Raytheon radar, plotter, auto pilot value

[jonsm114]

Looking at a 98 sea Ray 400 express with a Raytheon system. Has not been turned on for 10 years and I would imagine it is as old as the boat.some 16 years old.

can these be updated, as I hope it will work or is it not worth the trouble? Looking at making an offer on the boat.

thanks,

jon

 

[fwebster]

No.

Raytheon was purchased by an employee group and changed the name to Raymarine. Raymarine then had problems with the primary vendor (could have been the other way around) and lost their source for circuit boards when JRC went into competition with them on marine electronics, Now, Raymarine has been acquired by FLIR. The equipment is entirely different as are service and user interface.

You might find an independent electronic service company to service your equipment, but what you have cannot be upgraded since there is no source for the circuit boards and software components that would be needed. If you can make it work, it should function, but Raytheon was never an easy to use system, it will be slow, monocolor, and still out of date. Rather than spend $$ on what you have, you will probably find that a new MFD is more cost effective in terms of results and ease of use. Besides, a new electronics package will add some value to the boat, but any money you spend on the existing Raytheon gear is a sunk cost that you will never recover.

 

[dcpringle]

I have a Raytheon RL80C+ which is color and was updated to latest firmware by the PO. It's has the open array, and autopilot integrated. Everything on my boat is working just fine, and still use both actively. These units are very good units and people still purchase them off of ebay today. You might start there for pricing... As far as installing a new systems with the hopes of increasing value, electronics are more of a preference and what one might love another might not care for as much. Just my two cents.. Hope it helps..

 

[jonsm114]

Thanks Frank.....

No.

Raytheon was purchased by an employee group and changed the name to Raymarine. Raymarine then had problems with the primary vendor (could have been the other way around) and lost their source for circuit boards when JRC went into competition with them on marine electronics, Now, Raymarine has been acquired by FLIR. The equipment is entirely different as are service and user interface.

You might find an independent electronic service company to service your equipment, but what you have cannot be upgraded since there is no source for the circuit boards and software components that would be needed. If you can make it work, it should function, but Raytheon was never an easy to use system, it will be slow, monocolor, and still out of date. Rather than spend $$ on what you have, you will probably find that a new MFD is more cost effective in terms of results and ease of use. Besides, a new electronics package will add some value to the boat, but any money you spend on the existing Raytheon gear is a sunk cost that you will never recover.

 

[RollerCoastr]

The old Raytheon GPS receivers are completely obsolete - they don't know all of the correct satellites to look for, so they can be over a MILE off!

The XX radar on the other hand, while being clumsy as all hell to to use, has impressive performance.

I still use my Raypilot 650. It's not great, but at the price of auto-pilot systems, I won't replace it until it dies.