Why does RayMarine 10kw radar require 24v but others don't? - The Hull Truth

Onewolf · 06-22-2005, 10:30 AM

I'm planning to purchase a raymarine radar antenna soon for my C120. It will be either the 4kw or 10kw 48" open array. I had the Raymarine 10kw on my previous boat and I had several (failure) issues with the 12v-24v converter. I've always been curious why Raymarine requires a 24v power source for their 10kw antenna yet other companies (Furuno, Simrad) can produce 10-12kw radars that can use 12v power sources.

Also, does anyone have recommendations for a 12v-24v converter?

Thanks.

Doug

yachtjim · 06-22-2005, 11:38 AM

Try these:* http://www.analyticsystems.com/converters.htm

We have not had a failure reported back to us yet which is a good sign.

JAGSARE1 · 06-22-2005, 10:10 PM

The simple answer OneWolf is because Raymarine sucks. Heck, you had problems with the Raymarine unit you had, why go through that again. You can buy their new products and be a Raymarine guniea pig and put up with all their issues. OR, go with Furuno. I learned that lesson and recently went all Furuno. No problems so far. After seeing so many comment on Furuno customer service, I am confident that if I do have a problem, Furuno will be there to help. Raymarine never has been.

Tightline Rod's · 06-22-2005, 11:32 PM

Come on Jags tell us how you really feel !!!!!!!
...lol...

Oh Yea jim your link does not work ..lol......

John

cravenMH · 06-23-2005, 07:50 AM

The 6kw and 12kw Simrad combo units also require a 24vdc supply.

Wildfish · 06-23-2005, 08:20 AM

and............Furuno NavNet vx2 has a 25kW unit that runs off either 12 or 24V DC........watch the birdies!

kingair · 06-23-2005, 05:23 PM

Yea but Furuno's website looks like a porn video from the 60's.

OBXSquid · 06-23-2005, 08:00 PM

Without getting too deep into electronics, its mostly about current. Sorry you had a bad experience with your last converter; even though JAGS thinks its RMs fault. The current draw of a 24VDC device is about half that of a 12VDC device.

kingair · 06-23-2005, 11:09 PM

And btw, Raymarine Tech support is top notch.

jclaude · 06-24-2005, 01:24 PM

Raymarine has provided superb technical on the rare occassions that I have needed it, and all of my electronics are Raymarine.

SeaNile · 06-24-2005, 04:56 PM

You guys might have to wait for next season to hear my reviews of RayMarine but I just plopped down a nice chunck of change for a RayMarine system, including two E-120's, B260, 4kW radar, etc. I've been shopping for electronics for about a year and feel confident in my decision.

--JK

JAGSARE1 · 06-24-2005, 11:26 PM

Guys, if you have been on here for awhile, you already know that I hate Raymarine. They screwed me plain and simple. I take great pleasure in steering as much business away from them as possible. In the years since they screwed me, I beleive that I have steered close to $100K in business away from them including the $10K I just spent. Too long a story to go into here but...they suck in my opinion.

I will even give an update. Someone from Raymarine watches this forum and contacted me. I told him honestly and upfront that if he were to give me what I needed Free, I wouldn't accept it. BUT, I offered him something that would help them and not personally benefit me at all. I offered them the opportunity to become a sponsor of a fishing tournament I co-run(www.offshoreblitz.com) and they would have my word that I would not say another negative word. I thought it was a great deal, advertisement, support a great tournament that would gain them business and stop some public negative comments(I am good at my word) and guess what...no surprise that they do what they always do...no response...dead silence. Never heard another word from the gutless Raymarine rep. If they would have simply had the guts to respond and say no, that would have been something.

It isn't hard to see what is going on with them. Just watch this board for any length of time and look at all the problems with Raymarine products. That isn't me making it up, it is a fact that they are problem prone. Raymarine is kinda like a Ferrari or a Lambo or some other exotic car. They look great and perform great...the few times they aren't in the shop. But mostly, they are broken and not working, at least that was my experience and by all the problems I see from other people, nothing has changed.

I don't feel bad at all to continue to bad mouth Raymarine. They earned my disdain.

Reeltronics Rob · 06-25-2005, 02:04 AM

I am sorry to disagree with you, I am going to give you the benefit of the doubt here. But what exactly was your beef with RM?

