Raymarine HybridTouch

[Constellation1]

The touchscreen on one of my networked Raymarine chartplotters is not working. I reboot it, it works for a short while and stops. I have Googled the issue, spoken with Raymarine and tried all of the fixes found online to no avail. I will have to replace the unit, but of course it is discontinued. There are currently no used or refurbished units available, so my question is - has anyone successfully used one of these HybridTouch units with only the buttons and no touchscreen? I am finding it very difficult to do. Simple functions like centering the screen back on the boat after zooming out don’t seem to be available. Let me know if are using a HybridTouch plotter like this, and I just need to work harder to figure it out until I find a replacement.

Thanks

 

[Comodave]

We had an e127 and an a128 on our last boat. Can’t say I ever just used the control buttons. Mostly used touch. I did have Raymarine repair an older unit, a E120, on a previous boat. They did a good job, fixed the problem.

 

[Constellation1]

We had an e127 and an a128 on our last boat. Can’t say I ever just used the control buttons. Mostly used touch. I did have Raymarine repair an older unit, a E120, on a previous boat. They did a good job, fixed the problem.

Thank you for the response. This is the first evidence I have found of a successful fix. I will send it in and see what happens.

 

[SoWhat]

Raymarine sells an RMK external keypad for touch screen units that no longer respond. A lot easier to work with in a pitching boat. Touch screens are not easy to use in rough conditions. My first choice for an mfd would be an e series hybrid. One generation old but more than capable.

 

[Pete Meisinger]

As a general rule of thumb, I personally do not like touch screens.To me any alternative is a good alternative.

pete

 

[Constellation1]

Raymarine sells an RMK external keypad for touch screen units that no longer respond. A lot easier to work with in a pitching boat. Touch screens are not easy to use in rough conditions. My first choice for an mfd would be an e series hybrid. One generation old but more than capable.

Thanks, a bit more color on the scenario. The boat is relatively new to me and has ALL Raymarine gear including and ES127 and ES128 MFD. I took some time to get to know the interface and it is quite workable and very capable - even though I'm a Garmin guy . then I quickly realize that the ES127, in the pilothouse has this touchscreen issue. The ES128 on the flybridge works exactly as it should. It tried to use the buttons on the ES127 as it is HybridTouch, but ended up frustrated and going up top to work with the ES128. Now I am seeking solutions - find a used ES127, GS125, find a way to use the buttons, or upgrade to an Axiom 12 Pro.

Thanks everyone.

 

[Constellation1]

As a general rule of thumb, I personally do not like touch screens.To me any alternative is a good alternative.

pete

I would use the buttons on this "HybridTouch" system if I could do everything easily.

Full disclosure, I have brand new Garmin touch screens on my Whaler and LOVE them! in fairness, they are brand new.

 

[wkearney99]

Just this past winter I've put in two new Furuno 16" TZT3 touchscreens (one upper, one lower). By and large the speed of the user interface in new units eliminates past complaints about problems with touchscreens when underway. Older ones that were slow made it very tedious to do things like zooming. Old units with buttons had some amount of a keypress buffer that'd let you tap "zoom in, in, in" just the exact number of increments you know you needed. Old touchscreens units didn't respond as quickly due to the slow CPU driving them. The latest ones, though, do not seem to have this problem. It's really quite snappy in performance.

I do have the MCU-004 add-on keypad connected but haven't found a lot of situations where I'd absolutely prefer using it over the screen.

But it does raise the other question of where to install the keypad. On the helm chair armrest would certainly be fancy, but under challenging sea conditions I might be more inclined to want it on the helm console, for use while standing at the wheel. I could install more than one of them, but will probably wait it out for a while until I run up against those kinds of conditions.