New instruments and plotter - B&G or Raymarine?

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wipe_out

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Looking at installing a new electronics package on the boat.. Two systems in the running and I am battling to decide between them..

B&G - Triton2 instrument pack including wind transducer and triducer DST plus a Vulcan 9" plotter..

OR

Raymarine - I70s instrument pack including wind transducer and triducer DST plus 9" Axiom plotter..

Which would you go for and why?
 
I went for Raymarine for compatibility with existing instruments. If that's not a consideration for you then I'm not sure there's objectively much to choose between them and it will come down to personal preference.

Ideally you'd want to visit somewhere that you can try them both out. Boat shows are good for that but unless you want to hop on a plane to Düsseldorf it's the wrong time of year right now.

I believe the Axiom platform is newer than the Vulcan so might not become "yesterday's tech" quite as soon - possibly.

Pete
 
I tried them both on friends’ boats and much preferred the B&G - they seem to be designed for sailing and the functionality (laylines, wind data) was head and shoulders above the Raymarine, so I bought a Vulcan plotter and Triton instruments. Impressed so far: it just works!
 
I have a B&G Vulcan with Raymarine ST70 NMEA 2000 displays in the cockpit, and an Airmat N2k triducer

The B&G series is based on their race technology and the sail steer software is incredible. With Navionics charts the responsiveness of the screen is so fast, and it will do software updates for itself and any other B&G kit on the network over wifi, which you can do by creating a wifi hotspot on your phone or hooking up to a marina wifi.

A tablet can act as a remote screen for it, allowing you to have complete control from anywhere on the boat.

OK, I am biased, but I looked at everything and IMHO the B&G kit is years in front of everything else.

Raymarine for some unknown reason have changed the connector on the N2K network and renamed it Seatalk NG, but a converter cable fixes that.

The more I play with the B&G with Navionics the more I am surprised. Tap the screen and pull up tide times and sun / moon rise and set for wherever you are. Tidal flow and current height info on the chart. AIS and RADAR overly.

Anyway, as I said I'm biased :)

edit*
The reason I have ST70 displays in the cockpit is that I picked them up as new old stock for less than half the price of the B&G displays. As they are N2K they display almost anything on the network, including rolling road to the next waypoint, engine info, depth, speed etc.
 
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I'd look for compatibility with existing equipment, if any. I'd also consider which other equipment I might want to add in the future. It is much easier to add equipment from the same manufacturer than add from a competitor's offering. This has nothing to do with bias but something to do with support, down the track. B&G are less likely to help you to pair radar or an autopilot etc if the new kit comes from Raymarine. Equipment is meant to be compatible - but that does not mean it will be easy and in the case of radar it is much more difficult. I might also look at how WiFi works if you want to use a tablet.

There is probably little to choose between the choice your have reached - think to the future.

Jonathan
 
dolabriform said:
With Navionics charts the responsiveness of the screen is so fast, and it will do software updates for itself and any other B&G kit on the network over wifi, which you can do by creating a wifi hotspot on your phone or hooking up to a marina wifi.

A tablet can act as a remote screen for it, allowing you to have complete control from anywhere on the boat.

The more I play with the B&G with Navionics the more I am surprised. Tap the screen and pull up tide times and sun / moon rise and set for wherever you are. Tidal flow and current height info on the chart. AIS and RADAR overly.
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I could say exactly the same about my Axiom - as, I'm sure, could those with recent Garmins. All of those features are completely standard on any modern plotter.

B&G I believe have the edge at present in race-inspired sail-specific stuff if that's important to you, though Raymarine claim to be working on their own version which will obviously be a simple download when it's done. I'm not waiting with bated breath, but maybe I just don't know what I'm missing having not used such software before.

