Simrad Instruments??

[Loren Beach]

I have been reading over the specs (on the Sailnet.com site and on the
manufacturer's URL) on these and they look promising as replacements
for my aging and increasingly less-reliable Datamarine Corinthian round
face instruments.
Have any of you tried 'em, or heard from any sailor who has?
Thanks,
Loren

 

[Andy Rogers]

Loren,

Unfortunately, I have no news to provide about the Simrad instruments. But from doing lots of window shopping I would have the following comments:

1. Looks: The round face simrad instruments are really pretty and don't look so 'plasticy' as other brands.

2. System integration: If you plan on networking lots of different units, then you need to consider other electronics besides the usual kts/wind/depth combination. I know that if you go with a full RayMarine installation then all the units including gps, radar, etc. can feed information to each other more efficiently than if you mix brands.

Let us know what you decide on. I would love to replace my instruments but can't justify it ($$$) until something actually breaks!

Andy

 

[Geoff Johnson]

My boat came with a Robertson, now Simrad, autopilot which is built like a tank and still works after 16 years - much of the time without a cover to protect it from the elements thanks to the PO. Unfortunately, the current Simrad (head) units are plastic, not the aluminum used originally. I also have Corinthian Datamarine instruments which still work well - the depthsounder crapped out, but you can still get the units factory repaired/refurbished and you can still buy transponders. In addition, I see that Datamarine got new financing in September so maybe it will come back. Since I don't really have a need to interface all the insruments with each other, I would like to try to hang onto the Datamarine units.