radar

[skipperhub]

I have a 2520 with which I am doing some occasional night runs and am looking at having radar installed. I see a Garmin 18 inch that is rated at 4mw for around $1200 and I see others at same price with 2mw rating. I think they are all rated for something like 34 miles which is far more than I need.
All I am doing is navigating the ICW and a couple of sounds. I need to "see" the bank and confirm location on those unlit markers in foggy wx or moonless nights.
Anybody with some comparative experience on quality/reliability of those units?

Skipper Hub

 

[ceblizzard]

I have the Garmin GMR 18 on my 23SE.I have it tied in to my GPSMap 4208. It is rated at 4KW with a 36 mile range. It is simple to use and gives me a good picture. Purchased mine from BOE Marine Electronics in Annapolis, Md. during the Annapolis Powerboat show last year. I worked with several different electronics dealers and was able to compare the units. Jim @ BOE had his boat on display with the Garmin setup on it. It gave me first hand experience to try it out. Jim garantees to beat any other prices.

Charlie,
Eden, Md.

 

[DaleH]

I think they are all rated for something like 34 miles which is far more than I need.

Don't be FOOLED by that value ...

Re: this post here ... for example ... "On small(er) boats, more power is useless (unless you are hell bent on using it to find birds). If your dome is ~8.5 feet off of the surface of the water, you have already severely LIMITED your useable range. If you buy a 2-kW output model with a range of 16 miles ... because the earth is round and microwaves are line of sight ... you will only be able to discriminate boat sized targets out to 5-6 miles. Ships that are substantially higher off the water show up in the 9-10 mile range. Thus, unless you are willing to build a 20' tower for your dome, you will never use most of the available power."

Agreed, Jim @ BOE will set you up right !

 

[skipperhub]

Thanks for the input.

Capt Hub

 

[Sow&Pigs]

I have used either Raymarine or Furuno radar exclusively on every boat I've owned that had radar. I tend to use my radar quite a bit, for both nighttime use and fog, which we get quite a bit of where I boat.

I currently have an integrated Raymarine E80 system, with 24nm range for the radar. With some practice, the radar is easy to read and offers some quite advanced features (mostly related to the ability to track moving targets relative to your boat's position).

I also happen to think that for anyone who boats at night, investing in radar is WELL worth it.

 

[channel_surfer]

I have the GMR-18 tied to a 3210 plotter, no heading sensor. The radar overlay onto the chart works pretty well without the heading sensor as long as you are at speed. I would like to pick up an NMEA heading sensor to tie into the system but I can't justify the price right now since it works well without it.

Like DaleH said, unless you are running the radar on top of a tuna tower or something, you're limited to between 8 and 10 miles to horizon with a standard cabin-top unit. This is far more distance than you typically need anyway on a fishing boat. I usually run my radar at night with about a 1 mile display on the screen, which gives plenty of time to pick out and avoid targets.

Got my GMR-18 for about $800 so shop around.