Replacing my Raymarine C120 Plotter

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Cheeky Girl

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Hi

Looking for advice as to where to start.

I am looking to replace the electrics the boat came with - Raymarine C120 plotter, Raymarine Autopilot and ST60 instruments.

This was going to do me for the next few years but now our plans have changed and we are looking at doing the ARC next year so I would like to incorporate AIS and Radar into the mix.
There is such a range of options available that I have no idea where to start or what to budget for.

I know this is such a loaded request but any advice greatly appreciated.
Thanks Graham
 
Happilyoverforty said:
we are looking at doing the ARC next year so I would like to incorporate AIS and Radar into the mix.
Click to expand...

If what you have now suits your current needs and you only need the new stuff for autumn 2021 I wouldn't be looking more than idly yet. There'll be new stuff next year and we may know what will be happening to raymarine, given Flir are looking to offload them. Treat yourself to a trip to southampton in September, play with everything, if one manufacturer has a great "trade in your old plotter for new plotter and radar and save N%" deal there then go for it, otherwise monitor the web sites for offers. Raymarine have run open days around this time of year for the past couple of years (in lieu of the London boatshow I suspect) where they'll discuss your needs and supposedly offer you deals on packages. They will also talk to you over the phone which given your distance from Fareham may be useful. Consider that this time next year.

Note that whilst I'm a fan of Hudson, mentioned by JFowler above, dealers are already talking small margins and for any further discounts they need to be taking advantage of a manufacturer-offered deal, hence advice above to wait til you see a good one.

Obvious other statements include not needing to get your AIS from the same manufacturer as the other kit, the radar and the plotter do need to be from the same manufacturer, and whilst I confess I use the seatalk->seatalk-ng converter (~£100) over seatalk-ng with a raymarine plotter, it should theoretically be able to present your ST60 data to any NMEA-2000-supporting plotter (if anyone thinks different, speak up).
 
I'm doing almost exactly the same but in stages to minimise the cost impact (thread here). I started by replacing the E120 plotter & radar with a B&G Vulcan 9 (with 4G radar) and installing a McMurdo Smartfind AIS and splitter. I interfaced this with the ST60 wind/log/depth using the same Seatalk1-SeatalkNG converter referred to above.

Current step is replacing the Autohelm autopilot with a Simrad set-up (thread lurking around from a couple of weeks ago) and extending the NMEA2k network along the whole length of the boat for future upgrades.

Final step will be to replace the ST60 instruments and transducers when they bite the dust.

I think the whole thing will take about 5 years by the time I'm done.
 
If you have got used to Raymarine and want to try out new kit they are offering training days. I went on one for radar a few years ago and found it helpful to understand the kit and instructor was most knowledgable so might be worth a modest investment as part of research.
 
Happilyoverforty said:
Hi

Looking for advice as to where to start.

I am looking to replace the electrics the boat came with - Raymarine C120 plotter, Raymarine Autopilot and ST60 instruments.

This was going to do me for the next few years but now our plans have changed and we are looking at doing the ARC next year so I would like to incorporate AIS and Radar into the mix.
There is such a range of options available that I have no idea where to start or what to budget for.

I know this is such a loaded request but any advice greatly appreciated.
Thanks Graham
Click to expand...

I had an even older RL70 plotter and analogue radar, plus ST60 instruments. I upgraded the radar and plotter and added an AIS transponder. It needed a box (I cannot remember the proper name) to make sure all the bits talked to each other but I did not need to change the autopilot or ST60 instruments. So you do not necessarily need to change everything at once! You also do not need a separate GPS as the modern MFD has GPS included as does the AIS transponder

When you remove your working plotter and other bits, do not give them away. I sold everything on eBay. Your C120 is currently selling around £500 on eBay, so a significant contribution to the upgrade cost!

TS
 
tudorsailor said:
I had an even older RL70 plotter and analogue radar, plus ST60 instruments.
I upgraded the radar and plotter and added an AIS transponder...
Click to expand...
Waddumean "upgrade", did you manage to handle AIS signals on the RL70 screen?
In my understanding, none of the "Pathfinder" series to which the RL70 belongs (and of which I have one RL80C, plus a couple of other MFDs of the same size) is AIS-compatible.
But I would be more than happy to be proven wrong, if you know better!
 
You can add an AIS receiver to your C120 plotter without problems, and also pick up an analog radar, one for sale currently on this forum for £350. That's my system, and I would not dream of replacing.
 
MapisM said:
Waddumean "upgrade", did you manage to handle AIS signals on the RL70 screen?
In my understanding, none of the "Pathfinder" series to which the RL70 belongs (and of which I have one RL80C, plus a couple of other MFDs of the same size) is AIS-compatible.
But I would be more than happy to be proven wrong, if you know better!
Click to expand...
Sorry. To be precise I upgraded the "system" as such. No I could not see AIS on the RL70 and RLC80 that I subsequently sold on eBay. I also sold the analogue radar. I upgraded to a C125 MFD and digital radar and AIS transponder. I love having the AIS on the plotter - buts that another thread,.,.
TS
 
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