Electronics replacement / upgrade help needed

Blown284

Blown284

Well-Known Member
Jan 12, 2014
1,122
Chesapeake Bay
Boat Info
2004 SeaRay Sundancer 460
Engines
Cummings 480CE
Hi everyone. In progress of closing on a 2004 SeaRay 460 which has some pretty outdated electronics --- sorry, can't think of any other words. I wanted to get your thought on how I can incrementally upgrade Raymarine gear to Garmin.

RL80C --- >. What Garmin can I replace this with?
RN300 --->. Same thing, what garmin can I replace this with?
ST7001 --->. Should I replace this?
 
Blown284 said:
Hi everyone. In progress of closing on a 2004 SeaRay 460 which has some pretty outdated electronics --- sorry, can't think of any other words. I wanted to get your thought on how I can incrementally upgrade Raymarine gear to Garmin.

RL80C --- >. What Garmin can I replace this with?
RN300 --->. Same thing, what garmin can I replace this with?
ST7001 --->. Should I replace this?
Click to expand...

I would call Max Marine 754-220-6565. tell them what you have and what you are trying to do. Buy their used tested equipment or not; but they have always given me a reliable straight up answer about what works with what.
 
Im guessing the ST7001 is an auto pilot.
If its getting its coordinates from the chart plotter you might want to upgrade with something compatible with it.
 
Blown284 said:
Hi everyone. In progress of closing on a 2004 SeaRay 460 which has some pretty outdated electronics --- sorry, can't think of any other words. I wanted to get your thought on how I can incrementally upgrade Raymarine gear to Garmin.

RL80C --- >. What Garmin can I replace this with?
RN300 --->. Same thing, what garmin can I replace this with?
ST7001 --->. Should I replace this?
Click to expand...

Blown284

The biggest limiting factor on this era boat is the area in the “pod”. I have a 2001, and it’s pretty limited to 1 12” MFD. The later years, have a larger area that could handle 2.

I stayed with Raymarine, but as technology has progressed, Garmin is a great option. You will need to also replace the radar if you upgrade the MFD...the old analog units are not compatible.

I went with a closed dome Doppler Radar as the in close performance and collision prevention are awesome. If you going offshore or fishing, You might consider open Arrays, but you lose the Doppler functions.

Basically, you’ll need a new MFD, new radar and new autopilot.

12” MFD $3k
Radar Dome $2k
Autopilot $1.5k
Install and network item $500...

The integration is pretty much plug and play these days.
 
Last edited:
dtfeld said:
Blown284

The biggest limiting factor on this era boat is the area in the “pod”. I have a 2001, and it’s pretty limited to 1 12” MFD. The later years, have a larger area that could handle 2.

I stayed with Raymarine, but as technology has progressed, Garmin is a great option. You will need to also replace the radar if you upgrade the MFD...the old analog units are not compatible.

I went with a closed dome Doppler Radar as the in close performance and collision prevention are awesome. If you going offshore or fishing, You might consider open Arrays, but you lose the Doppler functions.

Basically, you’ll need a new MFD, new radar and new autopilot.

12” MFD $3k
Radar Dome $2k
Autopilot $1.5k
Install and network item $500...

The integration is pretty much plug and play these days.
Click to expand...

If you stay with Raymarine the ST7001 will work with it so you eliminate having to replace that. Everything else has to be swapped out though. I put a 12" axiom and a 7" axiom on mine. If you change manufacturers then you need all compatible equipment.
 
dtfeld said:
Blown284

The biggest limiting factor on this era boat is the area in the “pod”. I have a 2001, and it’s pretty limited to 1 12” MFD. The later years, have a larger area that could handle 2.

I stayed with Raymarine, but as technology has progressed, Garmin is a great option. You will need to also replace the radar if you upgrade the MFD...the old analog units are not compatible.

I went with a closed dome Doppler Radar as the in close performance and collision prevention are awesome. If you going offshore or fishing, You might consider open Arrays, but you lose the Doppler functions.

Basically, you’ll need a new MFD, new radar and new autopilot.

12” MFD $3k
Radar Dome $2k
Autopilot $1.5k
Install and network item $500...

The integration is pretty much plug and play these days.
Click to expand...

Thank you very much. I've been considering moving to the Garmin equipment mainly because I'm most familiar with it. Does your raymarine equipment MFD have auto routing in it? Sure, I know, you end up having to change waypoints because it's not perfect but love that feature on my previous unit.

I don't plan on going offshore or fishing much. Cruising boat.
 
mratlndmrk said:
If you stay with Raymarine the ST7001 will work with it so you eliminate having to replace that. Everything else has to be swapped out though. I put a 12" axiom and a 7" axiom on mine. If you change manufacturers then you need all compatible equipment.
Click to expand...

Do you like that equipment? Have all the features you need/want?
 
FullSizeRender.jpg
check out the recent Forbes story on Garmin being hacked with malware. Garmin Connect is not working and this is creating issues for pilots according to the article. Would be good to understand the issue before plowing ahead. Also, does it affect the software used by marine customers? I don't know the answer but would want to be knowledgeable before spending 25k on a new suit of instruments.
 
sbw1 said:
View attachment 89240 check out the recent Forbes story on Garmin being hacked with malware. Garmin Connect is not working and this is creating issues for pilots according to the article. Would be good to understand the issue before plowing ahead. Also, does it affect the software used by marine customers? I don't know the answer but would want to be knowledgeable before spending 25k on a new suit of instruments.
Click to expand...

If you notice, I'm not 100% bound by Garmin nor should I be. I'm weighing my options. If Raymarine works, can provide similar (or better) functions with a touchscreen MFD and works with my current equipment, .... that would be a home run. :)
 
dtfeld said:
Blown284

The biggest limiting factor on this era boat is the area in the “pod”. I have a 2001, and it’s pretty limited to 1 12” MFD. The later years, have a larger area that could handle 2.