The reason for SeatalkNG is that by putting the locking ring on the device side of the joint, the connector ends up not much wider than the wire. Their cables will thus fit through much smaller holes and conduits than the standard ones, which is very useful on a retrofit installation. One can argue over whether that was important enough to be worth being non-standard, but it is a reason. I know I couldn't have got standard DeviceNet assemblies up to my binnacle or through the rather full wiring duct from the chart table. NMEA2000 also does not permit daisy-chaining of devices, which everybody wants to do when they have a cluster of 4" instruments above a hatch garage, in a binnacle, or below the gooseneck of a racing boat. Raymarine couldn't have formally supported that (which they do, with STng) while stating N2k compliance.

Pete
 
prv said:
I know I couldn't have got standard DeviceNet assemblies up to my binnacle or through the rather full wiring duct from the chart table. NMEA2000 also does not permit daisy-chaining of devices, which everybody wants to do when they have a cluster of 4" instruments above a hatch garage, in a binnacle, or below the gooseneck of a racing boat. Raymarine couldn't have formally supported that (which they do, with STng) while stating N2k compliance.

Pete
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That is a very good point which in all honesty I hadn't thought about!
 
I had the same question 2 years ago and went for the B&G because of the customer support from the rep and distributer down sout. As well as the fact that I liked the look of the B&G.

Both are interconnectable with NMEA2K as I have recently added a Raymarine wheel pilot, plug and play!

As to daisy chaining for proper installations this is not recommended but I like many others have it with the two Triton and a Vulcan plotter. No problems...yet. :)
 
I installed a full Raymarine solution on our previous boat and was very happy with it. It consisted of two plotters, AIS, autopilot and instrumentation. B&G has traditionally been regarded as the best - at least for sail boats - but I think that Raymarine has caught up to a large extent now.

Our new boat was supplied with Garmin factory fitted and it is pretty horrible in comparison. Poor user interface and functionality not a patch on Raymarine.
 
wipe_out said:
Looking at installing a new electronics package on the boat.. Two systems in the running and I am battling to decide between them..

B&G - Triton2 instrument pack including wind transducer and triducer DST plus a Vulcan 9" plotter..

OR

Raymarine - I70s instrument pack including wind transducer and triducer DST plus 9" Axiom plotter..

Which would you go for and why?
Click to expand...

I havent been that impressed by my B&G kit except possibly the 3G radar bit, but my recommendation would be to make sure that you have only one make on board whatever make you chose. So if your pilot is Raymarine go for them.

I have a mixed bag of kit and it was a big mistake with all sorts of compatibility issues plus manufacturers who always blame the other make of kit fo any faults
 
prv said:
B&G I believe have the edge at present in race-inspired sail-specific stuff if that's important to you, though Raymarine claim to be working on their own version which will obviously be a simple download when it's done. I'm not waiting with bated breath, but maybe I just don't know what I'm missing having not used such software before.
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Over the summer I saw an in-depth review in Voile of what offshore racing boats are using and there was little reported difference between B&G and Raymarine APs despite the hefty price differential. That said, NKE remains far and away the leader on the offshore track relegating everything else to also-rans.

Elsewhere, the round the cans capabilities of B&G is much better, whereas the customer support for Raymarine is leagues ahead.

Depends what you want really.
 
I upgraded all the boat electronics last year, from 1980s original instruments to a complete new N2K network.
I chose B&G (Triton wind/speed/depth plus a Vulcan plotter) because of the sailing-specific functions (Sailsteer, laylines etc.), and the fact that it's native N2K across the whole network. At the time (and possibly still) Raymarine needed an additional gateway box, the ITC5, to connect the transducers to the N2K network.

I've been very impressed. It was straightforward to install, the displays are clear and easy to read, the functionality is comprehensive. Adding new components is truly plug & play.

There's now only two cables going to my instrument console, one power (the plotter needs its own power source) and one N2K. To keep the through-deck holes small, I used an Actisense field-fit N2K connector on the below-deck end of the N2K cable.
 
ctva said:
I had the same question 2 years ago and went for the B&G because of the customer support from the rep and distributer down sout. As well as the fact that I liked the look of the B&G.

