Raymarine’s new navigation system
Designed for small boats, the A65 is available as a chart plotter or combination plotter/fishfinder
Raymarine’s new navigation system
Designed for small boats, the A65 is available as a chart plotter or combination plotter/fishfinder
Raymarine has developed a new electronic navigation system for small boats, the A65, which will be available as a chart plotter or combination chart plotter/fishfinder.
“We’re going to make a big splash,” says Raymarine product manager Morten Andreasen of the system, which will be introduced at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show (Oct. 27 to 31) and is to start shipping at the end of the year.
Andreasen says the A65 will compete with Garmin’s GPSMAP 2006 and similar systems from Lowrance and Furuno. Advantages of the A65 include preloaded Navionics charts and Raymarine’s patented high-definition digital fishfinder technology, according to Andreasen.
“The idea is to sell the system essentially in two value packs,” he says. One is a GPS/chart plotter, priced at $1,399, which includes a 12-channel satellite differential WAAS/EGNOS GPS sensor and complete Navionics cartography for the coastal United States (on U.S. models). The other, with fishfinder capabilities and priced at $1,749, also includes a remotely mounted 500-watt digital sounder module and a dual-frequency 50/200 kHz transducer. Although loaded with coastal charts, the unit is compatible with other Navionics XL3 Gold charts.
The A65 system has NMEA 0183 input and output. It can record 1,000 GPS waypoints and 50 routes, and an optional CompactFlash memory card offers unlimited waypoint and route storage, according to Raymarine. Its high-resolution 640-by-480-pixel VGA color display is sunlight viewable.
Construction to the IPX7 standard means the unit is submersible to 1 meter for up to 30 minutes. It comes with a sun cover and a standard yoke mounting bracket, with an option for console mounting.
The A65 is part of Raymarine’s entry-level A-Series electronics, Andreasen says. The company also offers midrange C-Series and high-end E-Series products. The radar-capable C70 is closest in configuration to the A65, Andreasen says.
“This is a lower-cost version, if you will, dedicated to the sportfishing market,” says Andreasen. The typical installation will be on board saltwater center consoles smaller than 30 feet, he says.
The company already offers a range of A-Series sounders, so a large selection of transducers is available, including transom, through-hull, trolling motor, and in-hull mounting options, says Andreasen. He says another advantage of the entry-level A65 is its ease of use.
“For the novice user, you can turn it on and it gives you the optimal view,” Andreasen says, who describes installation as “do-it-yourself, plug-and-play.”
Other new products from Raymarine include a satellite television antenna system and Navionics Platinum charts for its E-Series multifunction navigation displays.
The 45 STV antenna system automatically acquires signals from digital video broadcast-compatible satellite service providers, according to Raymarine, and has a wide range search algorithm for identification and acquisition of satellites, and dynamic beam tilting to track signals in extreme conditions. The company says it’s compatible with all satellite television providers.
E-Series customers now will have access to multidimensional cartography from Navionics. Platinum cartography delivers 3-D bathymetric chart plotting, aerial photo chart overlays, panoramic navigation photos and an expanded vector chart database.
Raymarine Inc., Merrimack, N.H. Phone: (603) 881-5200. www.raymarine.com
