Raymarine Quantum Wireless Radar

[Fascadale]

I’m thinking of buying one of these

I would be grateful to hear from owners and users of these units about the reliability of the wireless connection

I’m trying to avoid having to run a data cable

Thanks

 

[lustyd]

How do you plan to power it? I'd just run a cable.

 

[PaulRainbow]

Hit and miss. You have to run the power cable, so run the data cable too, it comes with the radome.

 

[Fascadale]

How do you plan to power it? I'd just run a cable.

Hit and miss. You have to run the power cable, so run the data cable too, it comes with the radome.

Running a power cable is simple. Running the data cable involves drilling holes. Why do it if you don’t have to?

Thus the question; how reliable is the wireless connection?

Thanks.

 

[harvey38]

Running a power cable is simple. Running the data cable involves drilling holes. Why do it if you don’t have to?

Thus the question; how reliable is the wireless connection?

Thanks.

Never had an issue, probably a 7m distance between the Quantum and e9 display with a solid 10mm plus glass fibre and ply cabin roof in-between. I too wanted to hardwire mine but the plugs on the cable ends made me wince at the size of holes required, I'm pleased I didn't bother, the wifi has been 100% reliable.?

 

[lustyd]

I did assume that the cable version would be one cable like the older units

 

[dunedin]

Never had an issue with our wireless connection

 

[KeelsonGraham]

Connects just fine on mine. It was easy to run the power cable. Running the data cable would have been much tricker - so I didn’t.

I’m happy to watch movies over wifi so why not radar images?

 

[lustyd]

I’m happy to watch movies over wifi so why not radar images?

Because when the movie starts to buffer your life isn't in any danger. Wifi just isn't that reliable and there are many things that could interfere, even a simple microwave or someone else's RADAR can interfere with Wifi, as could a poorly located water or fuel can, or a human sitting/standing in the wrong place. For the sake of running a simple Ethernet cable through the boat I can't imagine not going with a wire and the same for wind instruments. I do have a Wifi router on the boat but that's for phones and such, the MFDs and Radar are all connected to a switch.
I'm sure it does work well enough on a warm summers day while testing, but I wouldn't trust it on a stormy night in the rain while other people are stood in front of the helm plotter blocking the signal.

 

[KeelsonGraham]

Yep, that’s your view. It’s perfectly valid.

Others think differently, including the Raymarine engineers who’ve been doing maritime electronics for years.

 

[PaulRainbow]

Yep, that’s your view. It’s perfectly valid.

Others think differently, including the Raymarine engineers who’ve been doing maritime electronics for years.

You could also look further than PBO: quantum wifi radar problems - Google Search

Fitting the data cable is simple enough. Use something like a Scanstrut gland, where you can drill your own holes in it for the two cables. The plug is a bit unwieldy, but it's perfectly OK to cut and splice the data cable.

 

[Momac]

It appears from the following extract that some versions of the Quantum radar have no facility for a data cable

 

[lustyd]

I guarantee this came from marketing rather than engineering. Engineers aren't concerned by wires at all, and I'm curious why people are so reluctant to run a simple cable? It's your choice, of course it is, but running a cable isn't hard and there isn't a question over whether wires are better or not, they just are in every conceivable way.

 

[tyce]

Wireless runs great for me.

 

[Minerva]

Install it wirelessly and use it for a season - you've nothing to lose. If you encounter issues you can run a new wire next winter...

 

[davethedog]

We have the Quantum 2 Doppler radar and chose to connect it via cables, as sod's law dictates that when you really really really need it, the WIFI connection will fail.

The data cable connection is not like the older radar cables, it is more like a CAT5 network cable and so easier to run.

DTD

 

[Crowblack]

You could also look further than PBO: quantum wifi radar problems - Google Search

Fitting the data cable is simple enough. Use something like a Scanstrut gland, where you can drill your own holes in it for the two cables. The plug is a bit unwieldy, but it's perfectly OK to cut and splice the data cable.

Which is exactly what I did when installing radar.

 

[Fascadale]

Thanks for the replies.

Perhaps I should rephrase the question: “ Has any user of the Raymarine wireless radar been let down by the equipment? Are there any stories of actual failure rather than suggestions of routes towards potential failure?”

This wireless equipment has now been in use for a number of years. There must be some record of its performance, good or bad

Thanks again.

 

[Momac]

I use a tablet which can connect wirelessly to the Raymarine e7 mfd. Can't say I have used the wireless connectivity a lot but it works fine when tested .

Modern electronics , say under 10 years old , are perhaps more reliable than their predecessors .

 

[lustyd]

Perhaps I should rephrase the question

It might also be worth extending that question to whether anyone has used it in anger. I suspect most of those who really need it to work will choose a cable so while you may not get examples of failure, you may not be getting a useful answer either.
That's assuming it's more than a gadget on your boat, of course. If it's just for the odd occasion when fog descends off Cherbourg then I'd absolutely consider wifi if routing a cable was hard.