Nav kit upgrade - Raymarine E120W?

In terms of visibility it wasn't a problem, even in bright sunlight. A couple of times it overheated due to being left in the sun, and wouldn't work again until it cooled down. I don't think an ipad is the answer, they just aren't robust enough, but the functionality is superb, and the whole med charts in HD cost £44!

us the ipad on the lower helm. the new C on the upper.

the ipad is the screen and the iphone next to it can have the buttons to save shrinking the screen on the ipad
 
We use a E120W (e127) on an offshore rib.
I really like the plotter, visibility is very good and it is big enough for planning routes and navigating.
Being used on a rib, the plotter is on an outside helm - when there's a lot of spray coming over the boat / helm / plotter, we have to use the "touch lock", because the plotter will zoom in and out on it's own. But operating via the buttons is no problem at all.
Something what I find a little bit annoying: It is impossible to show the ETA. You can see the ttg to your next waypoint, but not the overall ETA.
Now, after a bit more than one year of use, the plotter seems to develop a problem with the micro sd-card. Sometimes the card is not found so that there's more or less no chart data on the screen. Furthermore the touchscreen needs a calibration more frequently. Something that needs to be checked in winter. But as said before, the boat is used in really really rough conditions and I wouldn't expect these problems on a flybridge helm.
Chris
 
Just to make a note on here, if you are on Android then MXmariner do a basic charting for about £4, and map regions (say south+west UK) for about £4.50. Charts are Imray/Admiralty style, not Garmin G2 style to give you an idea, and basic plotting and waypoint functions are there. I think there is now a free tides database too, but havent tried that yet.
MXmariner.com if you want to know more.
(Sorry Nick )
 
The overall ETA is available if you look at the route details by pushing a heap of buttons but it is REALLY annoying it is not a published variable. I have mine linked to a Garmin GU10 and that allows overall ETA - but it just shows blank which is very silly!

I did wonder if it was on a firmware update.
 
Not being the sharpest knife in the draw, we set off for Sardinia with only a Med France card in the plotter, so I ran out of chart in Porto Cervo...
So, I take it that you followed my suggestion and didn't circumnavigate the whole Sardinia with only 10 days available?
If so, I hope you enjoyed the Maddalena archipelago, anyway. Maybe next year? :)
 
Nick,
a few q's about your furuno, (remember I've got the same, Navnet 2 iirc)

do you know if it's possible to program function key's for selecting what's on the display,
for switching between different display's I had to do quite a few manipulations,
MapsiM (here on board) programmed the most used display's on "hotpages" this already is a big improvement
now just need buttons for immediate acces
switching between plotter / videocamera is used daily

the Raymarine E120 (as on my Karnic) works much more easy.

but I don't want to replace the Furuno kit (yet)
In case you're selling your furuno setup, I'm interested in the whole lot,
for the extra screens, etc...

what kind of sonar do you have connected to it,
I have a old completely separate Furuno sonar, it could be connected to the plotter / network,
but instead of doing this, I rather buy a dedicated sonar for the network, and have the old one as a backup...
 
Just to be sure that I understand correctly - it is possible to see the ETA on a route while following on the e-series with actual firmware? Where can I find it?
Thanks.

Yes.

In essence whilst the route is active you enter ROUTE and then view routes and choose the one you are following.

At the bottom of the screen is the ability to use either actual SOG or an estimate. There is also an option to choose time remaining or time of arrival.

Select Actual and Time and then you will see the anticipated time you will reach each waypoint - including or course the last one which is your end of route ETA.

It takes 2 or 3 button presses to get it up, so it does it but it would be far better to see in on one of the home screens as I really have little interest in when i will arrive at waypoint 33, merely when I can have a Gin and Tonic.
 
So, I take it that you followed my suggestion and didn't circumnavigate the whole Sardinia with only 10 days available?
If so, I hope you enjoyed the Maddalena archipelago, anyway. Maybe next year? :)

Yes, we had a fabulous trip around Maddalena and Costa Smeralda, though lost a few days to high winds. I'll post some pics later.
 
