Nav System mfg'ers - who's worth their salt?

[jstewart30]

OK, guys. Just joined the YBW forum to pick the brains of folks more experienced than I. I am helping my grandpa resurrect an 85 Chris Craft motoryacht that is in severe neglect. On top of trying to just clean the dang thing up, we need to replace many of the electronics that he somehow managed to short out (don't ask).

I have been doing my own research to see what products have the right specs, fit in the existing holes, etc. That's not that hard except I really don't know which brands of navigation equipment/gauges are actually worth looking at.

What are your recommendations on navigation manufacturers or brands (chartplotter and other supporting products) to look at based on reliability, reputation, etc. that we won't regret using later. I am not concerned about specific models or system packages yet as I can pare that down once I know which companies are worth researching. To me, it doesn't make sense to pick a product based on features if the company that makes it isn't consistently good.

Any help you can provide is greatly appreciated.

 

[iangrant]

Well for what it's worth

I had a sailboat with all Raymarine (Ratheon Radar and chart plotter RL70 and an E80)

Then moved to the dark side to a boat that is all Garmin.

My choice was always Raymarime (which is why I bought an E80) but now, seeing and using the Garmin kit; it is much better. The support has been fantastic.

Plus the fact Raymarine are in a state of flux with the takeover I think FWIW there is only one choice. However, the Garmin Network won't support a 24V rudder indicator.

Ian

 

[Major Catastrophe]

C'Mon guys. He's a newbie looking for a bit of advice.

 

[jfm]

C'Mon guys. He's a newbie looking for a bit of advice.

Major, all the replies are on the other thread - OP posted the same question twice, urk. Best to regard this thread as dead, else it will all get messy with the conversation in two places.

 

[Major Catastrophe]

Major, all the replies are on the other thread - OP posted the same question twice, urk. Best to regard this thread as dead, else it will all get messy with the conversation in two places.

Ooops.

I wonder what had happened. He originally posted this on Scuttlebutt and I persuaded him to back out of the lions den, slowly, and come over here to all the nice fluffy MOBOers.

Hoisted by my own petard.