Hi all I have just purchased an Airmar PB200 from a chap here in Australia, as new in box with all accessories such as the converter box and cables and a Furuno RD30.
I had been reading the thread of previous pos'st and noted it seemed to end around late 2014.
I am planning to fit this Airmar onto a 40 foot Grainger catamaran you can see the boat here, http://celestial-g3.com/
As I will be refitting this boat and redoing the RIG I am pulling the mast out in a couple of weeks so thought I would check here for updates etc and to then keep you all up to date on the progress.
Current wind system as purchased is a Raymarine st40 matched with a rota vector the auto pilot is a ST5000, this system is to be honest pretty poor and is being changed to the following.
Obviously the Airmar PB200 ( Latest Firmware added)
Raymarine S3G course computer and ST8001 controler.
Ram type is a lacombe and schmit very good ram and rudder sensor set up.
Also adding a C120w and Raymarine digital radar 4kw 18 inch.
In any case I hope to hear some of you Latest thoughts on the Airmar and any revised install tips.
Kind Regards
Malcolm
PB200 is a great product for sailboats.
I have a revised installation tip. If you are installing a PB200 now and have not purchased the wiring cable, see if you can choose the wiring cable compatible with the WX200 product. In the event you ever had to replace your PB200 with a WX200 (the PB200 is no longer manufactured), you could need to replace the entire cable if you used the cabling for the PB200.
The incompatibility is created by the change in how the WX200 terminates the NMEA2000 bus. The PB200 can do it both ways (a pin inserted into the cable connector), while the WX200 has only one choice.