Raymarine E80

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RoyF

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Hello All,

I'm currently looking at a motor boat that's for sale and has the 'Raymarine E80' Chart Plotter installed, but no 'Auto Pilot' or 'Radar'. If I go ahead with the purchase, I would like to get both these installed. I don't want to go over the top and high end as I'm not planning on circumnavigating the globe or anything remotely similar. I also want to keep it all looking factory standard as far as possible.

If I kept with the E80, what would be the best fit for Auto Pilot be? Even if that means something second hand with a ST70 display unit for example?
As for the Radar, would the RD218 be pretty much 'plug and play' ?

Or would I be better off dispensing with the E80 and starting from scratch? I did see I can get an adaptor kit (R70008), to upgrade the E80 to an 'e Series (e9 I think it was), if so, I guess this opens up my options a bit ?

Many Thanks,

Roy.
 
Getting hold of a radome will be quite easy and probably only around £200. Look for an RD218, RD418 or one of the earlier M-?????? series. Used autopilots don't seem to come up that often, but you may be able to fit a modern one as standalone.

Alternatively, sell the E80, probably £300 -£500, and start again from scratch, but the bill will be much higher.
 
We have previously bought older electronics to fit with existing systems and it has proved to be a cost effective solution, although there is always an element of risk buying used. We are currently undertaking a refit of our boat and are debating how far to go with an electronics upgrade - the existing Raymarine stuff all works just fine and having done it with our last boat I know what it will cost so the man maths is in overdrive. If we do decide to do it then we will have a radome and autopilot system for sale that would be compatible with your E80 (we currently have a C120).
 
Given you don't have much at present then depending on the boat and its value I would start from scratch.

You will be buying quite a bit of legacy kit and have the job of installing it - which will take considerable time.

Sell the old one and buy a bundle form Cactus or the like. You will know it works and importantly will work together.
 
CLB said:
Getting hold of a radome will be quite easy and probably only around £200. Look for an RD218, RD418 or one of the earlier M-?????? series. Used autopilots don't seem to come up that often, but you may be able to fit a modern one as standalone.

Alternatively, sell the E80, probably £300 -£500, and start again from scratch, but the bill will be much higher.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that, I was looking at the RD218 as it seemed a relatively cheap option to give me Radar as it looks like it will plug straight into the E80, but the autopilot as you say seems to be the more tricky part...... If we end up purchasing this boat, then I might just weigh up the costs of replacing the whole lot....
 
Greg2 said:
We have previously bought older electronics to fit with existing systems and it has proved to be a cost effective solution, although there is always an element of risk buying used. We are currently undertaking a refit of our boat and are debating how far to go with an electronics upgrade - the existing Raymarine stuff all works just fine and having done it with our last boat I know what it will cost so the man maths is in overdrive. If we do decide to do it then we will have a radome and autopilot system for sale that would be compatible with your E80 (we currently have a C120).
Click to expand...
Thanks Greg, that sounds like it could be a good option for me. If we buy this boat we're looking at and your 'Man Maths' calculate that a full new upgrade is a total no brainer, then please keep me in mind.... Cheers, Roy
 
jrudge said:
Given you don't have much at present then depending on the boat and its value I would start from scratch.

You will be buying quite a bit of legacy kit and have the job of installing it - which will take considerable time.

Sell the old one and buy a bundle form Cactus or the like. You will know it works and importantly will work together.
Click to expand...
That's exactly why I'm on the fence with it all at the moment...... There could be an option from a possible upgrade that Greg is considering in his earlier post, but if I can't find the kit I need, then I might have to bite the bullet and do a complete refresh...... But first of all I need to get the boat, as 'management' has pointed out to me several times...... but these are all things that will need to be considered going forward, purely for safety reasons of course..... ;)
 
jrudge said:
Also - I don't know how old you are - but I wear reading glass and an RL80 screen is very small!

You can even head to eBay for " newer" if not new.
Click to expand...
I was looking at the later e Series with 9" screen which would be slightly bigger and therefore more visible, but I would be restricted by the opening / layout in the helm for anything bigger than that..
 
Autopilot is straightforward - usually complete kits on eBay for around £500. You want an ST800* head unit, course computer with gyro, rudder angle sensor, compass and whatever pump / drive is sutable for your boat. All plugs in via Seatalk to the E80.
 
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