What do I do with my RL80??

[Mitch]

First Happy Holidays and best wishes for 2008.

Here is my Dilemma. I have a 2001 Sea Ray 380 SD. Its time to upgrade the electronics, but I have the full original Raymarine Radar package, plus the two dash board units (GPS and Data), plus Auto-Pilot. The complete package except the screen is not color.

I know even if I stay with Raymarine the Radar also needs to go. It also seems that given that this is a vertical unit and all the new ones are horizontal it seems the largest screen I can get is the 8.4". Is my assumption correct?

If I am correct with my dimensional math then my logical choices would be the Garmin 4008 or the Raymarine C80 or E80.

Has anyone tried something different?

Will the other Raymarine dash units work(I know I still would need the existing Raymaine GPS attenna)?

Once we decide which size works, any preferences?

I will be adding the radar unit as well whether its a Garmin or Raymarine. I have read the reviews, but nothing is more valuable than the tips from existing SR owners and even better from 380 owners. Sorry for all the questions, but the sales people have confused me.

Thanks for your help. Feel free to email me at medical987@yahoo.com if you have any images or added info that is hard to post.

Once I sort this out I would have an RL80C with Radar for sale....LOL..

Thanks Mitch

 

[WFYB]

First - why not post a photo of your helm. This will help us understand your space constraints.

We just completed an electronics update. You can see a photo and view other discussions at

http://clubsearay.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5680


I have owned both Garmin and Raymarine. Garmin makes a great unit. They are easy and intuitive to use and perform great. The touch screen unit is extremely cool. The one negative I saw with the Garmin was a lack of home planning software. I decided to stick with Raymarine primarily because I am used to the interface and I liked that I could seamlessly import all my stored routs and waypoints using the home planning SW, (C-Map PCNT and Raytech Planner).

Remember you will most likely have to replace the depth sensor, gps antenna and the sounder module along with the radome. Raymarine has some nice bundles with steep discounts on their C120 units. Also have a look at the remanufactured units Jim is offering.

http://clubsearay.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5609

We were able to put together a E120 system that ended up only $120 more then a C120 bundle.

 

[fc3]

Remember you will most likely have to replace the depth sensor, gps antenna and the sounder module along with the radome.

Actually, you may not need to replace anything other than the radome. The radar scanner from 5 or so years ago are not compatible with the new display units. However the GPS sensors, depth sounders, and other various components are usually either NMEA 0183 compatible or SeaTalk compatible. You just plug them into the correct sockets. For example, there were three varieties of GPS "antennas". One output NMEA 0183 sentences. One output SeaTalk data. The last type would only interface to the GPS 300 type display. If you have a 300 series GPS display and want to get rid of it to make room for new stuff, you must change the sensor. Otherwise if you have, for example, a 508 sensor you can reuse it, since it probably outputs NMEA 0183. But if you want the more accurate WAAS positioning data, you'll need to replace the sensor.

Best regards,
Frank

 

[WFYB]

Now that I think about it Frank is probably correct. I was thinking from the viewpoint of replacing my SeaRay navigator.

 

[barryg]

I've had both the Raymarine E80 in my last boat -a Doral, and just put in a Garmin 5208 touch screen in my 320. There are great aspects of each, but since you are most familiar with Raymarine you might want to stick with them. Both my Raymarine and Garmin are also hooked up to a reverse color camera I installed, as well as the TV below and either can be displayed on the screen at any time or in combination with chartplotter, sonar etc. You will need to upgrade the Sonar package with either and the Radar as well. I had the small Raydome 2kw 18" Raymarine on the Doral, and Garmin's small 18" is actually a little more powerful at 4kw.

Of course you can connect either one to your VHF DSC which is an important feature, so if your VHF does not have DSC you might want to upgrade that at the same time.

Good luck and take pictures so you can post and show us.
Happy New Year!
Barry

 

[searaycruisn]

RL80....is that the CRT model? I had the CRT model (don't remember if it was R80, or RL80) in my 2000 380 SD. I swapped it out for an RL80CRC which is the flat screen color model with the large display (12 inch?).

Everything was plug and play....all I did was swap out the display, and ended up with a color unit. The radar scanner was compatible, and I hooked it up to the autopilot, same as the original unit.

That is an easy fix....you will need to enlarge the hole in the dash a bit to get the larger unit to fit.

 

[Mitch]

Just want thank those that replied. I will try to post an image of my dash with th present equipment.

Just wondering if any 2001 380SD owner have upgraded to the newer electronic technology and their choices.

Thanks

Mitch

 

[Mitch]

Some have asked what my current dash looks like. Here is a photo of the RL80 I want to replace.

Thanks

 

[Robski97]

Mitch,
I may havea buyer for ur RL 80. LEt me know how much u want for it . Email me at First@nyc.rr.com


Rob

 

[fc3]

RL80....is that the CRT model? I had the CRT model (don't remember if it was R80, or RL80) in my 2000 380 SD. I swapped it out for an RL80CRC which is the flat screen color model with the large display (12 inch?).

No
RL80RC =
R for Raymarine (formerly Raytheon)
L for LCD display (No, L? It's CRT)
80 for 8" display
RC for RayChart (can display charts)

if it's an RL80CRC the first C stands for Color.
There's some extra differences. If it was packaged with a 2 kw radome, you could have a RL72RC where the 2 is 2KW and the 7 is the smaller 7' LCD display with charting.

Best regards,
Frank

 

[osd9]

Frank:

The RL80's are 10.4" displays...diagnolly I think...

 

[fc3]

You're right. The "8" has some meaning for display size, but I guess I don't remember what it is.

Best regards,
Frank