Conversion to all-digital helm on a 2007 370

oscar1

I notice I am not the only one with a lot of antennas in our roof   

LaRea

The hatches were factory.  To be honest, I don't use them very much.  

oscar1

I have a new camera for a night navigation, but it doesn't  work very well at high speed, its main purpose is to watch my dingy at night when it is seating in the bow of the boat in her slept. In my opinion if you are going to be boating at night, you need to have a radar and a AIS transporter. my two cents 

oscar1

LaRea

I made one last mod to the center panel.  After I installed the two i70 displays, I realized the angle was wrong.  I couldn't read them from a seated position, and they were reflecting sunlight directly into my eyes.  So I built two bezels to angle the displays closer to vertical.  Now the angle is just right ... I can read them without standing up, but they don't block my view of the chartplotter.  



Each one is made from a single piece of 1/2" starboard.  I cut grooves in the back, heated them up, and folded them so the corners are seamless.  It's held to the main panel with two small screws and a 1/16" bead of black butyl tape. 

It would have been easier with 1/4" starboard, but 1/2" is what I had lying around the shop.   

Aqua_Aura

This is good to see. Those starboard boxes are basically the same thing I am doing for my chartplotter. Nice to see one complete. 

TonyG13

Nice job!

aero3113

Nice @LaRea !!

LaRea

The right angle bends required a bit of trial and error.  Cut a few practice pieces first.  Between the two 45-degree cuts, I left a section about 3/16" wide and 1/8" thick.  Then I heated it with a heat gun, bent it, and clamped it with a wood clamp until the width was correct.  And if you're doing an angled bezel like mine, you'll have to cut the angles before you bend the corners.  

Buy enough material for at least one do-over!

YYZRC

Very slick. Well played!!

Does the butyl tape stick to the starboard long term?

LaRea

I only have a couple months of experience using butyl tape to bond starboard, but it does seem to bond really well.  

When I was test-fitting the main panel in April, I just tacked in place with two little 1-inch strips of butyl tape.  It held fine for two months.  Today I put it in "semi-permanently" with a 1/8" bead all the way around the bottom.  It is extremely firm.  I will probably need a pry bar to take it off.  

If it holds up for a year, I'll declare victory, but it's looking good so far.  

Aqua_Aura

I didn't realize butyl tape would hold things together so we'll, thought it just sealed?

LaRea

It's like combining the stickiness of chewing gum with the releasability of Silly Putty.  You want to talk about technology from alien civilizations ... case in point.  

03rinker310fv

Nice set up 

Corral42

LaRea said:

 

I also took out the MercMonitors and replaced them with Raymarine i70 displays in a custom panel with a phone charger-mount in the center.  This mod involved removing the compass and installing a dash-mount at the right side.  It's a work in progress:  the i70 displays are hard to read from that angle, so I need to tilt them down more.

what do these displays give you that vessel view doesn't?

LaRea

@Corral42 - it's the same information as VesselView, but it lets me use the VesselView as a second chartplotter instead of an engine monitor.

On the Raymarine MFD, I show the chart with radar overlay, but it's zoomed in to a small area immediately around the boat.  This is my collision avoidance display that shows objects in my path.  

On the VV, I also show a chart, but zoomed out to maybe 2-3 miles.  This is my navigation display.  

And the i70 displays show me the engine data I need:  RPM, temps, pressures, etc.

TonyG13

Hey @LaRea -

I can't for the life of me figure out how to overlay my radar on the chart. I have the Raymarine manual (all 424 pages of it) - and I thought I followed all the procedures, but still nothing.

So I wind up just doing a split screen (chart on left, radar on right).

So how do I display the chart full screen and then overlay radar, or is it radar full screen and chart overlay?

And maybe somewhere it said you have to be underway for it to work? Can't test/use it while sitting at the dock?

Any advise is appreciated.

reneechris14

Yes you need to be underway. Or have a heading sensor.
I'll  try, chart full screen, menu select overlay, goto radar fill screen start radar then back to chart full screen overlay should come on.
My unit is the A98.

LaRea

@TonyG13 Which MFD do you have? 

It's a full-screen chart with radar overlaid on the chart.  If your system has a heading sensor, the overlay will work when stationary. 

Some older models like my old C80 could do overlay using only GPS (no heading sensor), but the boat had to be underway so it could calculate heading from the GPS track.  However, I think Raymarine eliminated that option years ago, so you need a heading sensor to do the overlay.  

If you don't have a heading sensor, it would be worth adding one.  Overlay is a fantastic safety feature.  

TonyG13

Thank you both. I have the Raymarine E97 MFD.

So if I understand this correctly, if I have no heading sensor, I should be able to overlay once underway and if I have a heading sensor it should work at the dock.

I found this on page 242 of the manual: "Note: A GPS receiver and a fast heading sensor are required for MARPA operation. A GPS receiver is required for Radar overlay in the Chart application."

Since I know I have GPS, I'll try the underway method, which is a little weird because I'll have to fiddle with the screen/settings and keep watch at the same time to get it set up. Maybe I'll have the Admiral take the helm while I play with the MFD.

Then my other step is to see if I have a sensor - and to see if it's connected?

LaRea

OK, so it's modern-generation gear.  If you can spare $600, add an EV-1 sensor core.  It will be worth the cost.  

Check this link:
https://forum.raymarine.com/showthread.php?tid=11400

But you have to recognize that overlay from COG will not be as accurate as from a heading sensor -- especially at no-wake speeds.

LaRea

And that's the gotcha.  If you're driving at night through a minefield of crab pots, you're at no-wake speed.  That's when  you need accuracy, but that's when an overlay based on GPS COG is least accurate.  

reneechris14

Yes you are correct at slow speed I get a warning on the screen works OK in no wake zone but once you spin to dock it goes away. I have no sensor. A78 unit only. 

TonyG13

Thanks guys - I will have to put the sensor on the wish list.  Admiral has prioritized some honey-do chores for the house.

reneechris14

LaRea

That's what I had on the 342 with a Raymarine C80 MFD.  Worked great.  Installation is harder than the new networked sensors.  

TonyG13

Will the boat go 88 MPH when I hit 1.21 gigawatts of power with that Fluxgate? 

LaRea

Yes! 

But if you don't have 1.21 gigawatts available, get the EV-1 sensor.  It's the same technology, and it's compatible with your SeaTalk or NMEA2k network.  And if you decide to add a Raymarine autopilot, you'll have one less component to buy!

tricountytrail

Getting lots of ideas from your set up. I have a new to me 2005 Rinker Fiesta Vee 360.
I have the Simrad GO9 XSE. I will be adding the smart craft junction boxes and integrating that into the nema2000 bus, Then hope fully using the simrad to display vv readings. If this works out I would like to update to a bigger chartplotter and use the GO9 to display engine data only, and a backup plotter or even add radar/auto pilot. Any thoughts or recommendations.

I'm in the same mindset as you love to do all my own labor and tech. I believe I have been asking you about carpets, Trying to determine if our floorplans are the same? Any pics you could message me? 

LaRea Alexandria VirginiaMember Posts: 6,560 ✭✭✭✭✭

April 2021 edited April 2021

YYZRC

@tricountytrail that’s exactly what I did last summer and I’m really happy.