I stayed with Raymarine, but as technology has progressed, Garmin is a great option. You will need to also replace the radar if you upgrade the MFD...the old analog units are not compatible.

I went with a closed dome Doppler Radar as the in close performance and collision prevention are awesome. If you going offshore or fishing, You might consider open Arrays, but you lose the Doppler functions.

Basically, you’ll need a new MFD, new radar and new autopilot.


12” MFD $3k
Radar Dome $2k
Autopilot $1.5k
Install and network item $500...

The integration is pretty much plug and play these days.
Click to expand...

David,
Your numbers are a little optimistic.

This spring I did two axiom pro 12 displays, ev2 auto pilot, raystar 150, eci100 engine gateway plus labor for about $15k before $1500 in Raymarine rebate credits.

if he has a rl vintage chartplotter, he probably should also throw in a new vhf with the DSC function. I don’t think his existing depth setup will work, so he’ll also need a transducer at the least.
 
Henry Boyd said:
David,
Your numbers are a little optimistic.

This spring I did two axiom pro 12 displays, ev2 auto pilot, raystar 150, eci100 engine gateway plus labor for about $15k before $1500 in Raymarine rebate credits.

if he has a rl vintage chartplotter, he probably should also throw in a new vhf with the DSC function. I don’t think his existing depth setup will work, so he’ll also need a transducer at the least.
Click to expand...

Probably. I bought a used MFD. Raymarine has the new Axiom + that has more processor power, haven’t seen the pricing yet. The radome and autopilot is about right I recently purchased the radar and am actively pricing a replacement AP.
 
Blown284 said:
Thank you very much. I've been considering moving to the Garmin equipment mainly because I'm most familiar with it. Does your raymarine equipment MFD have auto routing in it? Sure, I know, you end up having to change waypoints because it's not perfect but love that feature on my previous unit.

I don't plan on going offshore or fishing much. Cruising boat.
Click to expand...

I have the Axiom 12” with a Navionics card. It does auto routing (to an extent, limited due to the lake/bridges I’m boating on/under). Navionics also allows you to use their boating app on an iPad and upload/download routes that you create offline. I think they all have this function, but It’s mostly predicated on Navionics. Raymarine implementation is decent.

I chose to stay with Raymarine because I did my upgrades in phases. If tearing out and going all new. I like Garmin.

raymarine online support is pretty decent, and the phone support saved my but a couple times.
 
Blown284 said:
Do you like that equipment? Have all the features you need/want?
Click to expand...
Personally I do like it. I have it connected to give me all of my engine data as well. I did not buy the upgraded navionics card (with satellite view) but the basic maps are good enough for what I do. I also had a transducer installed so that i could have use the fathometer/fishfinder function. It can also be set up to watch netflix, hulu etc if you have the proper wifi connections and have it connected to your sound system. I'm still learning about the features to this day. To answer your other question, yes it has the auto route function. But Garmin is good also...I have a Garmin MFD on my lobster boat and my center console. But i chose to stick with the Raymarine mostly so I would have to swap out the autopilot (which ironically is not working right now as my autopilot pump died).

Either way you can't go wrong.
 
mratlndmrk said:
Personally I do like it. I have it connected to give me all of my engine data as well. I did not buy the upgraded navionics card (with satellite view) but the basic maps are good enough for what I do. I also had a transducer installed so that i could have use the fathometer/fishfinder function. It can also be set up to watch netflix, hulu etc if you have the proper wifi connections and have it connected to your sound system. I'm still learning about the features to this day. To answer your other question, yes it has the auto route function. But Garmin is good also...I have a Garmin MFD on my lobster boat and my center console. But i chose to stick with the Raymarine mostly so I would have to swap out the autopilot (which ironically is not working right now as my autopilot pump died).

Either way you can't go wrong.
Click to expand...


Thank you very much! I'm assuming that the new Raymarine stuff will plug and play with all the other older stuff that I currently have? So if I decided to go to the Axiom or other Raymarine equipment, I can install it and it will work out of the box?
 
My $0.02, the only thing im using pretty much now is the depth sounder as far as the boat electronics go. I said to hell with expensive and fancy garmin and ray marine stuff; I got myself a samsung galaxy tab 10" tablet with a built in GPS and mounted it on the dash. Im running Navionics as my chart plotter and GPS system, the setup all said and done cost me about $300 and i love it!
 
Raymarine does have autorouting, if you have charts that support it.

I converted my 2002 Raymarine electronics to e97 and e7d MFDs and like them a lot. They have touch screen and knobs to push. The knobs help when it's rough. They integrate with all the existing older stuff as the SeaTalk network was upgraded to SeaTalk NG and to NEMA 2000. I got the Fox engine gateways for my 555 ECM/PCM and now have engine data on the MFDs. Next haul out I'll get a new transducer to take advantage of the new MFDs.
 
One thing I failed to mention is that the PO has a Garmin 740s mounted on the dash too.

My goal is to somehow just make sure that I can use the autopilot for now but setup a route from the Garmin and have the autopilot follow it. Is that a possibility for me with my current setup?

Eventually I will replace the RL80C and radar but due to such a large purchase, I can’t afford to rip & replace all the electronics.

Thoughts?
 
Hey Tim any updates on your electronics quest?
Thanks in advance.
 
DB360 said:
Hey Tim any updates on your electronics quest?
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

Yes, sorta. I've obtained a garmin 8610xsv to replace thr outdated garmin 740s for now. Still looking at other options when I install the new Garmin.
 
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