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Thread: Lets Talk Radars, which ones are best/features etc.

  1. #16

    Re: Lets Talk Radars, which ones are best/features etc.

    Thank you guys for your replies, some of your comments is the reasons for our concerns as it is a big investment that we don’t want to get wrong. Which is why we are looking at getting the open array radars over the domes yes more expensive and will probably blow out to 10k but if we are going to invest 6k already we may as well wait a bit longer and save a little more and get something that we know will work easily for what we want.

    Thank you for the vids moose would it be ok if I gave you a call sometime in the near future to pick your brain on radars and what would suit us best? As well as we may even purchase for you if postage isn’t too expensive.

    Cheers Dan

    Also if anyone has any more comments please feel free to add as when I searched radar on here there wasn’t too much information so the more that gets put in this thread the better it may be for other people in the future if they are looking to do the same thing.

  2. #17

    Re: Lets Talk Radars, which ones are best/features etc.

    Quote Originally Posted by Skusto View Post
    Hi Scottar

    Thank you for the response, as said radar is very new to us and want to do it right the first time so if we have to pay more for a better unit we would if we could save money we also would. Part of what dignity said is part of the reason as to why i was wanting something with a little more range and diversity. Part of it is also for night time driving.

    It is going on a 2100 Kevlacat with a hard top so mounting it should be fine.

    We were looking at the 4g etc but then noticed the halo had a lot better range and sensitivity?

    Do you have any recommendations into a good radar setup like you said I don't want to buy something like the navico to find out it isn't worth the money.

    Most of the radars I have used over the last 7 or so years (since leaving the electronics industry) have been Furuno or JRC. Both have a long commercial maritime heritage with only Furuno really having ventured into the MFD market place. Their gear is good but the price tag reflects this.

    We ran a Garmin GMR18 on the company boat for a couple of years prior to me leaving - good solid performer. Any-Weather has obviously had issues but how much of that is down to settings, expectations or actual faults is hard to say without a knowledgeable tech taking a look.

    The Navico 3G stuff was without a doubt the best performing short range radar available ( Mr Bean's improvement is more due the different type of radar that the 4G is rather than just being new) when I left the industry in terms of image resolution - it just sucked at longer ranges (interpret that as basically didn't work), their build quality was suspect and service outside of warranty basically non existent - I wrote off plenty of significant dollar value lowrance and simrad equipment purely due to nil parts availability. Under warranty - not so much of an issue provided you have the backing of a good dealer but just don't be surprised if out of warranty you more or less get told to throw it away if it fails. They were running an exchange at cost program but the exchange price was regularly more than what could be achieved over the counter on new gear with the exchange having a limited warranty in comparison. Some of this may have changed - seek your own clarification if it is a point of concern. All that said - it was the only set at the time that had any chance of seeing things like kayaks - even crab pot floats if it was calm enough. Some of the others may have caught up in this regard in recent times with new releases from Raymarine, Garmin and Furuno.

    The only Raymarine gear I had anything to do with was the larger E series which at the time worked well. Raymarine has a pretty solid reputation and from all reports has good product back up.

  3. #18

    Re: Lets Talk Radars, which ones are best/features etc.

    Quote Originally Posted by Skusto View Post
    Which is why we are looking at getting the open array radars over the domes yes more expensive and will probably blow out to 10k but if we are going to invest 6k already we may as well wait a bit longer and save a little more and get something that we know will work easily for what we want.

    .
    Check the weights Dan - some of the open arrays are around 20 - 25 Kg's. That amount of weight will put a fair bit of extra shock loading on your stainless work when it's rough and may lead to cracking ( I think the hard top on that model is on stainless posts and not fully glassed up?????)

  4. #19

    Re: Lets Talk Radars, which ones are best/features etc.

    Yes it’s got 7 stainless steel up rights holding it I figured it would be ok but I might check with kevlacat and see if they say it could handle it thank you.

  5. #20

    Re: Lets Talk Radars, which ones are best/features etc.

    Quote Originally Posted by Any_Weather View Post
    Gday Skusto, I am one of those people that Dignity referred to as having one and not using it. I have a GMR18 HD Garmin unit and I am far from impressed. Now it may be the settings and the way I use it but unless it is a big boat/ship, I am not really seeing much. If it is rough, I get lots of clutter even with the gain adjusted. I mainly bought it for night time travelling both offshore and inside the pumistone passage. I also liked the thought of the century setup when sleeping offshore but the alarm from rough seas kept setting the alarm so I don’t even use that any more.
    I have spent lots of time trying to get it better but I have now all but given up. I haven’t even transmitted from it for the last 12 months or more.
    I hope you have more success with yours.
    Cheers
    Lee


    Sent from my iPhone using Ausfish forums
    Lee, I'll take it off your hands and let you know if I can get it working. Let you borrow my electric reel as surety, your old man will love you for it.

