Raymarine Depth Sounder/Speed Log

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Owd_Nell

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Hi all

Please note I have copied this post from the Liveaboard Forum... thought I might get some replies on this forum too

I have previously posted on here a couple of weeks ago about wanting to buy a Depth Sounder and Speed Log for my dad for Christmas and needing advice.

Initially I looked at buying a NASA Clipper Duet, but then my attention turned to Raymarine (I think it was the i40 system). Having scoured the t'interweb for a while I have read a LOT of poor reviews for Raymarine products in general

I would like to buy my dad a depth and speed log but not without some 'solid' advice first. A lot of things I read about Raymarine was to steer clear of their products. Has anyone had any problems with their stuff and can anyone else offer some advice?

I welcome all comments.

Nell
 
I'm surprised you've found so much bad press about Raymarine kit. There's more variety nowadays, but ten years ago I would have said they were the "standard" supplier of boat instruments. Certainly it was rare to board a charter boat and find anything but Raymarine ST60 (or ST60+) instruments.

I don't know so much about their modern range - looks a bit over-fancy to me :). But I have a comprehensive Raymarine fitout circa 2004 (wind, speed, depth, autopilot, C70 plotter/radar) and am very happy with it.

Pete
 
Raymarine system on Rampage. Simple to integrate the radar, plotter, depth, speed and autopilot as they all use the same system to talk to each other. Things break but on a 14 year old system, one has to expect the odd failure and it's still easy to get replacements despite the fact that things have moved on a lot since the system was fitted.
That said and having read you thread on the other forum, I would talk to your father before buying to make sure that what you buy him will fit with his thoughts on the other elements he might want to fit to,his boat. Whilst Raymarine can be made to talk to non Raymarine stuff (& vice versa) it can be a bit of a pain and require extra boxes to do the translation.
 
Duncan makes a good point about compatibility. You're not just buying a standalone log and sounder, you're buying the first parts of what will be a complete integrated system.

I haven't (re)read your other thread, but I vaguely remember you saying you wanted to buy these now so that the transducers can be installed (or at least, provision made for installing them) at the current stage of the build. That being the case, perhaps the best thing to do would be to just buy a pair of NMEA2000 transducers (one log, one depth). These will integrate with any modern instrument system that your dad ends up choosing, and can be from any manufacturer. Most of them in practice are rebranded Airmar, so if they sell NMEA2k units directly (I don't know) then that would probably be the best bet.

This assumes your dad is likely to want to install a modern integrated instrument system. Seems a safe bet, but if he's a notable luddite or huge cheapskate then perhaps not.

Pete
 
Raymarine generally have a very good reputation. Problems seem to arise with wind sensors but sounders and logs are good.

I have had all Raymarine, ex-Raytheon, stuff for fifteen seasons. The sounder is fine and the log also. The log impeller is one of the least troublesome impellers. It has a valve to slow ingress when withdrawing and my impeller scarcely ever gets stopped by weed and usually only needs a wipe round once or twice a year, though it stays immersed through the season.
 
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