Raymarine Instruments

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geoffcollins

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I'm looking at buying a set of Raymarine instruments and have and few questions...

What's the point in ST290 vs ST60? The website isn't very good at matching up usage with models. They hint at speed being a feature - Is this really so much of a problem with ST60?

Also I notice that ST290 is based on Seatalk2, which appears to be a NMEA2000 standard. However it appears that their new range (ST70) is based on SeatalkNG (another NMEA2000 variant) - Does this make Seatalk 2 an orphaned product line?


Final question... Any comments good or bad on ST70? What's the viewability like? Is there a night mode so you don't ruin your night vision?

Cheers

Geoff
 
Hi Geoff,

I'm not techie enough to answer the top 2 questions, but I do use Raymarine on our boat and we have a C70 plotter.

I really like the setup we have, it all seems to work fine and the plotter is very user friendly. The screen does have a night vision settting so it dims and you don't lose your vision.

I would recomend Raymarine Instruments to you and am not connected etc..

Andy
 
Raymarine is fine if you wish to stick to their instruments throughout in your installation. However "Seatalk"is a their own, non-standard connection protocpl and, although, you can get NMEA OUT of Raymarine to other displays there are some difficulties in getting information IN for display on the screen.
There other makes which are more flexible in this regard.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Raymarine is fine if you wish to stick to their instruments throughout in your installation. However "Seatalk"is a their own, non-standard connection protocpl and, although, you can get NMEA OUT of Raymarine to other displays there are some difficulties in getting information IN for display on the screen.
There other makes which are more flexible in this regard.

[/ QUOTE ]


Thanks for the input both - I'm not that bothered about mix and match of different vendors... I want one integrated solution. I think Raymarine tick a lot of the boxes in terms of products (everything from autopilot to instruments to radar) as well as being a British company.

So I'm really just curious about the options for building the best Raymarine system for me

Geoff
 
I have ST290 but they are not cheap. They are however pretty impressive. From an end user perspective the graphic display has many more features the the ST60 range and it's best downloading the manual off the Raymarine site and reading it. You can then decide if these extra features are worth the extra money.
The ST70 range appears to me to be geared towards motor boats but I could be wrong.
There are people with more expertise on here about the longevity of Seatalk 2.
 
[ QUOTE ]
I have ST290 but they are not cheap. They are however pretty impressive. From an end user perspective the graphic display has many more features the the ST60 range and it's best downloading the manual off the Raymarine site and reading it. You can then decide if these extra features are worth the extra money.
The ST70 range appears to me to be geared towards motor boats but I could be wrong.
There are people with more expertise on here about the longevity of Seatalk 2.

[/ QUOTE ]

Wow - Just seen the documentation on the website. 290 looks pretty impressive, just need to find out not if ST2 is a white elephant or if it has a future....
 
Geoff, if you want to have a play with the instruments I noticed the Marine Superstore in Port solent has a good display at the moment. No connection other than having just bought some shares in Raymarine after fitting ST 60s last month.

Pete
 
I have 2 ST70's fitted. Daylight viewing is fine, but I haven't used them in anger. I find the Seatalk wiring setup fairly straightforward once you understand it, but their wiring manuals are not the clearest. Ok though, when you talk to them direct for help.
 
After mining Panbo for information and chatting with a Raymarine tech guy it really looks like the future is with SeatalkNG. The new widescreen plotters are going to be NG complaint, the new AIS500 is going to speak in SeaTalkNG etc etc.

Seatalk 2 is not pin compatible with NG and is referenced in the SeatalkNG manual (from Raymarine site) in a sort of legacy way (though interesting to know that they have considered connecting of STng & ST2 networks).

The one thing it appears is the limiter of ST70 is the power draw as each ST70 appears to draw several times the power (150-220ma) of ST60 (65ma) and over double that of an ST290 (75ma).

Also in answer to one of my earlier questions... The colour palette of the ST70 is (i am told by Mr Raymarine) configurable and there is a Night and Day option too.
 
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