  6. #21

    Re: Lets Talk Radars, which ones are best/features etc.

    Thanks for the offer Sam but it looks the part up where it is I am sure it will just be settings however I know a few blokes with the same unit and 1 has removed his altogether the others don’t use theirs either. Scottar has had success so I may get someone out who knows what they are talking about and get a lesson on setting it up. It sure would be piece of mind at night.


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    The wait is finally over.........was worth every minute..........let the RIPTIDE rip..........hell yehhhh

  7. #22

    Re: Lets Talk Radars, which ones are best/features etc.

    Interesting read guys. I'd be keen to hear more about the new Garmin GMR Fantom series if anyone has experience as this is on my wish list.

  8. #23

    Re: Lets Talk Radars, which ones are best/features etc.

    ive had a fair bit of play with the fantom series open and closed dome. its a huge improvement over even their HD GMRX series radars. still very much a short range in closedome guise. with doppler shifting/echo trails it does make for a clearer navigation aid... fairly average at birds or weather however.

    Marine outfitting solutions
    www.moosemarine.com.au

  9. #24

    Re: Lets Talk Radars, which ones are best/features etc.

    Before you buy I would definitely try to get out in a similar size trailer boat that has a radar fitted, I suspect that your desire for longer range performance will be inhibited by low height and the usual swell ups/downs and the rockin-roll that you get in a trailer boat regardless of radar type and brand.

    The best performing array radar will still point to the water a significant amount of time when offshore in a trailer boat

  10. #25

    Re: Lets Talk Radars, which ones are best/features etc.

    Quote Originally Posted by Mr__Bean View Post
    Before you buy I would definitely try to get out in a similar size trailer boat that has a radar fitted, I suspect that your desire for longer range performance will be inhibited by low height and the usual swell ups/downs and the rockin-roll that you get in a trailer boat regardless of radar type and brand.

    The best performing array radar will still point to the water a significant amount of time when offshore in a trailer boat
    Yep. Will always be a significant amount of the vertical beam width aimed straight at whatever wave action / swell is about - coupled with most of it on either beam if the vessel is rolling or on the bow and stern if pitching. To get rid of the clutter it is usually necessary to "detune" via gain and sea clutter to a point where even substantial boats can be lost close in but then show as a better return further off. If you don't detune the returns will show better but sector alarms and the like are unusable. Personally I set it up with the clutter and keep an eye on it rather than rely alarms. The easiest way to do this is to do it when you have plenty of targets around that are visible until you get a feel for the unit and where it's settings need to be at what range. Bar work can also cause issues - phantom echoes are far from uncommon and I have seen radars left to there own devices significantly detune to compensate for bar work signals that they were more or less useless. Much the same as most echo sounders, superior results can generally be achieved by manual tweaking from an experienced operator.

  11. #26
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    Re: Lets Talk Radars, which ones are best/features etc.

    Quote Originally Posted by chocolatemoose View Post
    Radars are usefull in the right situation. night time collision avoidance they are brilliant. long range weather and bird spotting if on the right boat as others have mentioned. any of y our closed dome radars will be rather short ranged. still plenty of range for avoiding objects and other boats however

    If you are looking at raymarine they have a few rather nice systems to consider . Quantum 2 Doppler is a nice little tricked out version of the quantum which itself is a brilliant solid state short range radar. however if you wanted range then consider their Magnum magantron open array radars but your budget will go very quickly with open array radars.

    If night time navigation is something you would like to use your radar for primarly... i would also advocate for considering a FLIR thermal camera instead. partially because the learning curve to master them is fairly non existant, very easy to itnerprit something that is ... essentially vision.. and with the the Raymarine link having vessel analytics/ clear cruise identifying targets automatically for you it does become quite the safety tool.

    There obviously is a price difference however if you use one a hell of a lot more than the other the price difference becomes worth it.

    That being said.. hard to beat a radar . its fun
    M132 FLIR camera price difference between Australia and the US factoring in exchange rate is still approx $1500.


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  12. #27

    Re: Lets Talk Radars, which ones are best/features etc.

