working all along, I just couldn't see anything on the screen due to poor adjustments of all the gain settings. Once I set the gain to automatic, the land showed up! Then, I reduced the "sea" setting and other boats/buoys appeared. I appreciate all the suggestions, they helped me figure out this thing called radar. My 7th boat but the first with it.

There are a lot of ramifications when you play with the radar settings so I generally try to stay with the auto unless I have a problem. Glad you got it working.