Chartplotter help please

Take5

Take5

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Hello,

I know absolutely NIL about chartplotters.

If I was to buy a Raymarine E80 (just the unit in the box), does it work as a chartplotter out of the box or do I then need to buy a GPS Aerial for it?

Thanks in advance.
 
Yep. ypu'll need a gps signal from somewhere - either an existing one, or buy one with the new E80.

I spose technically, it'll work without, but err the thing won't know where your boat is, which defeats the object, see?.
 
The E80 is one hell of a screen to run just the plotter as well tbh. Unless you want to run video feeds etc you would be better off with a C80 or even a C70 on your size of boat. have you checked the dash space for the E80? You might find it wont actually fit very well.

If i were you, I would go for the C70 with the Navionics chart and a Raystar 125 GPS transponder. That is if you are determined to go with Raymarine product. this will allow you to fit radar and other stuff at a later date

If you are not bothered about Radar and just want the plotter function, Hhve a look at the Navman and Lowrance kit as well, works very well and will save you even more £££.

The Navman screens also accept AIS info, which is aguably more worth while than Radar for small craft anyway, as it will allow you to see and identifiy the big moving stuff
 
agree with Jez, E80 is overkill really. I've never been impressed with the raymarine C series tho, esp the non- visibility using polarised sunnys & standing to one side; reckon the re-draw is like paint drying too.... but what do I know? they sold loads eh.
 
I was in Mailspeed Marine yesterday and noticed this on sale. Excellent price for a mid sized plotter and it comes bundled with a chart for the whole of the UK (About £230 on its own)

No idea what its like though, just thought it was a decent price !

Mark
 
I agree with Jez...

The Raymarine products are very good, but extremely expensive for what you get. I looked at Raymarine, but decided to go for the Navman kit. I have an 8120 at the main helm and the 8084 on the flybridge. The AIS is particularly good and there's a MARPA software upgrade coming shortly.

I bought my 8084 from the US and it saved me over £400.00 including the shipping and import taxes.

I could have saved £500 on my 8120!

The screen is excellent on both units and also viewable with polarised sunglasses!

I also use the Navman diesel flow meters (which Raymarine do not offer on their C or E series) monitoring my volvo 63P's.

There are some advantages with the Raymarine "E" series, in that they can be networked and radar can be displayed on either display (flybridge and helm). Routes can also be passed through the network between units, which is not supported on the Navman. However, I think the quality of the display with the Navman and the cost differential is worth the shortcomings.

I also have the Navman 6KW open array digital radar, which works like a dream and is very very good for all ranges with an excellent discrimination for small targets such as buoys and also for vessels without radar reflectors.

It works as an overlay to the plotter so it is easy to tell the difference between a rock and a buoy etc...

Garry
 
[ QUOTE ]
There are some advantages with the Raymarine "E" series, in that they can be networked and radar can be displayed on either display (flybridge and helm).

[/ QUOTE ]

Not really a big issue on a 26ft sports boat /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
Thanks alot to you all for your comments.

I think I should clear something up. I was asking about the E80 due to being offered one at what looks like a great price by the guy I bought the boat from. It's not that I fancy it over any other. I don't know enough about them to have a preference.

Thanks again.
 
The E80 is a great plotter, I've just bought a C80 and well pleased with it. unless you want multi station and video you don't need an E. The major consideration for me as a sailing boat, was the power consumption. The E80 draws twices as much Current as a C80.

Must of wired the new toy up okay got to cowes and back for a sealift this afternoon.

You have to buy a Navionics chart for the plotter E series take platinium cards and C series take gold.
 
I agree with Gary T - The navman kit is the way to go -I have an 8084 and it covers all I need on our S23. The raymarine kit (which we have at work) does not have some of the features that the Navman 8084 has and the 8084 was a darn site cheaper.

I managed to find it on e-bay and came complete with GPS, Fishfinder, Charts and even the radar bits (which have yet to be fitted!!) and for a princely sum of £1400 ish

Nice Bloke on e-bay

He was really helpful and I had no problems dealing with him.
 
Cheers to all who have contributed to this thread. You have given me plenty to think about and I am definately alot more clued up now than I was prior to making this post.

I will post back and let ya know which I plumbed for in the end.

THANKS
 
If you only want a plotter than something like the Garmin GpsMap550 is great value because you get the whole UK charts built into it. There are great deals on some of their larger 2010 and 2110 plotters at the moment too. Main advantage of Raymarine is GPS Plotting and Radar on the same display, if you don't want Radar then Garmin is a better plotter (ie easy of use, chart quality and PC software quality), but for both combined GPS and Radar Raymarine is the product. There is lots of other good kit around, but Raymarine and Garmin are the best of breed.
 
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