Both are interconnectable with NMEA2K as I have recently added a Raymarine wheel pilot, plug and play!

As to daisy chaining for proper installations this is not recommended but I like many others have it with the two Triton and a Vulcan plotter. No problems...yet. :)
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Do you have a B&G controller with a ST4000 Raymarine wheelpilot.? I am hoping the H5000 will interface with the ST4000+ but I can't find anyone who reports success. The technician thinks it will work. I am replacing all my 90's Raymarine instruments with Vulcan 7 and some Triton2's. I am getting confused on the AP part. People sure hate wheelpilots but mine sails pretty straight if the wind is not too strong. I guess the ST4000 is the only wheel pilot available.
 
No reason why the B&G should not drive the Wheelpilot as it only needs power. The control will be far better than the original Raymarine and you will be able to interface with your wind and chart plotter, but will still have the limitations of lack of power and robustness of the drive. Having spent all that money on a state of the art control system maybe worth investing in a below decks drive.
 
I would have agreed with B&G until this week when my 3 year old Vulcan 9 died. It’s currently off at a 3rd party repair centre being assessed. I’m pretty disappointed.
 
Perhaps one might want to look at warranties & dealer installed warranties. may make sense if travelling & needing support. Do both offer similar support & is it easily available.
One might want to compare how many Raymarine dealers there are & how many B & G. I would expect most do both but Raymarine may be the preferred option. One might also look at how long between upgrades & how long support lasts after an upgrade.
I installed my kit myself then paid the dealer ( as part of another job) to come & examine the installation. He then gave me a warranty as if installed by him. It did mean I had to remove hatch cover etc to show him but no big deal.
 
dkronewi said:
Do you have a B&G controller with a ST4000 Raymarine wheelpilot.? I am hoping the H5000 will interface with the ST4000+ but I can't find anyone who reports success. The technician thinks it will work. I am replacing all my 90's Raymarine instruments with Vulcan 7 and some Triton2's. I am getting confused on the AP part. People sure hate wheelpilots but mine sails pretty straight if the wind is not too strong. I guess the ST4000 is the only wheel pilot available.
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I'd be very curious how you got to that odd assortment of parts. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that while it would work, it would be crazy to install a B&G H5000 computer on any boat with a ST4000+, especially alongside Vulcan 7 MFDs. I may be reading a lot into your words, but ST4000+ and Vulcan 7 both suggest cruiser on a budget, yet H5000 screams race yacht without constraint. Personally I'd bin the H5000 and fit the much faster Zeus 3s MFD as the computer then spend the difference on a nicer AP, or some nice whisky.
 
Thanks for the feedback. That would be some pretty fancy whisky

Well the ST4000+ appears to be the only wheel pilot available and the below deck AP seems like too much. OK, so the B&G Vulcan 7 looks pretty nice. And the B&G Triton2 seems nice. I'm actually getting one of those ITC-5 translators so I can use existing through-hull transducers.

Things got even crazier with the AP though. Now it's looking like I will get a SIMRAD AP44M-VRF Autopilot Kit since the Head Unit is the standard size. He says the NE2000 will let the Vulcan 7 talk with the SIMRAD the same way it would interface with the B&G AP.
 
dkronewi said:
Thanks for the feedback. That would be some pretty fancy whisky

Well the ST4000+ appears to be the only wheel pilot available and the below deck AP seems like too much. OK, so the B&G Vulcan 7 looks pretty nice. And the B&G Triton2 seems nice. I'm actually getting one of those ITC-5 translators so I can use existing through-hull transducers.

Things got even crazier with the AP though. Now it's looking like I will get a SIMRAD AP44M-VRF Autopilot Kit since the Head Unit is the standard size. He says the NE2000 will let the Vulcan 7 talk with the SIMRAD the same way it would interface with the B&G AP.
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The SIMRAD AP44M-VRF is a hydraulic steering autopilot, so you'll be fitting this below decks with a ram ?
 
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