October 2003 • Powerboat Reports 15
track ball was dirty and needs to be
cleaned. Much like a computer mouse,
that track ball will come out by sim-
ply removing the locking cap. Once
you remove that cap, you can remove
the ball and clean the ball and the
tracks inside. This track ball was spe-
cifically designed like this, so that it
can be easily cleaned when neces-
sary. Also, if there is a problem with
the ball itself, it can be replaced inex-
pensively.”
An alphanumeric keypad is not
standard equipment on the Raymarine
system. Raymarine told us it is a $400
option. The keypad was not installed
on the boat we used for this review.
The Raymarine unit makes use of a
cursor pad instead of the track ball.
The cursor pad or track ball makes
little difference for data entry or unit
operation, but the lack of an alphanu-
meric keypad certainly does.
When it comes time to name that
new waypoint for a fishing spot, it’s
nice to be able to do it quickly—and
with a name that has meaning to you.
You can quickly bang out “MONEY
HOLE” on the Furuno keypad. On
the Raymarine unit, data entry re-
quires scrolling through the alphabet,
10 numbers, and a few punctuation
symbols to select a single letter or
digit. We’ve done this on other ma-
chines, and it’s tedious and slow.
Raymarine’s HSB² system would
be a much more attractive product if
it came with a keypad, in our opinion.
We had difficulty finding a source to
buy Raymarine’s optional keypad, com-
ing up empty after visiting marine elec-
tronics stores and surfing web-based
electronics sites. The keypad option is
not even mentioned in Raymarine’s
own 2002/2003 electronics brochures.
All this leads us to believe not many
buyers of HSB² equipment know about
or purchase the optional keypad.
Raymarine’s Jim Hands responded
to our comments about the keypad:
“The keypad sells for about $399 on
the street. The model number is
A22025. This keypad was originally en-
gineered for our older high-end ST80
series instrument systems and carries
somewhat of a higher price tag. The
remote keypad support was not in the
original HSB displays. A few custom-
ers with ST80 systems requested this
enhancement so we added this feature
to the HSB² compatible displays. We
have a very low cost version in the
works that will be available in the first
Above: The screen of the Raymarine HSB² is split horizontally to create two
displays. Here, a chart is pictured on top, with a depth sounder screen on the
bottom. The Furuno machine can do the same, and then actually split one of
the smaller screens so three pictures are shown.
*Prices from www.pyacht com.
Radar Max.
Range in Miles
64
72
36
48
36
48
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
Antenna Type
and Size
4' Open Array
4.2' Open Array
24" Dome
24" Dome
24" Dome
24" Dome
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
Sounder Power
Output in Watts
1,000
1,000
600
600
600
600
600
600
600
600
*Price
$7,716
$8,990
$5,497
$6,167
$3,446
$4,367
$3,499
$5,072
$2,647
$2,894
(76 pages)
(132 pages)
(62 pages)
Manymanuals.com
Manymanuals.de
Manymanuals.fr
Manymanuals.it
Manymanuals.pl
Manymanuals.cz
Manymanuals.es
Manymanuals-pt.com
Comments to this Manuals