What instruments would the panel recommend?

W

wayneA

Well-Known Member
Joined
20 Mar 2002
Messages
214
Location
Kemer in Turkey for the winter
www.hitrapia.co.uk
Looking to put a new set of instruments on the boat. I was planning to go for Raymarine ST60 set, but after all the posts about water ingress problems, have changed my mind.

I’m looking for log, speed, depth, wind (sp/dir) and GPS cockpit repeater. Only interested in cruising, so don’t need to have all the racing widgets, but need to be reliable and have a good life span as preparing for long term cruising.

All recommendations, advice, biased opinions and compulsive obsessive behaviour most gratefully received.

Wayne


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Ive just bought a set of the new Tacktick Micronet jobs at the show. I liked the ease of fitting & the flexibilty of use with the ability to upgrade the system easily. The ability to unclip the displays & take them home for security was attractive too. The set you're looking for should cost you about £1200 with a bit of haggling. It looks expensive but the saving in the fitting/accessories should represent a considerable amount.

Of course I havn't tried them yet. I expect it will be a few months until I get round to fitting them but I would suggest that they are worth a look.

Martin

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for a well priced set, try the Silva range. Only real drawback is that they are not nmea compatible. they work well and interface with each other, and are much cheaper than most others of similar quality - check em out.

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I have never had any problems at all with My St60s either. Suspect the number sold means there will be problems somewhere, no matter how good. Having said that, I can see the attraction of the Tactic instruments, not sure how well they network, the ST60’s particular strong point

Anyway, I have 4 instruments over the hatchway Log, Wind, Depth and a Multi. For racing the multi gives the exact wind angle so is like a close hauled instrument and for cruising I use it as a GPS repeater


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I think you may be confusing the ST50 range where a lot of users have had water ingress problems with the ST60 range which appear to be trouble free. I have a full set of ST60 on board with a bidata repeater below and have experienced no problems whatever.

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I have been most impressed with the Navman instruments. Easy to fit, reliable and do everything you could want. Don't be put off by the Plastimo marketing, they are made in New Zealand.

Yoda

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Suffered with faulty NASA Clipper system for a year (sent for repairs twice) and have since used Raytheon ST60 wind, tridata and Autohelm 4000+ Tiller pilot. FANTASTIC. Year round perfection.

Yachting Monthly praises the Furuno GP32 GPS ... also perect performance over three years and is waterproof,, but the reall prize is the the Furuno Navtex receiver is used by a firend and as it's weatherproof it's a great GPS repeater with excellent back lighting. Kills two birds with one stone.

Give the ST 60's a chance - Raymarine stand behind their products, support Seatalk AND NMEA, have superb documentation (really excellent) nad supply their equipment with fully moulded cables and fitted conncectors, with sensible lengths of wire.

(not that one case proves the company bad, but a friend researched etc. and ended up buying Silva. Professionally fitted, the whole lot was a horror story with water ingress, faulty readings from the depth sounder and it was all shipped back in the end).


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I've used the ST60's for a couple of years now with not a hint of a problem. On my last boat I had the ST50 set which was exposed to the weather for 11 years and never had a problem so I'm a fan of Raymarine. I'd look at them again before rushing in.

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Don't write Raymarine off your list. Have had 2x ST50's and an ST6000 Autopilot exposed fully to the weather on the steering pedastal, with no cover at all, and 4 more down below for 7 years now with no problem whatsoever. Have heard stories of water leakage with all the manufacturers - probably a risk of the business, made worse by often so so installation (especially if they are ones that are to be installed with their backs sealed onto a watertight console as ST50's are) and so so care. As others have said, the Seatalk bus is a plus.

Go for your pick of the quality manufacturers. Install them properly. Regardless of manufacturer keep as many of the instruments down below as possible with multi-function repeater at helm if needed (easier in a cruising boat, and not only 'cause of exposure but are less likely to be physically damaged if below).

John

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I have ST50's, never a problem... Now, Garmin, I can vouch for their service - I have had 5 occasions to try it out. Simrad, I am still waiting to find out what theirs is like, having sent back my brand-new RD68 two weeks ago. Raymarine, don't know yet about their service performance - not having occasion to try. (:->>

<hr width=100% size=1>Black Sugar - the sweetest of all
 
I spoke to a boat-builder at the SBS, and he commented that the Tacktick system had problems if you used an SSB radio.... I don't know what his source of information was, but he seemed very clear that there was a problem (and you could imagine how there might be...)

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Thankfully I don't have SSB yet & am not likely to on a boat of my size. I must confess that, the more I play with the instruments, at home, the more I am impressed with the kit. I can't wait to try it out in earnest.

Martin

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Apologies if this response is a little late, if you have already made a decision.

I deliberately challenged one of the Raymarine reps (actually a dealer) on this point on Saturday, at the Boat Show.

I was looking at the ST60 range plus other bits. WHen I mentioned that I had read bad things about water ingress (didn't tell him where!), he was most alarmed. He admitted there had been problems with the ST50, but has not had a single problem with the ST60, having sold quite a lot of them.

I apologised on the basis that I must have read about the 50's, which is what brougt me back to this thread to check.

<hr width=100% size=1>Have a holiday on The Broads? Norfolk Enchants !!
 
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