Raymarine Elements or Axiom for 7m boat

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SeacretSailor

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Anyone had first hand experience of both Elements and/or Axiom from Raymarine?

Our new Karnic sl652 has landed and I need to make a decision on which model to fit. I cannot visit any showroom to try the equipment so looking for some advice.

Our situation/queries:
- The boat is to be used on south coast, European lakes and the med.
- want it to be super user friendly and plot course with minimum of fuss
- We don’t fish much but do like to know what is under the boat at all times.
- like the idea of touchscreen (axiom) but not sure if it would be tricky to use when wet
- will spend ££ if necessary but don’t want splash out if features are just wasted for our situation
- would like a minimum of 9” screen and for it to be as bright as poss because boat is open air (with retractible Bimini)
- axiom can be networked and has features like Spotify etc but we already have a Bluetooth stereo. We are running a Mercury motor and have seen that the axiom can link to the motor, but again - unsure if this feature will really be used as will already have the Mercury gauges.

Also, any recommendations where to buy from for decent price.
 
I install Raymarine, Garmin, Lowrance systems, they are all pretty good these days with lots of gimmicks. I have Raymarine myself as I think their menus are easy to use, the others have lots of hidden menus which aren’t easy to find. Touch screens are fine in bigger stable boats but not so good in a motor boat that is bouncing around in the chop, and the screens don’t like salt crystals as the tebd to scratch the non reflective coating. I have yet to see a good engine display on a chartplotter as there is a delay due to how the system works. The data from the sensors on the engine is collected by the ECU then sent theough a network to the Smartcraft instruments, there it is sampled by a converter and converted to NMEA 2000 which is then fed into the chart plotters network. This results in jerky tacho readings etc unlike the instant analogue instruments of old. Just a few points to bear in mind.
 
Great... thank you for ur insight. I had a Raymarine dragonfly and was happy with that apart from the small screen.

So with the touch screen salt issue in mind, this leaves the Elements (non touch) or Axiom (touch) with add-on keypad or the Axiom Pro (touch screen plus keypad). Apart from the difference in cost am I missing anything important if I went with the cheaper Elements?
 
Just looking to replace my Lowrance HDS 10 gen 1, connected to the SIM-net (NMEA 2000) net on board. Have an Airmax P79 transducer (classic, non CHIRP) but as I'm not interested in fishing it would do. Want to reuse my Navionics Platinum Plus chart.

The Element 12 in play however doesn't support the P79 and require a Raymarine transducer. I use in-hull fitting and for this Raymarine deliver the CPT-S.

So to use the Element I need to buy the device, their transducer (£150) (which doen't fit the Element and need a £60 cable) plus an adapter to connect to SIM-net (£90).
It sums up, and the total brings it very close to the next level devices from Navico (B&G, Lowrance, Simrad), that won't need the extras to connect.

Still not decided. Stumbled over a HDS-12 Carbon old stock, brand new...
 
Bear in mind the Element comes in non-sonar versions which require an external module. You get a better deal buying one with built-in sonar and a transducer rather than adding them at a later date.

Axiom without buttons is a pain - touchscreens just don't work in cars and boats unless you're standing still IMO.
 
SeacretSailor said:
Anyone had first hand experience of both Elements and/or Axiom from Raymarine?

Our new Karnic sl652 has landed and I need to make a decision on which model to fit. I cannot visit any showroom to try the equipment so looking for some advice.

Our situation/queries:
- The boat is to be used on south coast, European lakes and the med.
- want it to be super user friendly and plot course with minimum of fuss
- We don’t fish much but do like to know what is under the boat at all times.
- like the idea of touchscreen (axiom) but not sure if it would be tricky to use when wet
- will spend ££ if necessary but don’t want splash out if features are just wasted for our situation
- would like a minimum of 9” screen and for it to be as bright as poss because boat is open air (with retractible Bimini)
- axiom can be networked and has features like Spotify etc but we already have a Bluetooth stereo. We are running a Mercury motor and have seen that the axiom can link to the motor, but again - unsure if this feature will really be used as will already have the Mercury gauges.

Also, any recommendations where to buy from for decent price.
Click to expand...

You seem to be set on Raymarine, but in your shoes I would be looking at Simrad/Lowrance.
 
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