Raymarine RC435 GPS Chartplotter - repeating?

[newrose]

I have a Raymarine RC435 GPS Chartplotter mounted in the cabin; wp's, bearings etc are repeated to a repeater in the cockpit, but can the display itself be repeated to a screen in the cockpit, if there's no hsb? Or if I added a RC400 Portable GPS Chartplotter in the cockpit, would that receive the display info via nmea from the RC435?

 

[pvb]

\'Fraid not...

The 435 is a stand-alone unit, so you can't output the chart display to anything else.

 

[newrose]

Re: \'Fraid not...

Thought so.... so to repeat the display from an Raymarine hsb-equipped chartplotter, can one buy a second display only, or must you buy a whole extra plotter?

 

[pvb]

Huge choices....

If you have a Raymarine plotter with hsb, you can share the info with similar hsb-equipped units, which could be radar displays or fishfinder displays or other plotters. Nightmare! I'm just in the process of getting a C-series radar/plotter, which is stand-alone too, but that doesn't bother me because I'm going to put it in the cockpit. If you were thinking about getting a 400 for the cockpit, why not just move your 435 into the cockpit?

 

[fireball]

E Series

The Raymarine E series can be networked with up to 8 displays (want one in the heads too?!) but are likely to be a tad on the expensive side...

It would probably end up cheaper getting another standalone chartplotter and feeding with a seperate GPS signal rather than replacing your current display and getting a second... but then you've got the extra upkeep of the charts, routes and waypoints ....

 

[newrose]

Re: E Series

"why not just move your 435 into the cockpit?"

- but then committed to doing planning in cockpit... whatever the time/weather!

"getting another standalone chartplotter and feeding with a seperate GPS signal"

- if this were the case - ie separate plotter with separate gps signal, is there any way of transferring waypoints/routes from one plotter onto the other?

 

[johna]

Re: E Series

Perhaps a laptop with planning software would be an answer. have a look here
http://www.neptune-navigation.com/

 

[pvb]

Transferring waypoints...

The Raymarine 435 can transmit or receive all waypoints and routes via NMEA to/from compatible equipment. Or it can load/unload the same info to/from a chart card.

 

[newrose]

Re: Transferring waypoints...

Forgive my ignorance (I didn't install my 435 myself and it's 200 miles away)- so if a 400 and 435 with separate antennae are on the same nmea connection, can each 'see' the other's info, without transferring it to a cf card and inserting the card in the other plotter? Could a route planned on one appear on the other?

 

[pvb]

No...

No, they can't "see" info on the other one in real time. But you can download the entire waypoint/route info from one to the other via NMEA or via a chart card. As an aside, the 400 has a very tiny screen, and isn't really much use as a chartplotter.

 

[newrose]

Re: No...

OK - so say we had an additional 435 in cockpit (instead of tiny 400); we can plan on the cabin 435, then download the route via nmea to the cockpit 435. And presumably both units will be independently tracking our progress, so will show the same info - the end result is the same as an hsb repeater set up, with the benefit of separate/independent GPS signals.

 

[pvb]

Yes...

Yes, I suppose you could do that.

 

[fireball]

Re: yup...

Assuming your running from seperate GPS signals

One downside is if you change plan / course / waypoints you have to transfer all the information again....

The upside is (as you said) the benefit redundancy in equipment ... it will be the one you need at that moment that goes down though ...

 

[newrose]

Re: yup...

Anyone know if a Garmin GPSMAP 276c and Raymarine 435 can up/download each other's waypoints/routes via NMEA? I assume NMEA is not universal, not manufacturer-specific

 

[pvb]

You know they use different map formats...

You know they use different map formats, don't you? Garmin uses proprietary BlueCharts; 435 uses Navionics Gold. Guess you don't want to have to buy 2 sets of cartridges!

 

[newrose]

Re: You know they use different map formats...

Yes, I understand re different chart formats - but is my assumption that the nmea interface is universal between different 'brands' correct?

I don' want to have to buy 2 sets of charts, but benefits of 2 independent unts are obvious, and the 276C looks more useful than the Raymarine 400. But even if one buys 2 Raymarines, Navionics tell me one must purchase the chart twice, no discount on the second! (thought they'd operate a user-licensing scheme)

 

[pvb]

Best to ask Garmin...

Yes, NMEA is technically an industry "standard", but may not be universal between different brands. Garmin uses some proprietary versions of NMEA sentences, which might not be understood by some other makes of kit. I don't think the Garmin 276C has the facility to download/upload all waypoints & routes, but maybe you should ask Garmin. The Garmin's screen is only 3.8", not much bigger than the tiny 3.5" Raymarine 400, and I'm not sure it's the best unit to use in the cockpit.

Another potential Garmin problem is that they use proprietary charts which they can decide to stop selling at any time. See this thread and this thread for some further info on this point.

Then there's the question of ease of use. I reckon it would be rather confusing to have 2 different units, with different operating systems, on your boat. And that's even before you start to consider the fact that different map formats display details/waypoints/routes differently.

So why not just move your 435 into the cockpit? I know your previous objection to this was that you'd have to do the planning in the cockpit, whatever the weather. But you could easily arrange the wiring so that you could take the 435 down below and do planning in the warm cabin.

Alternatively, sell the 435 and get something similar with hsb interfacing, so that you could at some point get a second display and then the 2 displays would work off a single chart cartridge. You'd save money on cartridges, to offset the extra cost of the kit. As an example, you can get the RL70CRC for about £850.

 

[newrose]

Re: Best to ask Garmin...

When you say second display for a hsb set up, can one buy a screen only (ie a tft screen that accepts nmea/hsb but has no controls), or do you mean a second RL70CRC

 

[pvb]

Re: Best to ask Garmin...

Wouldn't have to be a chartplotter version (with "RC" suffix), an ordinary radar display would do. I imagine there'll be a few second-hand ones around soon, now that the E-series has been introduced. Why not get hold of the latest Raymarine catalogue and have a read on what the various bits of kit can do?

 

[newrose]

Re: Best to ask Garmin...

Thanks - will research the Raymarine catalogue as you suggest - though it's the confusion resulting from trying to answer the questons I've raised here by checking their website, that prompted me to visit here in the first place! Cheers for your help.