Navigator II - Repair or Replace

[Aerobaticflyer]

It appears my Navigator II system took a dump as many have told me it would. I have a scattered pixel screen when powering up. I did the off on off on reboots and pulled the unit so I could check for loose connections but no luck. Unless there is a more advanced reset process I guess I'm looking to change out to a Garmin. I have the RaymarineC120 unit and like it but want the redundancy of another chatplotter / GPS / depthfinder anfd like what I read about the Garmins.

My question....has anyone else done a change out and what unit did you go with? Can you share how costly it may be on the installation side?

Thanks everone!

 

[Sum Escape]

I am in the process of upgrading to a Garmin 4212. Will be leaving Navigator II installed as back up GPS/Plotter but radar will be Garmin. (I had a new hard drive installed a couple summers ago and it has worked fine since but it is still an older PC and we all know what that means....thus my decision to upgrade).
This upgrade reguires a new radar array which is one of the bigger ticket items. My bill will be north of $6k with XM weather, etc.
Faria instruments is selling the Maestro, an upgraded Navigator as they bought out Maptech. The Koden array you have for your Navigotor will work with this unit. I think they are asking about $3,800 for the Maestro. I didn't do it because IMHO I believe hard drives and voltage drops (ie when cranking your diesels) don't mix and long term will not have the life and reliability. Faria also will repair your Navigator if you are interested in doing that. There is a link for repair service on this page. Good luck.
http://www.faria-instruments.com/maestro_short.php

 

[SeaSparks]

I never was a fan of the Navigator series. I had a customer that wanted one on his Meridian, since he had it on his SR. Maptech said they couldn't support them anymore, because the tech who designed the systems left the company. It was scary that they had all their eggs in one basket, with such a large and expensive piece of equipment.

The garmin stuff is top notch, and the radar and sounder will blow the koden stuff out of the water.

 

[Mthor]

I got rid of my Navigator two years ago after many crashes of the hard drive - not to mention it is no longer supported by the manufacturer. I went with another C120 Raymarine and now have dual C120's. It gives me some reduncancy in case of unit failure. I use the chartplotter and fishfinder on the one unit and radar and satellite weather on the other. I love the set up.

 

[Aerobaticflyer]

I like what Mthor did and there's lot's to be said for the compatability of two like systems. Since my C120 handles my radar and auto pilot needs a second unit could do depth and chartplotting redundancy. I know I don't want to put any $$$ into the Navigator as I agree with others.....a Windows based outdated PC with little tech support in a harsh marine environment is not something I want to perpetuate.

I have to look at the Garmin's functions and see if it's what I want to pursue. Any idea of the labor cost to change out the Navigator anyone?

Thanks

 

[Sum Escape]

You are lucky that you have the Raymarine array. Get another C-120 and have the redundancy.
To answer your question, my total labor cost to install a new array, sounder, display, etc is a little less than $1,000.

 

[Sum Escape]

It appears my Navigator II system took a dump as many have told me it would. I have a scattered pixel screen when powering up. I did the off on off on reboots and pulled the unit so I could check for loose connections but no luck. Unless there is a more advanced reset process I guess I'm looking to change out to a Garmin. I have the RaymarineC120 unit and like it but want the redundancy of another chatplotter / GPS / depthfinder anfd like what I read about the Garmins.

My question....has anyone else done a change out and what unit did you go with? Can you share how costly it may be on the installation side?

Thanks everone!

Check out this thread for more info on Navigator replacement or repair. Good luck, I like my new Garmin. Sold Maptech/Koden array on ebay.
http://clubsearay.com/forum/showthread.php?t=27357