Ericson 30+ Electronics Signet vs. Raymarine

I currently have the Traditional Digital Signet Marine Electronics (Depth Sounder, Knot Log, and Wind Indicator). The Wind Indicator works perfectly, however the depth and knot log do not. They both have very weathered and faded face plates, although the depth sounded is still barely readable and works. It might be about a foot off in accuracy. I can read anything on the knot log, so I don't know if it doesn't work or if I just cant read it. I understand you can send them into Signet to be refurbished. I am not too familiar with electronics, so I didn't know if there is a way to "trouble shoot" them to see what the problem is exactly. Whether its just the face plate or transducers. I have always liked the design and function of Signet So I would like to stay with that if cost effective. I also shopped around and found Raymarine i40 collection to be reasonable as well. Maybe its time to replace with the new style. I really only need knot log and depth. I am confident in my GPS, wind indicator and auto pilot. Any experience or advice?

Thank You
Tom

http://signetmarine.com/products-2/products.html

I betcha most of us have performed a sort of 'cost benefit ratio' around this subject, at some point after we acquired our used boats.

I was quite pleased that all three of the original Datamarine instruments worked when we bought our boat, but did not assign any particular value to their presence....

Sure enough, a few years later they began failing. Given that their digits were in small display screens and that their generation of instruments were not (at their original price point) integrated, I decided to find a modern replacement.

That was back in about '02. I found that our local electronics shop was willing to come very close to 'net pricing for the Raymarine set of ST60 DS, KM, and Wind instruments.
With their more modern bus, they were a little easier to wire in and could give me some calculated information like TW and AW. Not vital perhaps, but a "nice to have".
Several years later I even found a deal on a "multi" ST60, mounted at our nav station.

They are all still working fine. I suppose that one day I will have to re-decide this decision all over again. Not too soon, tho. It cost over $1200. last time.


One note about your old instrument faces: While you may find some new ones that fit in the same holes, luck might not be with you.
I had to shrink the old holes by a half inch, using some FRP rings I cut out of some scrap layup. The new bezel completely covered this work. I was lucky.

Good luck on finding a solution, whether to replace or refurbish.

Loren

I have the Raymarine ST40 bidata (knotmetre and depthsounder) and their wind instrument which came with the boat 11 years ago, but are probably several years older. I have sent them each back to Raymarine when they stopped working, and they esentially replaced the entire insides of each, at about a third of the cost of new, or less. They all work perfectly, and along with my chart plotter give me all the info I need or want. So for me refurbishment has been a very cost effective solution.

Frank

We had a full suite of round traditional Signet instruments that were in various states of functionality when we bought the boat. We sent them all to Signet, they tested and made some recommendations on what was salvageable and what wasn't. They offered some discounts on a new mast head unit and instruments. We took their recommendations and replaced as needed. Over time, probably no fault of the equipment as I think we suffered some damage due to a nearby lightning strike, each instrument failed. It's amazing how much sailing you can do with nothing but an apparent wind indicator.

I have since started migrating to Raymarine, it all started with a new autopilot controller and blossomed from there. I really like their new cables and connectors. I now have a MFD, masthead unit, triducer for depth/temp/speed, and soon to be incorporated 9" chartplotter at the future nav station. The single MFD displays what information I want and the autopilot controller has a couple of data fields as well effectively becoming a second display. I've done this in phases, searching for the best deals I can find and timing with some Raymarine rebates. It has not been inexpensive, but so far I am satisfied.

I still have four beautiful round signet instruments in our cockpit keeping the rain out of the boat. Combined with a few more deck and exterior adjustments I now have enough reason to break out the fiberglass, expoxy and paint to fill some holes.

Hope this helps.
Chris

signet used to be the best but I would upgrade to nmea 2000 many vendors

I just went through the process with an upper end B&G system. I decided to fix the parts that needed fixing I found most of them on ebay. bought old working systems and mixed and matched. I probably spent about the same as a new lower end system on sale but the big factor for me was I did not have to have the boat pulled in the yard because of the transducer hole sizes.(big savings) Had that not been the case if you look over the winter I am sure you can find some sales as the marine store update there systems. (Defender Ebay) Keep looking at the stores and ebay. I think for between 900 to 1200 you can find a nmea 2000 system. nmea 2000 is very interchangeable. There are many options. Simrad the same as B&G in the lower end systems. Most have airmar tranducers. There is also Garmin that also uses the same tranducers. (Garmin wind is a little different)

Clipper also makes a lower cost nmea 0183 system Someone had one at our dock that is all I know.

I am not sure all those holes in the boat are necessary anymore for cruising types, or even wednesday night racers.

I get wind speed and wind direction from a wireless Tack-Tick (now Raymarine). No wires, just stick the three-cup anemometer on the masthead. The readout is solar powered and movable.

I get boat speed (GPS derived) and depth (via a $100 Airmar glue-on transducer) displayed on a $600 Garmin chartplotter/fishfinder 7" HD color screen.

Actually, no holes required at all. The chartplotter and Tack-Tick are designed for brackets. Because no wires, the Tack-Tick can be relocated instantly. I have one bracket for the helm, and one facing the companionway so I can read the wind speed and direction from belowdecks. Switch position as needed.

By the way, I think "wind direction" is useless. I can't imagine not looking at the masthead fly, which is up where the sails are, and gives an instant read day or night. Does an instrument help a helmsman avoid broaching with a chute up? Really? Running in 10-foot seas on the edge of control he is watching an instrument?

And, while on this rant, an anemometer measures speed maybe 50 feet in the air. Makes it sound heroic--"wow, it's blowing 40 knots!" But you change sail plans according to how the boat is handling things, not what an instrument says. And a handheld anemometer in the cockpit will show a 5-10 -knot difference form the masthead, so is there really a standard, or is how it feels the standard? In billionaire racing, the tactician watches the wind and murmurs to the helmsman, "three more knots coming in about a minute." He reads it on the water. It is prediction, not measurement, that has meaning.

Well. I guess the point is that we should assess with a cold eye all these gizmos everybody has.

Re: Holes In The Boat

The Raymarine i40 neé ST40, are quite a lot smaller than the old 4" instruments. It's a trivial solution to cover the old holes with a plastic panel - I used a piece of 3/8" scrap ABS, simply screwed on with six screws. Four toys go into the former space of two. Never had any issues with leakage in five years. However, I've come to start thinking that the instruments would be better located in a pod on the centerline. Above or below the companionway. These LCD displays can't be read from the opposite side of the cockpit, especially when wearing polarized sunglasses. Which can be critical if you sail in skinny water. As I found out the "hard" way. The audible depth alarm is handy, but needs to be louder. And all the alarms sound the same. The high wind alarm seems a bit useless. "Oh, really? I hadn't noticed the boat going over on its ear..." Maybe if you were cruising & snoozing and needed a gentle reminder to get up and reef?

I think simplicity has its place on a sailboat regardless of what you're doing. That being said I am a sucker for gadgets and I really like my B&G Zeus2. My boat had ST40 instruments (bidata, depth and speed) and a ST4000+ autopilot. I got a SeaTalk to SeaTalk NG (NMEA 2000) converter and networked them all together. On my Zeus2 that means I now have all instrument data, including the compass data from the autopilot. This means I have speed over water, speed over ground, course over ground, heading and depth all on the network. If I had windspeed I could use the Sail Steer features of the Zeus to optimize boatspeed and even have it suggest laylines.

Despite all of this I use my eyes, ears and use the Zeus2 as a chart plotter. I like the gizmo's, but they're really not needed IMO.

In your shoes I think I'd just a new i40 bidata and its transducer.