Raymarine C120 Chartplotter

Blue5

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I posted the other day regarding a problem with my C120 chartplotter that appears to be under reading on the ground log/trip

http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=241365

Subsequently armed with 2 handheld GPS I tested the plotter and established that it under reads by about 17%

Having contacted the installer, when pressed he said it was a common problem on C series plotters but the average boater was unaware of it and there was no fix. Now to my mind an instrument with this problem is unfit for purpose so I would like to find out if other forumites with C series have experienced this problem and/or have you checked your ground trip against an independant GPS
 
I posted the other day regarding a problem with my C120 chartplotter that appears to be under reading on the ground log/trip

http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=241365

Subsequently armed with 2 handheld GPS I tested the plotter and established that it under reads by about 17%

Having contacted the installer, when pressed he said it was a common problem on C series plotters but the average boater was unaware of it and there was no fix. Now to my mind an instrument with this problem is unfit for purpose so I would like to find out if other forumites with C series have experienced this problem and/or have you checked your ground trip against an independant GPS

Raymarine hsb2 Plus Series Fishfinders are intended for recreational
fishfinding. The combined Fishfinder/Chartplotter devices are intended for
recreational fishfinding and course chartplotting. The optional chartplotter
function is intended as an aid to navigation and should not be relied upon as a
substitute for official navigation charts.
 
Raymarine hsb2 Plus Series Fishfinders are intended for recreational
fishfinding. The combined Fishfinder/Chartplotter devices are intended for
recreational fishfinding and course chartplotting. The optional chartplotter
function is intended as an aid to navigation and should not be relied upon as a
substitute for official navigation charts.

Dont quite understand your post, are you saying instruments should be not relied on as giving accurate readings?
 
Do you have a paddlewheel log hooked into the system? The log/plotter may be taking a reading from that instead of the GPS.
Another possibility is the number of positions plotted/ (per minute) saved in the log, I seem to remember that this could be adjusted on some models, if its a few minutes between plots being saved, an error may build up- but its been a while since I read the manual.

As far as pro/ amateur use is concerned, regardless of the marketing being aimed at the leisure market, I don't think the satellites or the transducer can tell what I'm doing from one day to the next, and the readings seem consistent on my Raymarine plotter/ sounder!
 
Do you have a paddlewheel log hooked into the system? The log/plotter may be taking a reading from that instead of the GPS.
Another possibility is the number of positions plotted/ (per minute) saved in the log, I seem to remember that this could be adjusted on some models, if its a few minutes between plots being saved, an error may build up- but its been a while since I read the manual.

As far as pro/ amateur use is concerned, regardless of the marketing being aimed at the leisure market, I don't think the satellites or the transducer can tell what I'm doing from one day to the next, and the readings seem consistent on my Raymarine plotter/ sounder!

I do have a paddlewheel log but that gives the same reading on the plotter as on my ST60 Tri Data, I did wonder about this at first but the water log gives a different reading again from the ground trip as you would expect. The update of position seems to be every few seconds (the same as both independant GPS receivers I was using to check with).
 
I think somewhere in a sub-menu from the log page there was an option for how often it saves its position in the log, as opposed to the position being updated from the GPS.

I'll check when aboard next, but it will be several days...
its a long shot anyway!
 
I have a C120 plotter and it is interfaced with the paddlewheel log which is usually accurate for speed and distance BUT is of course subject to the usual fouling. I wasn't aware that you could use the GPS alone for distance run. The "Sailing" data page that I use incorporates the "distance run" from the log and the distance to the next waypoint from the GPS.
How do you set up for distance run (or trip) from the GPS??
 
I have a C120 plotter and it is interfaced with the paddlewheel log which is usually accurate for speed and distance BUT is of course subject to the usual fouling. I wasn't aware that you could use the GPS alone for distance run. The "Sailing" data page that I use incorporates the "distance run" from the log and the distance to the next waypoint from the GPS.
How do you set up for distance run (or trip) from the GPS??

I set it up in "Customizing the contents of databar" you can show Log/Trip which displays distance travelled based on your speed through the water

and/or

Ground Log/Trip based on GPS position
 
Just to update the situation, I have had a reply from Raymarine who acknowledge that there is a fault as described and they are working on a software fix that will be available via their web site once it has been tested
 
have you got the fault reference so that interested parties can view.
Suspect I have possibly got the same problem as I seldom manage to get positive SOG although the speed feels about right.
 
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