    Have installed the Simrad 4KW HD version about 4yrs ago due to nearly cleaning a few tinny's up from time to time up tin can bay straights with no lights. Awesome for watching the weather fronts and squalls come through as well as breakers on the bar when doing night crossings. Can pick up boats etc really easy close range and ships offshore around 30km away. Have tracked a whale beside us through the night and have allso avoided quite a few small boats with no lights on up the straights and tracked them on radar scarfing it out of the way when running at night or early hrs in the morning, and not to mention driving at night with the clears zipped up at slow comfortable cruise speed with confidence. Day time it rarely gets turned on, night time it runs flat out.

  13. #28

    Re: Lets Talk Radars, which ones are best/features etc.

    i have cruised through Asia where AIS is compulsory. It's a good thing there. Anything here that will really hurt if you run into it will have it. (bigger boats and all ships).
    I'd have radar if I could afford it. But as moose says a FLIR input to the MFD is probably less and if you are travelling at speed you are mainly interested in small hard for radar to pick up things in front of you which FLIR would excel at. If fishing in shipping lanes or near a busy port at night AIS would be excellent and not expensive (in comparison) to add

  14. #29

    Lets Talk Radars, which ones are best/features etc.

    On a 6-8m trailer boat I wouldn’t even consider an open array RADAR skusto, as the performance benefits available couldn’t be fully reached due to the limitations provided by the smaller vessel IMO. Put the $ savings elsewhere, overlay and AP, and/or maybe to a FLIR etc.

    Add a Satellite Compass to that small vessel, and so long as the open array RADAR/MFD can support the added benefits from the SC (significant benefits – supposedly!), and you might gain more of its potential. However… even if the coin was no issue, on this size vessel I would still forfeit the open array unit, but I would add an SC . My 2c anyway… and no, I’m not an expert and I don’t sell them, but I am just going thru the process of Electronics and RADAR selection for the next boat now.

    The requirement for RADAR is obviously a personal preference, you obviously want one, but I can see some replies where people are doubting their benefits. Personally I wouldn’t have a serious offshore fishing (or cruising) boat without one. Night time is a must IMO, but there can be substantial benefits in the daytime too (we had daytime thick pee-soup fog off 1770 one time that relegated non RADAR boats to 5kn). I use it to dodge rain squalls too when required.

    When I set up my last offshore boat in 2008, RADAR was the 2nd important tick box, behind the GPS/Plotter – oh and the motor, needed one of those too . This time/boat around, and again it’s a must.

    My first experience with Radar started in 1988 (northern coast of PNG) in the pre GPS days, with a 24nm Furuno on a stand-alone monochrome CRT display – so fairly ancient technology in comparison to today’s Doppler and solid state technology etc. But this old unit blew me away back then, with the night navigation benefits, dodging the worst part of heavy tropical storms (day or night), unlit outrigger canoes in the bays at night, and it picked up birds from a good distance away too. Fast forward 30 yrs, with vast improvements in RADAR technology, and I believe with the night traffic we have down here (unlit a lot too), they are even more important if you do a decent amount of night time boating/fishing.

    Although I didn’t use overlay a lot at night (more split screen mode & RADAR zoomed close in, control set to RADAR so I could zoom in/out quickly), I would still use overlay at times especially coming in to bays/anchorages etc or the islands off 1770 to pick the waves on the reefs, or rain squalls day or night. Anyone half considering one, with the coin to spare, go for a decent one, get it set up right and learn to use it – you will love it and won’t want to be without it.

    skutso, I would also look at the Solid State & Doppler RADOME units. Think they are around 36nm, which again is probably wasted in our size boats and in SE QLD. Furuno & Raymarine for one do them, not sure about the others, haven't looked elsewhere. Good RADAR hunting!

    Cheers
    Brendon

  15. #30

    Re: Lets Talk Radars, which ones are best/features etc.

    Gday guys, just an update on my Garmin GMR18. I have had the unit for over 3 years now and have been very disappointed in its performance. After Scottar mentioned on here that they were quite a capable little unit I thought I would spend some time trying to get it working.
    I reckon it probably paid for itself on Friday when travelling through the minefield of unlight boats in the pumicestone passage predawn. I could have run over a few chance takers.
    I think I have sorted it out a lot and it is performing well. I don’t think it is going to be picking up birds or anything that clever but certainly picking up boats. I only had it on the sharpest zoom 1/4 kilometre circles so the boats were pretty close before being picked up but it still saved them. I zoomed out when offshore but there wasn’t a lot of targets to pickup however I am confident it would pick up vessels up to a few km away which is acceptable for my needs.

    Cheers
    Lee


    Sent from my iPhone using Ausfish forums
    The wait is finally over.........was worth every minute..........let the RIPTIDE rip..........hell yehhhh

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