Onwa KP27A chart plotter screen

[Rubble]

Hi. I’m thinking of buying the ONWA KP27A plotter as for the spec with AIS transponder built in & WiFi it seems good value. I realise it’s been discussed before to generally good reviews. My question though is have any of you got experience of the clarity of the screen in direct sunlight? It’s 1000 nits which i think is ok as my tablet is 500 nits & useless in sunlight. The raymarine element S 7 is my other option at 1500 nits but then configuring it with AIS send receive gets complicated & costly. If I could get some feedback that the screen can be seen OK in sunlight that would be a great help

 

[fredrussell]

I don’t own one but there’s been a few threads on this forum re Onwa plotters and I don’t recall anyone ever mentioning problems viewing screen in daylight.

 

[TSB240]

I have one fitted.

It does not come with built in WiFi.

Mine is fitted in the salon and I have no concerns with visibility in this location even in direct sunlight.

I have added a yakka wifi unit that allows all the data including wind, depth and all gps and ais data to be retransmitted to anywhere in the boat.

I use either an android phone or a Samsung tablet for viewing this data. Tablet or phone give a perfectly visible screen even in a fully open cockpit.

I especially like the Open cpn anticollision ais display as it is way better than any commercial offering .

I never considered mounting in the cockpit as it exposes too many connections to salt water ingress.

For your information the screen is relatively small in comparison to the ancient c80 on my boat!

 

[jwilson]

I have a different (KP39) Onwa plotter and before I fitted it at the chart table I powered it up briefly in the cockpit next to my "at the wheel" Raymarine Axiom+. The Onwa was actually brighter - as long as you looked at the screen reasonably square on. Move your view up, down or sideways much though and it got a lot dimmer and the colour rendition altered - I think the LED tech is a bit older than new Raymarine stuff. I only bought it to have a second completely independent plotter at the chart table, where it replaced an ancient Standard Horizon CP-180 that had eventually died.

One other point: unlike most plotters it did not come with a panel mount fitting: you had to panel mount it by replacing four of the "hold the back on" self-tapping screws with longer ones to go through the panel. The supplier AVES Marine was very helpful - good to deal with, and the plotter does all I need as a backup unit.

 

[Refueler]

I too have a KP39 at the chart table ...

The AIS data from it feeds into my NMEA2WiFi unit which then provides GPS / AIS data to anyone else who wants it via WiFi or cable .. it also feeds the AIS to my Garmin 92sv ...

The brightness is good - but as another says - the screen needs to be looked at from a normal front on angle ...

 

[arc1]

I have kp39 cockpit mounted on bulkhead (not by first choice location but replaced a faulty raymarine plotter from previous owner so something needed ro fill the hole). No issues with visibility evwn in bright sun as long as looking straight on. No issues with water ingress either, been working quite happily for a good couple of years now.

 

[SteveAus]

I have a KP-38 which I use in the cockpit.

I have had no trouble with viewing in strong sunlight. As others have said, viewing is best from straight on so we aim the screen at wherever the helmsman is sitting.

The bracket on the older ONWA models KP-38A, 39A, 708A is very good as it allows tilting in two dimensions, and quick and easy locking in position. I think it has to be mounted on a horizontal, rather than vertical, surface.

KP-27A has a different mounting bracket which appears to allow tilting in only one dimension. That is probably fine if it is only to be viewed by a helmsman behind a wheel. However, if the KP-27A has the same requirement to view straight on as the older models and you want to be able to aim the screen at other locations in the cockpit, you might consider the older and much lower cost KP-708A rather than the KP-27A. It has an AIS transponder but only NMEA 0183 whereas the KP-27A has NMEA2000.

 

[Rubble]

Thanks for all replies so far. I’ve been speaking to Aves Marine & yes they are very helpful & seem to be quite upfront about level of technology, charts etc. It seems the newest ones do have a WiFi module fitted in already (by Aves) which i think just about trips the balance. Mounting for my 26ft will have to be on some sort of swing arm into the companion way that I’ll have to fabricate. Elsewhere is just too busy. Being often singlehanded with tiller it may mean i am either slightly higher standing with tiller between legs or to one side but should be OK. It’s mainly a quick glance. Not sure if Raymarine is that much better off centre viewing? Any thoughts?

 

[fredrussell]

… Not sure if Raymarine is that much better off centre viewing? Any thoughts?

Never heard of Ray stuff having that issue, certainly not the case with my Garmin plotter. It certainly wouldn’t put me off the Onwa - just mount it so it’s ’aimed’ where you normally sit to helm the boat. For the cost they just can’t be beat.

 

[Refueler]

The KP39A mount can be vertical or horizontal mounted .... but if vertical surface - it is quite proud of the surface. Better then to set into the bulkhead.