Lowrance vs. Raymarine support and reliability

[Ken O]

Time to add a chartplotter. I have an older unit that works fine for everything but responds very slowly with the latest Navionics charts. I'll keep it installed as a backup. I also want a unit that will show AIS targets from my VHF via NMEA 2000. I've narrowed the choices down to a Raymarine Axiom unit and a Lowrance Elite unit. Both will do the job and the prices are similar.

My questions are:
1) If you have a Raymarine or Lowrance plotter, how reliable has it been?
2) If you have ever called tech support, customer service, or warranty repair for either of these companies, how would you rate their help?

My old Lowrance unit works fine considering its age (15+ years), I like the interface, and their tech support has been very good. I just wonder if the newer units are as reliable.

Thanks for your thoughts.

 

[ssobol]

I was looking at a new chartplotter last fall. I found that there are not as many manufacturers as brands. Turns out the Navico makes a number of different brands of chartplotter and they all work pretty much the same.

 

[thataway]

I was looking at a new chartplotter last fall. I found that there are not as many manufacturers as brands. Turns out the Navico makes a number of different brands of chartplotter and they all work pretty much the same.

That is correct--but some of the "more expensive" brands have more features. Lawrence (lower end fishing/recreational), Simard (Recreational and Commercial), Brooks and Gatehouse (geared more toward sailboats) and C maps charting.

I currently have Raymarine with Axiom Chart plotters (one is hybrid, the other is touch screen only), with the Axiom radar. 15 years ago I would have strongly advised against Raymarine. Then FLIR bought the company. The product and service improved markedly. When I bought "Seaweed" now Thataway, she had relatively new Ray Marine Axiom plotter and an auto pilot. I added a second plotter/finder and the radar. It has been relatively trouble free. The technical support was good, with a good forum.

Raymarine was for sale in 2020. Then FLIR itself was purchased by Teledyne in early January this year--including Raymarine. So far there seem to be little changes in customer service or the product. New products are being introduced, and the support seems good.

I find the use slightly more difficult than Garmin, which I consider the most user friendly. However, I find the map (Navionics--now owned by Garmin) to be excellent, as well as the less expensive "Lighthouse maps" by Raymarine.

I have heard some complaints about Navico products--but one tends to hear the problem rather than the good things.

If I was choosing between the two, I would go with Raymarine. I had mostly Navico products on my Tom Cat 255. It was an experiment. They were the first to come out with a recreational affordable digital/solid state radar.

 

[Ken O]

Bob - Thanks again for the detail. I am considering the Axiom 7. Do you use AIS? From what I can see in the Raymarine manual, AIS looks a bit like an afterthought. I would like all AIS vessels to overlay on the chart, not just the "dangerous" ones.

 

[hardee]

Ken, You can get the AIS to your plotter from an AIS receive equipped VHF. I have 2 that do that to my C-120 RayMarine. I had to have them go through a multiplexor due to having other things being input as well and my old RayMarine plotter only had ports for 3 inputs :roll: but back then that was plenty for most users.

If you get AIS to the plotter, the Dangerous ones vs the "everybody" is done through filtering of your AIS receiver. (I have to admit I have not looked at new stuff recently but . . . .) If you are going for full AIS transponder (send and receive, which I would highly recommend, I would look at Vesper. My Vesper Watchmate is rock solid and very adjustable (filters) for what you are looking at.

If you already have a VHF radio, Good. And if it does not have AIS receive, that OK too, because now y8ou can add a second radio with AIS receive and you have done yourself TWO favors. AIS and a second VHF. (There is lots of discussion on the site about having a second radio.)

AS to the dangerous ones, The AIS can sort that our for you in half of less than a heartbeat, (as with the digital radar that color codes the incoming vs the outgoing or stationary targets) and in some areas that may be nice. I love and use my AIS all the time, and having it transmit has been beneficial in several instances.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon

 

[thataway]

I do not have AIS on the chart plotter, only on the Standard Horizon screen, which is very small. On the C 'Dory 22 we had a 5" older chart plotter dedicated to AIS receive. I have had as many as 30 AIS targets when on San Francisco Bay. You really only want those which are pertinent to your course.

I have a 7" and a 9". I run the 9" 1/2 on Radar and 1/2 on about the same range chart plotter. Although it will do nice overlay, I have been using radar for over 45 years, so I do a mental overlay. (I used to have to do radar plotting on paper..)

I agree with Harvey. If I was in an area with lots of Shipping I would consider Watchman by Vespar. But I also would consider B+:

Class B+, otherwise known as Class B SOTDMA or Class B 5W, bridges the gap between Class A and Class B transponders, offering clear advantages for some types of vessels and applications.

Class B+ uses the same SOTDMA technology as Class A and therefore has the same priority when it comes to reserving a time slot, guaranteeing that it will always be able to transmit, even in busy AIS congested waters.

The AIS B+ takes a bit more "rigging" but I believe in a crowded harbor would be well worth the effort. Units start in the $800 range, for the black box transceiver.

If you just want to display what you currently get from a VHF radio, then hook up your old Lowarance NMEA O183 works fine there.

 

[hardee]

Agree with the B+ AIS. If I was adding AIS now that would be the way to go. More frequent reporting, and higher output power (5 watts instead of 2).

If you want a larger screen on a VHF AIS Receiver, go with the ICOM M-506. That screen is half again as big as the Standard Horizon and the menu on the ICOM is SOOoooooo Easy to use.

The Watchman has great filtering, for AIS targets that are a concern, with colored targets inside the alarm window. It is on of the easiest of my electronics to use.

See this paper for a good description of the AIS and AIS B+ advantages:
https://www.cactusnav.com/files/ClassB_ ... _Paper.pdf

Harvey
SleepyC:moon

 

[Ken O]

Thanks for all the info. I think I know enough now to decide.

 

[Ken O]

While searching and comparing, I found that Defender is selling a bunch of Lowrance Hook and Hook Reveal models cheap. They do not network and are not touchscreen, but I bought a 7" Hook Reveal with transponder and Navionics Nav+ charts for $360. There's a $100 rebate, so $260 for the unit. This meets my needs. I'll run the AIS to the old plotter for now.

 

[kaelc]

That’s a great price, almost to cheap. Sounds like the 7 is a great deal. I’ve never had any issue in 7 years with Lowrance HDS units gen 2-3 and now carbon.

 

[thataway]

Navico was just purchased by Brunswick. The same company which makes Merc outboards and bowling balls. (So both RayMarine and Navico have been sold in the last few months. It will be interesting to see what happens to the product lines.