I have not been on this board long so bear with me. However, I install marine electronics for a living, and I speak to RM regularly for changes and input on different systems. They have always provided me with good tech support, and I really cannot bad mouth the equipment.

Please help me get up to date on your complaint with RM. I apologize for my ignorance, but as I said, I just started with this board.

First Light · 06-25-2005, 08:36 AM

JAGS no one needs your negative comments. You say Raymarine sucks. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and it's obvious that no one cares about yours.

SeaNile · 06-25-2005, 05:33 PM

Jags-

Thanks for the input. I for one appreciate all comments and am realistic enough to realize that there are going to be bad experiences with all products. That really sucks for you because it sounds like you gave them a fair chance. I'll be up to my eyeballs with RayMarine stuff next week when it's delivered and will be installing everything fairly soon.

If every comment on here was how great something is this site would be useless. Hey, could be worse, I could be installing this 15K of RayMarine stuff on a CAT. Just kidding.....

--JK

ave8er · 06-25-2005, 10:42 PM

I don't care who you are, thats funny right there! Could be worse, could be a CAT! You are killing me!
I have about 10K of flawless Raymarine equip and when I needed tech service it was top notch.

luresdouble · 06-25-2005, 11:00 PM

You say that if they had sponsored a fish tournament that you would not bad mouth them anymore. There is a word for that, it's called EXTORTION. Lets see, you openly admit you bad mouth them on a public forum, and after doing that you can't understand why they wouldn't followup on your extortion offer to stop bad mouthing them if they sponsor your fish tounament. You're a funny guy.

JAGSARE1 · 06-27-2005, 01:07 AM

luresdouble, definitely not extortion but a reasonable business deal and an offer that would clear the air and benefit them and the tournament and not me personally. "extort - to obtain from a person by force" I certainly didn't force them to do anything. Just offered them a mutually beneficial business deal. Certainly more than they deserved. By the way, lures, they asked me the question of what could they do to get me to stop. I didn't ask for money, I didn't ask for product(free or otherwise), I asked for something that I honestly thought would benefit Raymarine and the anglers in this tournament. I thought it a very unselfish gesture on my part. They asked me, I didn't ask them.

First Light - what do you think this board is but peoples opinion and experience? What you got was not my opinion but my experience...big difference. I beg to differ that no one cares, over the last few years, many many boat owners have stayed away from Raymarine due to my experience. The truth is, I don't really care who cares. People read this board to help make decisions, would you be happier if I said how great they are even though that is a complete lie? I tried every equitable solution with them and got nowhere. This is how I fight back. I also give glowing comments when deserved. I have negative opinions of some products but don't sound off about them because sometimes things happen but Raymarine had 2 years worth of opportunity to make an offer to a customer with a product that did not work. They ignored me, lied to me and ultimately stuck me with a radar that never worked correctly and mostly didn't work at all.

Reeltronics, I appreciate you trying to find the problem. Honestly, it isn't worth the time to explain it again. Suffice to say that I had an ongoing radar problem that Raymarine wouldn't or couldn't fix and then they tried to blame it on my installation. I came to an agreement with them that I would pay for a Raymarine installer of their choice to take a look, if I was wrong, my fault, I would effect the repairs but if there were no installation problem, they would both pay for the installer to check it out and find a proper fix for the radar. After doing that, and finding no problems with the installation, they sent me a letter that said on the day the warranty expired, they would not repair it again. The gentlemen that they are, they reneged on our agreement. Every single repair was for the EXACT same thing, same problem, it was never fixed and never functional. I made repeated offers to get me taken care of and instead of working toward a solution, they just said no to each offer. By the way, I wasn't asking for anything free, offers were things like swap the units, upgrade me to another radar and I will pay the difference , do anything...but they did nothing but continue to lie and put me off. The thing that upset me the most was that the Raymarine installer told me that my problem was a well known problem inside Raymarine and that most people with continual problems like mine were replaced with new units which were supposedly not problematic, I was never offered that. I specifically asked for it and they said that program didn't exist...another lie. Too much water under the bridge for them to do anything for me. It's a shame, I had complete documentation including some of their negative letters to me but I lost it all in a computer crash earlier this year. Every repair, the cost to package and ship back over and over, the amount of time off my boat getting repaired(off the boat more than on over the first year I had it), etc.

I'll say again, they EARNED my comments. No fabrications, no exaggerations, no lies, I just relate my experience and the facts are the facts. I will continue to say what my experience was.