AIS on Raymarine eS78 7 Inch HybridTouch Multifunction Display

[Sea Devil]

AIS on Raymarine eS78 7 Inch HybridTouch Multifunction Display
Is it possible to just display AIS on the screen and not chart info?

I am trying to find the lowest power consumption when off shore and don't need chart or radar running constantly.

Have real problems finding my way round the not very intuitive system.....

 

[Boathook]

I've never considered that. The i70 display shows AIS and uses a circular range so I suspect it may be possible. Have you tried running the MFD without turning on the chart and seeing whether it displays AIS?

 

[dunedin]

It is easy enough to switch the radar off. And as only used occasionally, we have a separate switch on the panel.

But I doubt that the chart display uses any power over the basic MFD display

 

[Sea Devil]

I've never considered that. The i70 display shows AIS and uses a circular range so I suspect it may be possible. Have you tried running the MFD without turning on the chart and seeing whether it displays AIS?

Thanks I'll try that when I get back... But will it reduce power consumption which is the main objective?

 

[MikeCC]

I don't think it will be possible as AIS is an overlay rather than a dedicated screen like radar, chart or sonar display.

The power for processing the chart image is going to be tiny compared to what the screen is using, which will be much the same whatever it is displaying.

You could use something like i70 as Boathook indicates, but for the money you may as well buy a couple more batteries or a solar panel.

 

[Sea Devil]

I don't think it will be possible as AIS is an overlay rather than a dedicated screen like radar, chart or sonar display.

The power for processing the chart image is going to be tiny compared to what the screen is using, which will be much the same whatever it is displaying.

You could use something like i70 as Boathook indicates, but for the money you may as well buy a couple more batteries or a solar panel.

I suspect you are right - I used to have a Simrad AIS with it's own little screen which was much more user-friendly than this Raymarine ES78.
I find AIS really useful but the display on my 7inch screen is so difficult to manipulate compared to the Simrad

 

[dunedin]

I suspect you are right - I used to have a Simrad AIS with it's own little screen which was much more user-friendly than this Raymarine ES78.
I find AIS really useful but the display on my 7inch screen is so difficult to manipulate compared to the Simrad

I suspect you just need a bit of time to get familiar with the new system - the Raymarine Lighthouse software is quite user friendly.

And if worried about the power consumption of the display, a solar panel would sort that easy enough.

 

[Sea Devil]

I've used it to sail Lymington - Boulogne - Cherbourg and back to Boulogne and the AIS problem is the size of targets to touch on the screen - They just made the 7inch display smaller - did hot alter the software to make it easier for the fingers to interrogate the target info -
I was looking again at the transatlantic own bottom for my boat, doing the minimum, as once in the Caribbean half the gear is not required in my experience and without adding batteries (more than 1??) I was thinking about using AIS 100% of the time off shore as I've found ships are watching those echo rather than radar but the power consumption of the 7inch screeen and all the 'stuff' needs considering - Sure going to put a solar panel on the bimini... 100w - it would just have been nice on the two 5-6 day legs and then the 16/18 day leg to have had the AIS transceiver with it's alarm running 24/7 but...

 

[dunedin]

I've used it to sail Lymington - Boulogne - Cherbourg and back to Boulogne and the AIS problem is the size of targets to touch on the screen - They just made the 7inch display smaller - did hot alter the software to make it easier for the fingers to interrogate the target info -
I was looking again at the transatlantic own bottom for my boat, doing the minimum, as once in the Caribbean half the gear is not required in my experience and without adding batteries (more than 1??) I was thinking about using AIS 100% of the time off shore as I've found ships are watching those echo rather than radar but the power consumption of the 7inch screeen and all the 'stuff' needs considering - Sure going to put a solar panel on the bimini... 100w - it would just have been nice on the two 5-6 day legs and then the 16/18 day leg to have had the AIS transceiver with it's alarm running 24/7 but...

By “hybrid touch” does that mean it has both touch screen and the physical cursor control? On the older model e7 I tend to use the physical control to select AIS targets. Better still, in busy places such as crossing the main Channel shipping lanes, we use the Raymarine App to copy the screen to a 10inch tablet - mainly because the navigator is not the helm, so use the tablet for the navigator. (Though if crossings are tight, we always put the autopilot on to give more precise steering and hence CPA’s to both us and ships approaching).

Crossing the Atlantic, a Watt& Sea hydro generator would be ideal to banish power worries (but at a price). You could put an AIS alarm on and select the sleep mode to reduce screen power demand. But you could go days or more with no AIS contacts, so perhaps switching off and keeping lookout might be fine if worried about power.

 

[Daverw]

I suspect it’s screen that uses most of the power, so turning off radar will work but whatever you have on screen will not change much power usage

 

[Sea Devil]

I suspect it’s screen that uses most of the power, so turning off radar will work but whatever you have on screen will not change much power usage

I think you are probably right - Might just get a stand alone GPS and switch the thing off and just do proper watch keeping - actually that sounds the way to go - all this integration of systems is keep you with 'brand' rather than help customers - I suspect!

 

[Daverw]

I’ve looked just leaving the AIS and radio on but do have the advantage that the SH radio does show AIS on its screen although a little small to say the least

 

[Sea Devil]

I’ve looked just leaving the AIS and radio on but do have the advantage that the SH radio does show AIS on its screen although a little small to say the least

thanks for trying that - I'll have a look when I get back - really need a small display separate from the main system but...

 

[KompetentKrew]

I suspect you are right - I used to have a Simrad AIS with it's own little screen which was much more user-friendly than this Raymarine ES78.
I find AIS really useful but the display on my 7inch screen is so difficult to manipulate compared to the Simrad

I'm surprised to read that.

I found the "user interface language" of B&G/Simrad and Raymarine devices remarkably similar - to the point that you might believe the plotters were made by the same company, if you didn't know better. I haven't used the latest generation of Raymarine though.

 

[KompetentKrew]

thanks for trying that - I'll have a look when I get back - really need a small display separate from the main system but...

Sounds like you want an i70 / i70s.

They appear exactly the same, except in my opinion the original model i70 had a more attractive facia; the current model i70s is squarer.

Looks like these may even have their own AIS alarm - check the manual online.

They are not cheap though and, as per the other comments, you could get a lot else for the same money.