Raytheon SL70 Radar Display Problem

[Karl]

Does anyone have a Raytheon SL70 radar? I need some help. It was working just great for me a year and a half ago, but at that time I was having some major work done on the boat and took it down and stowed it until now. We connected everything together and the display screen is so dim it is hardly readable. I went to the manual and followed the instructions for light and contrast, I could see changes in them, but not bright enough to easily read.

I had a similar problem with this unit when I first bought the boat, but after fiddling around with it I was able to get the brightness back, but I'm not sure what I did (2 years ago). I used her for trips to the Bahamas and she worked just great.

I'm getting adequate power to the power cable, so not a problem there. I'm posting this hoping there is someone out there that has this unit and has a helpful hint for me. I talked to the Ray Marine factory, but they didn't have anything to say except that this kind of problem is rare and that they don't repair them. I've tried to find a local shop, but no one works on them. One Internet forum suggested it's not repairable and is a throw away item.

Karl

 

[Bob Bradley]

Sounds like a typical Ray response. About 6 or 7 years ago I was looking to add an autopilot to my Ray system, as my old Robertson had died. I called RAy for support and they basically wouldn't talk to me because I had an "obsolete" RL80 system that I had installed 4 years earlier at a cost of around $10,000. I called Simrad, who had bought Robertson and a tech spend an hour on the phone with me trying to debug and resurrect the old autopilot. We didn't succeed, but I bought a new Simrad Autopilot instead and have not looked back. Now I'm replacing my RL80 system with a Simrad system and spending my $$ with them instead.

Screw Raymarine.

 

[SeaEric]

A similar problem sent me to ebay where I bought a good used display unit for a few hundred bucks. Plug and play. Problem solved (for now!)

 

[Boatsb]

It may have a night mode.

 

[Bob Bradley]

It may have a night mode.

Good point. From memory, I'd say press Menu then System Setup, then scroll down to Day/Night.

It also just occurred to me that I have the old RL70 manual from my previous boat's system down in my cabinet at home. I can check it for you and fax you pages if you'd like me to.