Do you have old electronic stuff?

[lustyd]

Do you need a new car if the old one isn't broken?

Not always about need. I like the fuel economy of my current car, I like that it has Bluetooth, I like that it's safer with disk brakes and airbags. I like that it reliably starts on cold mornings, which old cars didn't even do when they were new. I like that it doesn't rust when I park at the marina.

The plotter that comes with my new boat cannot receive updated charts since it uses an obsolete card format. It's not broken but I would like to see current navigational marks on the screen as well as the various new marinas and windfarms that have been built since the chart was last updated. Otherwise, what's the point of having the chart display?

 

[lustyd]

The oldest electronics is the Yeoman plotter, the rest of the instruments and plotter are from 2007 a mere 16 years old.

I just checked and in 2007 the state of the art from Raymarine used Compact Flash charts from Navionics. 16 years old is sometimes too old.

 

[mjcoon]

Can't quite understand people 'needing' the latest and greatest but it's everyone's choice as to where they spend their cash...

Perhaps it's more about kneading the ego!

 

[SaltyC]

I just checked and in 2007 the state of the art from Raymarine used Compact Flash charts from Navionics. 16 years old is sometimes too old.

Maybe, but it works and costs to replace are major as Radar also needs replacing.
If you annualised the previously quoted 10 year replacement cycle that is circa another £1k / annum on running costs.
Currently NtoM are still available and paper charts are up to date . Electronics do not replace tge Mk1 eyeball.

 

[Koeketiene]

When I bought the boat I replaced almost all the electronics as they were getting on a bit (and then I'm being kind).
The oldest I still have is the Sailor VHF - and I have no intention of replacing it because
1. It still works perfectly
2. As it's a non-DSC set, I'm spared all those annoying alerts (which are 13 a dozen right here).

 

[robmcg]

I just checked and in 2007 the state of the art from Raymarine used Compact Flash charts from Navionics. 16 years old is sometimes too old.

The outside plotter on the boat is an old Raymarine A57. It takes compact flash chart cards but came with a Raymarine compact flash to SD card converter which works well. Might work for other Raymarine CF driven plotters?

 

[lustyd]

Maybe, but it works

The outside plotter on the boat is an old Raymarine A57. It takes compact flash chart cards but came with a Raymarine compact flash to SD card converter which works well. Might work for other Raymarine CF driven plotters?

When did you last update charts? All the info I can find suggests the current charts are too large as these old units don't cope with anything larger than 2GB and CF is no longer supported by Navionics. If there's a way to make it work I'd be happy to hear it

 

[robmcg]

When did you last update charts? All the info I can find suggests the current charts are too large as these old units don't cope with anything larger than 2GB and CF is no longer supported by Navionics. If there's a way to make it work I'd be happy to hear it

Good question. Pretty sure the chart in there is 2020 or 2021. I will dig out the specs for the A57 and see if it is card size limited. Previous boat had a C120 plotter and I do remember (vaguely) something about maximum card sizes that were supported.

 

[Salty seadog]

I have raymarine ST60 wind depth and speed. RL70c plotter and radar. ST 60 autopilot, Icom radio and Garmin GPS.this suites me fine and I don’t want to change.
Radar has stopped scanning. It could be something simple to fix but can I get someone to look at it. Not a chance all they seem to want to do these days is open a new box and charge loads of money for kit that you really don’t need.
perhaps that is why people renew. If anyone knows someone who will fix my scanner please let me know

 

[lustyd]

Yes, who'd want a modern radar that uses a fraction of the power to give consistently better results and enables you to use two sets of settings simultaneously so you can see pot markers/flotsam and distant ships/weather at the same time?

I get the argument that it's expensive, and I understand wanting to keep things running, but there are certainly benefits to opening new boxes.

 

[capnsensible]

 

[mattonthesea]

Hi-fi amplifier is 1974 Trio

 

[Chiara’s slave]

Hi-fi amplifier is 1974 Trio

Mine has glowing bits on it, about the same age, and from just across the water in Salisbury. Some old things don’t go obsolete, like valves and vinyl. Charts definitely do go out of date. Do people with 10 yr old charts find them satisfactory? I’m personally committed to the art of tide dodging in shallow water, I need my data to be up to date.

 

[Roberto]

Radar has stopped scanning. It could be something simple to fix but can I get someone to look at it. Not a chance all they seem to want to do these days is open a new box and charge loads of money for kit that you really don’t need.
perhaps that is why people renew. If anyone knows someone who will fix my scanner please let me know

There is a user-oriented troubleshooting chart IIRC on the Furuno web site (?), depending on symptoms it indicates if it is the motherboard, the magnetron, antenna motor, etc etc. That might give you some indications.

 

[neil_s]

Hi-fi amplifier is 1974 Trio

Would that be the 4002? I've got one too!

 

[14K478]

I have to retire what might have been the winner - a B&G Homer/Heron, because the BBC have retired long wave, so my excuse for its continued presence - listening to the cricket - is now no longer valid.

It was just so nicely made!

 

[mjcoon]

Hi-fi amplifier is 1974 Trio

That made me check up on an amp I bought from a colleague on a business trip to NYC in early 1970s and smuggled back, all 700+g of it, in my laundry. It's a Nikko TRM-40 LA which a Google suggests dates to ~1968. I'm confident it would work, despite my minor alterations, but don't use it, so I guess that doesn't count!

 

[mattonthesea]

Would that be the 4002? I've got one too!

The smaller one, 2002. I couldn't afford that one!

 

[RunAgroundHard]

When did you last update charts? All the info I can find suggests the current charts are too large as these old units don't cope with anything larger than 2GB and CF is no longer supported by Navionics. If there's a way to make it work I'd be happy to hear it

Good question. Pretty sure the chart in there is 2020 or 2021. I will dig out the specs for the A57 and see if it is card size limited. Previous boat had a C120 plotter and I do remember (vaguely) something about maximum card sizes that were supported.

I had an old Navman 5600 and when I updated 2003 charts via Bookharbour, they had to split the coverage onto no fewer than 3 cards, for what was originally a single card.

I spent many beer tokens on vessel integrity and I am only now upgrading electronics but I do mix old and new: Axiom+ 12 with ST60 using the converter to show ST60 data on Axion+ 12; ACU400 auto helm driving an old Neco motor with all the old relays removed; Standard Horizon DSC VHF with built in GPS antenna as a stand alone unit; ICS Navtex 6 connected to the Axiom+ 12 to show rolling road and navigation data down below as well as weather log.

In future, I plan to buy an engine sensor analog to digital converter and use the Axiom+ 12 to show engine parameters, but that is after AIS and Radar, with of which will be Raymarine.

 

[fredrussell]

Joining the hi-fi thread drift, my audiophile mate recently spent more on his speaker cables than I spent on my entire ‘sort of budget’ amp, speakers, deck and cd player. It’s madness I tell ye.