Time to update Electronics - B&G or Raymarine

dolabriform

dolabriform

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Hi All

My plotter is old ( bought 2nd hand ), is increasingly locking up and often shows the wrong GPS co-ordinates.

I have a Raymarine R54e VHF ( NMEA 0183 ) and the rest of the instruments are NASA Target plus a ST1000 tiller pilot.


Now I'm able to start updating the electronics, I'm thinking of getting a MFD and bit by bit replacing the other instruments as and when. I'm looking at the B&G Vulcan 7 FS and the Raymarine Axiom 7, both with Navionics + charts.

I will need a converter for the VHF, and I'm pretty sure that neither will talk to the tiller pilot, but that's not a problem.

Any thoughts on which route to go down, ie B&G or Raymarine?

Am I correct in that all the transducers ( speed, depth etc ) are third party anyway ( ie Airmar ) and so I won't be tied into a particular system?

Eventually I will add AIS, again I presume if it's NMEA 2000 then it will just plug and play? or 0183 with a converter.
A lot of questions!

Thanks

David
 
Hi David,
Having had both there is little to choose between them. I personally think networking the raymarine system was slightly easier and the parts are more widely available. I prefer the feel and touch of the B&G and the B&G has some good sailing attributes, sailsteer being one. You are correct that both Raymarine and Navico (B&G, Simrad and Lawrence) use airmar transducers, so again no difference.
The B&G AIS unit (NAIS400) that I have actually needed the B&G video lead to connect up.
Worth keeping your eye on the for sale section as many come up in good used condition and you can save a fair bit.
 
I am going through a similar process and eventually went for Raymarine.

As far as the instruments themselves are concerned there is really not a lot to choose between them.

One of the deciding factors was connectivity - with an old ST4000 it is useful to use Seatalk to connect the wind instrument to the ST4000 and the particular MFD I chose had a good range of inputs available.

The danger is that you can spend more in cables and converters than you do on the instruments themselves so make sure you cost that part fully before making the final decision.
 
I have B&G zeus2 and Triton. I preferred the instruments to the Raymarine ones and now think they are superb. Plotters not so sure as touch screen is difficult on a moving yacht but they both use the same. I far prefer my old Garmin 2010, obsolete but excellent.
 
The big issue with all marine electronics for me is how reliable it is and how easy is it to install properly. I'm not familiar with newer systems but the cordless units might be a good idea, Garmin?.
 
Raymarine and B&G both have a very good reputation for reliability. As far as installation is concerned you now have two choices. Either dedicated transducers that have direct connection to their displays (e.g. Raymarine i50, i60) or "digital" where you use a NMEA2000 connection (Raymarine i70). The latter tends to be easier, but more expensive, to install.

I don't have much experience with wireless but I suspect if they were that good everyone would be using them so the fact that wired systems still dominate makes me very cautious of them.
 
dolabriform said:
I've just looked at the Garmin Echomap range. Are they MFD's like the Axiom and B&G?
Click to expand...

The Garmin Echomap models are primarily designed as plotter/fishfinders. They are cheaper than, and have fewer features than GPSMAP models, for example you can't connect a radar to them. Because functionality varies by model, you need to check very carefully exactly what your chosen model will do.
 
There was less choice a few years ago when I got my Raymarine e7 but it has proved effective enough for me, combined with radar and AIS. Although expensive, it might be worth thinking about adding class B capability now rather than having to add it later. You may not think that you need it, but it is just another way of making you more visible to ships, and the family at home will like it too.
 
I've got Garmin on my new boat. Hardware seems very robust but I'm not at all happy with the Garmin charts. Suggest you try and see a few different manufacturer units running the best charts they have available. If you use Navionics on your phone / tablet then you might for example also like Navionics on your plotter.
 
One thing I would avoid ( like the plague ) is bespoke cabling and protocol. If you choose NMEA as your cable/protocol then you have some chancecof crossvplugging devices when fault finding. With a bespoke system it other works or it dosrnt and you have no idea if its sensor, display, or cabling that's the problem.
 
Lon nan Gruagach said:
One thing I would avoid ( like the plague ) is bespoke cabling and protocol. If you choose NMEA as your cable/protocol then you have some chancecof crossvplugging devices when fault finding. With a bespoke system it other works or it dosrnt and you have no idea if its sensor, display, or cabling that's the problem.
Click to expand...

Don't most systems now use NMEA?
 
The B&G Vulcan is NMEA 2000, which has none of the problems that can occur with NMEA 0183 due to different makers using different protocols. The Vulcan has the advantage of being small enough to fit the 7 inch screen into the small space I had available. All the transducers used with the B&G Triton MFDs and the Vulcan are NMEA 2000 so connection is a doddle.
 
pvb said:
The Garmin Echomap models are primarily designed as plotter/fishfinders. They are cheaper than, and have fewer features than GPSMAP models, for example you can't connect a radar to them. Because functionality varies by model, you need to check very carefully exactly what your chosen model will do.
Click to expand...

Thanks pvb, that confirms my impression of them. I was quite impressed by the price point, but the OS didn't seem as refined to me in terms of an MFD, and all the adds seemed to be aimed at anglers.
 
Thanks all for your help.

I went with the B&G in the end as I like the look of the UI more than the Raymarine offering. I've also gone with Navionics charts as we are used to them from the iPad. @Scala, I agree about the Garmin charts, thanks for your input on that :)

Force 4 were fantastic in talking through the options and for future expansion, and so I've left off AIS for now until I've saved up a bit more ( or maybe next month :encouragement: ).

I did see that the Axiom now had Netflix and Spotify, which TBH was a step too far LOL.

I'm looking forward to installing it all at the weekend, and getting my head around it, along with replacing the tiller that snapped as we were approaching the Deben last weekend... but that's another story!!!!
 
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