Garmin discontinue data cards!!!!!!

Tryweryn said:
Upgrading to Raymarine....more support.
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My 5 1/2 years old auto pilot is totally unsupported by Raymarine. Lightning strike nearby has compromised the control head, can't be replaced or repaired so they just say buy a new one that also requires a new computer. About £1,800 in total. Great support, not!
 
But the thing is, boat electronics are not cheap!
pvb said:
Trouble is, people want the lowest prices for electronics, so there's a limit to how long support might be available. The other side of the coin is with companies like Volvo Penta, who support their products for decades, but then people moan about the spares prices!
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pvb said:
Not massively different from having an unrepairable Raymarine radome which is no longer available, necessitating a complete system change.
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doris said:
My 5 1/2 years old auto pilot is totally unsupported by Raymarine. Lightning strike nearby has compromised the control head, can't be replaced or repaired so they just say buy a new one that also requires a new computer. About £1,800 in total. Great support, not!
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Having been through the expense of having to replace both the chart plotter and the radar when the my old 'pathfinder' radar went U/S (at the time the last of the analogue units - the RD218 - were going for silly money on ebay) I did feel rather let down but I don't think it as unhelpful as preventing people with working chart plotters from being able to update their charts
 
doris said:
My 5 1/2 years old auto pilot is totally unsupported by Raymarine. Lightning strike nearby has compromised the control head, can't be replaced or repaired so they just say buy a new one that also requires a new computer. About £1,800 in total. Great support, not!
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If it's just the control head (ST6002?) then I'm puzzled as to why you would need a new computer. The ST6002 is still available new, or second-hand, and the seatalk messages it uses have been the same for donkey's years, certainly way past whatever you bought five years ago.

Pete
 
I thought about all this and decided to rip the whole lot out and go Raymarine. Just everything about it is better and more user friendly. The plotters look really sexy and nicely priced.
 
I've got two of the cards and a programmer. Fairly certain you can download the maps and flash the cards yourself. If you are interested make me an offer :)
 
ghostlymoron said:
I'd be very surprised if this possible Garmin (and all manufacturers) go to great lengths to protect their products.
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It's quite a few years since I did mine but my recollection is that the CD has to be registered with Garmin first. This is the sticking point and each time I have changed computers it has taken me ages to re-register, using the 25 digit code supplied with each CD. Once registered it is fairly simple to download an area of the chart to the card, from the CD.
 
ghostlymoron said:
I'd be very surprised if this possible Garmin (and all manufacturers) go to great lengths to protect their products.
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Garmin copy protection was blasted out of the water years ago - a large part of the reason why they have been retiring equipment. A careful hour of research on Google will yield everything you need to replicate any Garmin charts.
 
You really must remember when you open the box of anything to do with technology it instantly starts on the road to becoming obsolete. Get real please. 6 years ago I spent just under £100k on electronic equipment in my business. This month I will be replacing that equipment. I'm lucky, the price of the equipment has come down to £65K. Boat electronics are no different. If you expect any company to continue investment in 'old' kit you are deluded. These companies are not hobbiests they are commercial operations working to make a profit.
 
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