Handheld Chartplotter - which?

Raymarine RC 400 is a good piece of kit, though it does eat batteries and its own rechargables don't last long. I don't find this an issue as I run it off the boats batteries connected to a fitting under the spray hood, this cable also has the MNEA signal, if I want to take it down below it goes into the cigarette lighter and, yes I do get a good signal below but there is no NMEA connection.
 
I have an RC 400 also. One of the reasons for purchase was to have an electronic charting backup in case of some serious electrical fault on the boat. Unfortunately the battery life on my unit is v poor indeed /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif
 
I also have the RC400 because I like Navionics charts.It will do about 3 hrs on the batteries but I run it off the main batteries via the ciggy lighter.It receives a signal down below (on several boats).It is handy to have right by you in the cockpit.I looked at the Garmin but didn't like the mapping display.
 
I have both the RC400 and the Garmin 76CS. I have been using these for the past two years and have written up notes on pros and cons ..
Garmin here http://altendorff.co.uk/archives/124
Raymarine here http://altendorff.co.uk/archives/122

Although the RC400 works well - most of the time - it must be used on boat power. The Garmin seems to go on and on on battery.

However, I prefer the Navionics Gold chart to the Garmin's BlueChart.

I get a lot more use from the Garmin because I use it in the car too !
 
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- no one (yet) makes a small unit with a big screen.

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O yes they do!

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... and at more than the price of a built-in unit with a 5" screen. Nice but deep pockets required!

Mike
 
slightly off topic but the Navman black and white plotters and still available at very good prices, what is the real advantage of colour maps. will the map updates still be available for them
 
I have an RC400. It's a beautiful bit of kit with a lovely screen, but as others have pointed out, the battery life is poor and it is no longer made. More seriously, the software seems to have fairly significant reliability issues. My device loses GPS fix typically once or twice a day requiring a power cycle to get it to regain fix, and crashes frequently. The crashes are sometimes random and occasionally consistent - the screen is replaced by a message "System Halted" and an error message suggesting that the power switch can be held down for 10 seconds to achieve a restart. This never works and I always have to remove the battery and reinstall it to get the thing working again. This means you can't really rely on it. Not recommended.

I have a much older RC320 fixed device on the boat. This is one of the pre-Navionics Raytheon devices that uses CMAP charts. It crashes whenever a chart cartridge is installed. Raymarine's local agents have failed to find any fault with the device or the chart.

As a result of my experience with these two devices, I'm reluctant to send any more money in the direction of Raymarine. Their stuff looks good on paper, is attractively designed and packaged, but sells for a premium price and in my experience, doesn't work.
 
I think your condemnation of the Raymarine RC400 is a bit harsh. Mine lasts 2-3 hours on alkaline batteries which is not enough, so I keep the rechargeable batteries inside and plug the unit into the 12v via the cigarette lighter. If I unhook it from the 12v it continues to work happily on the rechargeables for a couple of hours, or much longer (5-6 hours), if I enable the screen saver from the set up menu. I keep an eye on the on-screen battery life indicator and just hook it up again if it gets low.

It works just as well inside the boat as out. One set of rechargeable batteries lasted me all of last year. I have found some anomalies in the electronic charts, but since I use paper charts for navigation and the chart plotter for position, bearing to waypoint, distance to waypoint, etc. I can live with the occasional error.

I don't use the tidal data very often, but occasionally compare it with tidal information I have worked out from other sources.

Unit cost me £250. (Ebay). Software was £180 ish, can't remember exactly.
 
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More seriously, the software seems to have fairly significant reliability issues. My device loses GPS fix typically once or twice a day requiring a power cycle to get it to regain fix, and crashes frequently.

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I recognise all your symptoms but fortunately my first RC400 suffered complete electronic failure and Raymarine replaced it after which it was far more stable (lost fix still upsets it). Ask Raymarine if they could apply a software patch to yours.

To eek out battery life lower the screen power to 1 and combine that with auto screen save.
 
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