Nick,
a few q's about your furuno, (remember I've got the same, Navnet 2 iirc)

do you know if it's possible to program function key's for selecting what's on the display,
for switching between different display's I had to do quite a few manipulations,
MapsiM (here on board) programmed the most used display's on "hotpages" this already is a big improvement
now just need buttons for immediate acces
switching between plotter / videocamera is used daily

the Raymarine E120 (as on my Karnic) works much more easy.

but I don't want to replace the Furuno kit (yet)
In case you're selling your furuno setup, I'm interested in the whole lot,
for the extra screens, etc...

what kind of sonar do you have connected to it,
I have a old completely separate Furuno sonar, it could be connected to the plotter / network,
but instead of doing this, I rather buy a dedicated sonar for the network, and have the old one as a backup...

I think mine is just NavNet, maybe yours is a later version. I'm not an advanced user, I move between plotter and radar by using the "disp" button, and selecting with the tracker ball or the dial and the enter button. However, i have the manual here and it is possible to set up "HOT PAGES".

1. press the "menu" key, then system configuration, system setup, hot page and nav disp setup, and hot page setup soft keys in that order
2. use the trackball to select the hot page number to set, then press "edit" soft key. The "select screen type" window appears
3. use the trackball to select screen type desired, and push enter knob. For the full screen display, rotate the enter knob to select, then press enter knob

if you selected a split screen, then:

4. rotate the enter knob to select a main screen, then press the enter knob
5. rotrate the enter knob to to select the top right screen, and press enter
6. do the same for the bottom right
7. press menu key to close

I haven't done any of this, just copied the page from the manual

I think you're on board at the moment? Does your master station get really hot? Mine is almost too hot to touch, so I think there may be a fault, although it seems to function OK. On the flybridge repeater the trackerball has stopped working, so I can only use it with vessel position centered. That's why i'll probably change it all, as Furuno will no doubt charge thousands of euro to repair them (they charged me 1,000 euro just for a new glass screen cover, so I wont buy Furuno again). I'd sooner put the money towards some newer equipment, but of course if yours is working OK then there's no need to change.

If I do change, you're welcome to the old kit, as it may be some use for spares.

I don't have any sonar (if by that you mean a picture of the sea bed), just a depth sounder which is independent of the plotter
 
I think mine is just NavNet, maybe yours is a later version. I'm not an advanced user, I move between plotter and radar by using the "disp" button, and selecting with the tracker ball or the dial and the enter button. However, i have the manual here and it is possible to set up "HOT PAGES".

1. press the "menu" key, then system configuration, system setup, hot page and nav disp setup, and hot page setup soft keys in that order
2. use the trackball to select the hot page number to set, then press "edit" soft key. The "select screen type" window appears
3. use the trackball to select screen type desired, and push enter knob. For the full screen display, rotate the enter knob to select, then press enter knob

if you selected a split screen, then:

4. rotate the enter knob to select a main screen, then press the enter knob
5. rotrate the enter knob to to select the top right screen, and press enter
6. do the same for the bottom right
7. press menu key to close

I haven't done any of this, just copied the page from the manual

I think you're on board at the moment? Does your master station get really hot? Mine is almost too hot to touch, so I think there may be a fault, although it seems to function OK. On the flybridge repeater the trackerball has stopped working, so I can only use it with vessel position centered. That's why i'll probably change it all, as Furuno will no doubt charge thousands of euro to repair them (they charged me 1,000 euro just for a new glass screen cover, so I wont buy Furuno again). I'd sooner put the money towards some newer equipment, but of course if yours is working OK then there's no need to change.

If I do change, you're welcome to the old kit, as it may be some use for spares.

