Raymarine RL80CLC colour GPS radar/plotter

PhilF

PhilF

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Raymarine RL80CLC colour GPS radar/plotter

charging around the solent and all of a sudden the plotter went down "chart not present", turned it off and on and it worked and then went off again, any ideas, charts are c map and work fine in the PC plotter thingee,
PhilF
 
Re: Raymarine RL80CLC colour GPS radar/plotter

We have 4 Pathfinders all connected together.
Yep - sometimes strange things happen.
One of ours used to "reboot" itself but that seems to have gone away now.
Had a strange one recently - one of the remote units (RL70C I think) didnt want to "zoom in" - turned out that it had lost communication with the one containing the C-Map card so it couldnt zoom any more (didnt have any data to zoom into) - restarted both instruments - all fine again.

I guess this is what we have to put up with - the Pathfinder isnt the most modern of kit - remember the old PC XT/AT days when you had to reboot regularly?

I hope that the new generation kit is better.

BTW
Does anyone have any solutions to viewing the Raymarine Pathfinder kit in sunlight - its appauling.
 
Re: Raymarine RL80CLC colour GPS radar/plotter

What's your problem with sunlight viewing? I've got the same stuff in the cockpit, fitted last year, and have had no probs. Have you got the contrast turned down?
 
Re: Raymarine RL80CLC colour GPS radar/plotter

They're usless to see in any form of sun,
Just about work in dull light - thats good cos when the fog comes down you can see the radar.

See what I mean
IMG_2212e.jpg


I wonder if the RL80C is better - I have one but it is fitted on the lower helm - looks great down there.

Also - I saw a RL70C advertised the other day as "Sunlight viewable" - does anyone know if they upgrade the older ones?
 
Re: Raymarine RL80CLC colour GPS radar/plotter

I find the pathfinder on the flybridge difficult to see in the sun. Raymarine decided to put an anti reflective coating on the outside of the screen to make it easier to see, but as soon as you wipe it the coating scratches and makes the situation worse. A local marine electornics company told me they are doing a roaring trade in replacement front panels
 
Re: Raymarine RL80CLC colour GPS radar/plotter

Thanks nick
That explains a lot.
My radar one is all scratched - I think I did it cleaning it.
I think I'll experiment with some different coatings - cant *ugger it up any more than it is at the moment.
Thought I'd try some Rainex and/or some Halfords windscreen cutter/treatment.

Any other ideas?
 
Re: Raymarine RL80CLC colour GPS radar/plotter

Worth checking if you have the latest firmware version for your units...take a note of the version number from the start-up screen and get your local Raymarine dealer to check against latest release numbers. Won't help with screens but might assist with reboot issues.
 
Re: Raymarine RL80CLC colour GPS radar/plotter

Yeh, that's what I'm planning to do as well, try and polish all of the coating off. It also seems to me that the display has reduced in brightness in the couple of years I've owned it, maybe the screen fades over time?
 
Re: Raymarine RL80CLC colour GPS radar/plotter

Hi,

Here's a test for scratching, "plastic" screens of various types.

Take your "polishing cloth" that you will be using, rub an old CD, the shiny side, from outside to the hole in the centre, as hard as you would rubbing the screen.Use the chemicals you want to use too.

See any scratches ?

Use a Micro Fibre cloth. No scratches.


www.cleanandshiny.co.uk
 
Re: Raymarine RL80CLC colour GPS radar/plotter

good idea re firmware, I dont have any problem with the sun (when its out that is), I tried both slots, cant imagine its contacts but anything is poss, units only 6 months old
 
Re: Raymarine RL80CLC colour GPS radar/plotter

Worth a try, Rick.
I think whatever it is, it needs to be a coating.
Could you bring some Plexus to the meeting on Thursday and I'll give it a try?

Nick
Yes - I've noticed the same - I'm sure ours were much brighter last year.
When we bought the boat (nearly 2 years ago), I took all the Pathfinders into Raymarine at Porstmouth. The origional system had the old firmware installed and didnt have the hsb2 interfaces. They did a lot of work upgrading both hardware and software. I dont think they are able to upgrade the hardware anymore. I had to buy a new digital sound processor for the sonar as the upgrade removed the fishfinder function from 2 of the RL70 units. They set it all up on the bench and tested it - great service. The system works very well - any unit can be used to do any function - much better than a single split display.
After installing it and getting it working, I called Raymarine and asked if there was anything that could be done with the brightness - particularly on the RL70Cs. They said absolutely nothing. They also thought that the RL80Cs were driven with more power and might be better in sunlight.
Nick - do you have an RL70C or RL80C on your flybridge?

Mike
 
Re: Raymarine RL80CLC colour GPS radar/plotter

[ QUOTE ]
charging around the solent and all of a sudden the plotter went down "chart not present", turned it off and on and it worked and then went off again, any ideas, charts are c map and work fine in the PC plotter thingee,
PhilF

[/ QUOTE ]Sounds like the Card reader has failed, or connections. It was cheaper to replace our RL70 with an RL70CRC which is excellent in sun light (ie when the card reader failed). We use the Raymarine now just as a Radar but Garmin for chart plotting as I prefer their software and much prefer Bluecharts presentation. Also with dual systems we have 100% redundancy (separate power and separate GPS), and two chart vendors. For me it's raymarine for radar and garmin for plotting, no contest.
 
Re: Raymarine RL80CLC colour GPS radar/plotter

70 upstairs, 80 down and the 80 does seem brighter even allowing for the fact that its not in direct sunlight. Generally very good pieces of kit and a doddle to link everything together with the HSB2 and Seatalk interfaces.
 
Re: Raymarine RL80CLC colour GPS radar/plotter

Yes, I agree.
Fundimentally, I like the RL70/RL80 combination.
Our 80 also looks brighter below than the 70s upstairs even taking into account the darker environment.

Considering all this though, we have all been left a little vulnerable for the future.
There doesnt seem to be an upgrade path - my radar is pre 2002 so that wont even upgrade into the C/E series.
This means a massive investment to upgrade in the future.

I did a little reserch the other day to see what direction an upgrade path would take. One idea I came up with would be to install a bespoke PC and display in place of one of the RL units. Raymarine provide an interface to hsb2 and the latest RayTech Navigator software mimics the RL displays. They even have a handheld USB keyboard so you wouldnt need a mouse / keyboard. The biggest drawback that I found was cost - you would need a PC for each station and the costs seem to escalate. The biggest cost is the screen so it might be worth keeping an eye on this option in the future.

In the meantime I will just keep using the old kit.

Personally, I think Raymarine have shot themselves in the foot. No upgrade path means I will look at other manufacturers when the time comes.
 
Re: Raymarine RL80CLC colour GPS radar/plotter

Surely all the scanners fit either RL or the new C/E series, the scanners are still the same as before ?
 
Re: Raymarine RL80CLC colour GPS radar/plotter

[ QUOTE ]
Surely all the scanners fit either RL or the new C/E series, the scanners are still the same as before ?

[/ QUOTE ]

No have a close look at the Raymarine site.
Only those supplied after about 2002 will work with the new kit and only then with a firmware upgrade.
 
Re: Raymarine RL80CLC colour GPS radar/plotter

I did just that - our upstairs RL70CRC was 'scratchewd' and useless, but the clear vinyl cleaner has polished it up a treat. Now it's no harder to see in full sunlight than it was with the original coating.
 
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