Raymarine

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

my previous boat 2004-2016 was Raymarin you mentioned products. I think they always work well and logically, and I could always trust them. the only thing was the GPS antenna which changed the circuit board 10v battery after use. see what the gps antenna you must if you want your tested faster and more accurate to recommend you to change this antenna system that fits your Raymarin.
Digital Yacht - GPS150 DUALNAV™ GPS/GLONASS SENSOR


I think the maps were small region. also expensive, as all ...


the new owner of my old boat satisfied with these Raymarine so I have only positive things to say...

I had that setup too. The big disadvantage was the RL80CRC was not supported any longer by Raymarine. I had the display go out and had issues getting it fixed. Also as said above the charts are small and expensive compared to newer systems. I had no complaints on the system.

That's my present setup. Two units, one a sounder and one radar. The sounder is the bigger version and is on the upper station, the smaller one down below is the radar/chartplotter. Interfaced with hsb2 and seatalk. GPS signal from a small Garmin unit via nmea0183 as well as interface to the autopilot via seatback.
This is a well functioning system that has gotten us through some heavy fog. I like the redundancy of separate components. Setting up routes for the autopilot is easy. Can't do everything the new units can, but I don't need all the bells and whistles on a 30 year old 7 knot trawler. I like to keep watch around me, not look at screens.
I agree, charts are way overpriced. Fortunately our home waters aren't subject to much change, so updates aren't necessary every year or two.
Bottom line, not a bad way to go and inexpensive to replace off of eBay. The toughest thing to find is the scanner. Took me awhile to find my 4kw unit at a fair price.

This boat came with two RL70 Color displays. One for charts the other for the radar dome. The radar still runs great. The chart RL70 I ripped out the very first thing. No chart capacity, keep changing chips, and a pain in the butt to operate Compared to any other modern chart plotter. The new ones are intuitive and easy to run. The RL series is anything but. Now I have a Garmin 740 and a Raymarine A98, which fit in the RL hole with very little trimming.

We have pretty much have the set up you described. The chart plotter is ok but the part I really like is the radar. The size and orientation of the screen are ideal for me. I did by a used RL80C and radome as spares because of the lack of current support.

KEVMAR said:

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

Click to expand...

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.