I don't have any sonar (if by that you mean a picture of the sea bed), just a depth sounder which is independent of the plotter

thanks for the explanation,
I switch often from plotter screen to Video camera screen

my plotter screens (heat sinks on the rear) are just warm, not at all hot
I have no master station, both plotters can put or read data on or from the network
perhaps you consider the one with the radar connected as the master ?

yes it is a independent depth sounder I have aswell, but the repeater display on the FB is too basic, no detail,
and I'm mostly on the FB,

I think that a Sounder transducer can be connected directly to the plotter / network,
then I also have a "better" depth display on the FB helm
we will find out.

are you in Antibes this weekend ?
we'll be in PV tomorrow and thursday,

friday and saturday most probably in Villefranche bay
I'll stay two more weeks (with interruptions) in the area

best.
 
I spent the afternoon at SIBS yesterday looking at the MFD's offered by the main players (Garmin, Raymarine, Simrad and Lowrance). It's hard to get a complete picture with just a 30 minute demo on each one, and I was only really looking at useability of the plotter rather than the full range of capabilities of these screens, and anyway i'm too much of a luddite to give a meaningful comparison between them. None the less these were my intitial thoughts.

I don't think any of the touch screens are quite as slick as the ipad, even the latest glass bridge stuff, but I guess that's understandable as they have to be much more resilient to rain, spray, sun, vibration, shock etc. Functionality wise, they all seemed to be doing similar things, though I think only Garmin and Raymarine offered pinch to zoom, and only on the very latest stuff. Having said that, with touch screen and a zoom button or dial, there isn't actually that much difference in useability, as the main benefit of a touch screen comes from not having to try and position the cursor with a trackpad or similar whenever you want to make a waypoint, route, or just zoom in on an area. I didn't like one aspect of the Furuno, that to zoom in on a particular area you first have to drag that area to the centre of the screen, whereas on all the others you just tap on the area and press zoom.

I've decided to buy two E120W, which also means a new radome. I did consider a new E series with ipad as the second station, but with my experiences of wifi being a bit flaky in other (home PC) applications, I feel much more comfortable with two purpose designed stations hard wired together. I couldn't see that many other benefits to the new E series over the previous, and I can get two of the old for the same price as one of the new, so i've decided to go that way.

I'm planning to install them myself, which is another reason why Raymarine was favourite as it can mostly be done with Seatalk cables, as all the other stuff is already Raymarine. I should be able to draw the thinner digital radar cable through using the old cable, and of course 24V power is already in situ at both stations for the old kit. Does anyone have any tips or things to be aware of when installing the new kit?

Bart, you're welcome to any of the old Navnet kit, though as I say both of the plotters are a bit suspect. There is a nice open array scanner though, which I think works fine.
 
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I installed my c120w. It was not difficult but do read the instructions and plan it.

The big decision I suspect will b th extent you do or don't go nmea 2000 at this stage.

Your old kit ( like mine) will prob be nmea 183 and seatalk. The c/e 120w will talk this language no problem. The new kit you buy ( I bought a garmin gmi10 in the depth sensor for something daft like £300 at th London show ( get on they are great) will all be nmea 2000.

On the back of th unit there is something tha looks like. Normal network socket. Don't try and save a fe quid ( i did). The connector is too deep for a normal plug so you thing th radar is faulty. If you snap off the retAning plastic clip you can make it work but then it pulls out so the buggers g you in the end.

I added. Reversing camera ( 450 from raymarine and 12 from eBay. ). Which is actually very useful.

Jeremy
 
Thanks Jeremy

I'm only replacing the plotters and Radome, so I don't think NMEA 0183/2000 is an issue for me, as most of the kit will link up with Seatalk. I may have one 0183 in from the mushroom if I don't bother changing that for a Raymarine one (though I probably will), and I need one out to the (Simrad) VHF.

I didn't quite follow your point about the network socket - do you mean the nmea 2000 is similar to the nmea 0183, or the digital radar socket is similar to the analogue, or did I miss the point completely? With a new plotter, radome, and radar cable i'm expecting them to plug straight in with no problems.
 
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