[C320-list] Kudos to Simrad, shame on Raymarine

[Ralph Winkler]

Jon,

I've come to the conclusion that the technology evolution of electronics in 
our boats is no different then it is with our pc computers, cell phones and 
audio products.  The problem for us sail boaters is that to keep pace the 
cost for us is probably the highest just due to lower numbers sold vs. 
manufacturing costs to produce.  Understand, I'm not on RM's payroll.

Since 1990 I've lived through the transition of Autohelm/Raytheon/Raymarine, 
or ST50, ST60, ST60+ and now ST70, on three boats, our C320 Wind Dancer '96 
#394 was second and now a little '04 25 ft. Lobster boat in Punta Gorda, FL. 
Over this time period I've had to contact their tech support for various 
reasons, yours included, and have found them knowledgeable and responsive. 
I did learn, the hard way, that during the America's Cup or other big scale 
events the support system seems to fall into overload mode and also this is 
not a good time to send in a product for "fast turn around" service.

Today, Wind Dancer has a '96 Autohelm 4000W (Drive), and GPS Navstation, 
'04 - ST 60+, D/S, W, AP Brain, '05 - C80 Plotter w/ Radar and now Rudder 
and they all talk to each other.  In my opinion, this is what is GREAT about 
Raymarine that with 11 years of accumulated "stuff" I'm able to add/subtract 
components and still have them all integrated and work together.  In the end 
that has saved me extra expense of wholesale retrofits.

Unfortunately, the next bullet will be the AP drive system and a new series 
is being introduced late this summer.

Ralph H. Winkler

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jon Vez" <jonvez at comcast.net>
To: <C320-List at Catalina320.com>
Sent: Wednesday, July 02, 2008 7:00 AM
Subject: Re: [C320-list] Kudos to Simrad, shame on Raymarine


> Lew,
>
> Since I just happened to have a reason to contact Raymarine this week, 
> I'll
> add my two cents...Last week I noticed my ST60 anemometer turning more
> slowly than others and in very light wind at the dock not turning at all. 
> I
> contacted RM and asked if there was something I could do short of 
> returning
> the unit for repair--they responded that the ST60 is now 'retired' but 
> they
> would look at it, and yes it had to be returned. I had to return the unit 
> a
> year after I bought the boat (new) for the same reason so I feared this
> would be the case. Although I have found them competent and fine to work
> with, I agree that that their product life cycle is very frustrating given
> they have such a large amount of product out there!
>
> Regards,
>
> Jon Vez
> Solstice #582
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: c320-list-bounces at lists.catalina320.com
> [mailto:c320-list-bounces at lists.catalina320.com] On Behalf Of
> sailorlew at aol.com
> Sent: Tuesday, July 01, 2008 7:58 PM
> To: C320-List at Catalina320.com
> Subject: [C320-list] Kudos to Simrad, shame on Raymarine
>
>
> ?Last week I helped a friend bring his Tartan 37 from Amityville, NY(south
> shore of LI) to Huntington, NY(north shore of LI). The trip which is
> aproximately 80 miles long consisted of exiting Jone Inlet into the 
> Atlantic
> Ocean, running west along the shore to New York Harbor, up the East River
> through Hell Gate(hit 12 knots riding the current) into Long Island sound
> going east to Huntington Harbor. The trip was quite enjoyable but this 
> note
> is really not about the trip. When he bought the boat 5 years ago it came
> with a Navico autopilot that sometimes worked, & sometimes didn't work. 
> This
> winter he sent the unit back to Simrad who had bought Navico, to see if it
> could be reapaired. Even though Simrad no longer manufactures any
> autopilots, they refurbished the unit for what I consider a very 
> reasonable
> $200. Over the 12 hour trip it worked flawlessly, at one point needing a
> course correction in order to not hit a buoy that we had set course for 2
> hours earlier. Consider this c
> ustomer service compared to Raymarine who still makes autopilots that are
> similar to the 4000 that many of us have but are unable to have them
> repaired because Raymarine no longer supports this unit. Their suggestion,
> buy a new one. Shame on them.
> Lew
>
>
> -- 
> This message has been scanned for viruses and
> dangerous content by MailScanner, and is
> believed to be clean.
>
>