Ray 230 cable

[jrudge]

My ray 230 cable is dying !

The part number is R49085 These are discontinued. I looked at it some years ago and I can’t recall how many cores it had but I do recall that a curly calve with that number of cores was not available at that time.

He anyone has any luck finding one or know how many cores the cable has please ?

 

[Momac]

Maybe something like this could help although I have no idea whether the number of wires is sufficient

 

[MapisM]

My ray 230 cable is dying !

Knowing that your boat is of the same vintage as mine, I'm surprised that it didn't already!
The problem is that the handset cable had no connector, so even if you wanted to bother detaching it from the upper helm to store it inside and preserve it, you couldn't.
The pic shows how I skinned this particular cat.
It does work, in spite of the fact that the Raymarine dealer was adamant that the moment you cut the cable, the radio is screwed.
BUT, the soldering job on the two connectors and inside the handset must be done by a real artist!
The connectors I used are made by Bulgin and can handle 10 contacts, but the original cable "only" had 9 wires.
I think I can find the exact model if you're interested, but I guess any connector with at least 9 contacts will do.

 

[MapisM]

Maybe something like this could help although I have no idea whether the number of wires is sufficient

It isn't, because you need 9, as per my previous post.
But while I can trace the connectors model, I'm afraid I can't point to a cable, because it was sourced for me by a ham radio shop...

 

[jrudge]

Thx. 9 core. Google has found one. Albeit for silly money ! Mines is covered by the helm cover so I am not so bothered about detaching it

 

[MapisM]

Thx. 9 core. Google has found one. Albeit for silly money ! Mines is covered by the helm cover so I am not so bothered about detaching it

They didn't charge me an outrageous sum for my cable, something in the 20 Eur ballpark, IIRC.
Unfortunately, the ham radio shop I mentioned is in N Adriatic, near to where I bought the boat, so not very handy for me now, and even less so for you...
But I could call them and ask where they sourced it from, if you wish.

Anyhow, FWIW also in my f/b the dashboard is protected by a dark(ish) perspex cover, and on top of it there's the whole helm cover 99% of the time.
Still, the rubber of the original cable was already ridiculously brittle already when I bought the boat in 2017 - in fact, the previous owner had just commissioned its replacement, which was fitted before we finalized the deal.
Trouble is, even the lower helm cable was already showing the first signs of degradation, which suggested a very poor quality of the OEM rubber.
So, I asked the chap who had fixed the upper handset to replace also the lower helm cable, but instead of connecting the handset directly to the cradle as per original Raymarine setup, I told him to put the above connectors in between. Then I moved the upper cradle+handset (whose cable was just replaced but had no connectors) to the lower helm, and I installed the other one on the f/b as per previous pic.

BTW, interestingly, in the Ray240 that replaced our 230, Raymarine themselves made the handset cable detachable, so obviously they understood that the 230 setup was silly...
Having said that, my current cables still look as brand new 6 years later, and give the impression that they can last MUCH longer than the OEM ones.
So, maybe you are right in not bothering to make the f/b handset detachable...
Me, I'm now used to fit/remove it together with the f/b covers anyway.
The time it takes is negligible, when compared to helm/sunpad/seats covers!

 

[Fire99]

I replaced the handset cables on my Ray230's (I've since replaced the whole system for an Icom setup after one handset display failed - so have a Ray230 system up for sale) using 10 core cable from an amateur radio equipment stockist and just didn't use one of the cores. The handsets worked fine after with a clear signal. The soldering was a pain in the bum though.

 

[jon and michie]

Bear with me - I think have a brand new one that I purchased and only connected to the mike.

 

[jrudge]

That would be great if you can find it !

 

[jon and michie]

That would be great if you can find it !

pm sent