Marine Electronics 1985, please show me your old stuff
I’m thinking of writing my year-end Power & Motoryacht column about the state of marine electronics when the magazine first published in 1985. That also seems to be the birth year of the chart plotter. I think it will be fun to look at the generally boxy and complicated—not to mention low performance and high priced—machines we struggled with back then. I hope anyone with pictures, manuals, or just memories will share them with me, particularly the electronics companies that were in business back then and have piles of gear like the above (bigger here) gathering dust somewhere (hello Raymarine/Raytheon/AutoHelm/Apelco etc.).
I have a copy of that first February 1985 PMY, and am especially interested in the stories behind those first electronics advertisements: the Raytheon 1200 Pathfinder radar, Trimble 200 Loran, Tracor Global Navigation System (“worldwide navigation for under $7,500”!), Alden Weather Fax, ITT Jabsco night vision, Standard Horizon VHFs, Cybernet marine stereo, Cetec Benmar autopilots, Sea-Tex everything (“radars, chart recorders, Loran C receivers, autopilots, track plotters, color sounders, ADF’s, the works.”), and, finally, RDI radar watch, sat nav, and sat com…yes, they claimed “Telephone, Telex, Computer Data, and Slow Scan TV” (whatever that is). Did this stuff work and what happened to the companies involved? Were you using marine electronics in 1985?
Share
I have got to get you a picture of the inside of Seatronics in Gloucester, MA. Maybe you can call them and get one...who knows, but the inside of that place is the most incredible graveyard for old marine electronics, some of it actually for sale. Many of the fishermen around have been using the same electronics for years, so they have to be able to handle all of this stuff in addition to the new products.