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BOAT wrote:Hey Tim, what do you think about the specs on this unit?


ANTENNA
Peak Output Power 4 kW
Type ø488 mm Radome (19 inch)
RF TRANSCEIVER
Frequency 9410 ± 30 MHz
Range Scales 0.125 to 24 nm
Antenna Rotation Speed 24 rpm

It's called a furono 1st watch wireless

http://www.furuno.com/special/en/wireless/radar/

& BOAT - Furuno makes a class A Radar. But that one is a magnetron radar. While I've had several of those, we're recommending Macs buy a solid state based radar for: it's weight savings, power consumption while on & on standby + a magnetron (traditional radar, like your Furuno model) needs ~ a 2min warmup. & close proximity to traditional magnetron radar fries eyes & braincells. Think Louis Depalma (taxi) humping a microwave or Randy from South Park

So the new solid state based radars like: Raymarine Quantum, Broadband 4g or 3g fr Navico are better for us because they provide close proximity resolution <200 ft to see pots, bouys, markers , tires, logs etc ; Don't fry your head or ur nuts & uses Much less power. Because they don't use a magnetron like the traditional style, they don't emit anymore radiation than your cell phone. So you can mount it anywhere you choose & don't have to worry about glowing in the dark

Re: speeding at night. Sure people with and without radar do all the time. But we just lost a baseball player in Florida doing that. Last year a wedding party was killed hitting some barges up by the reconstructed Tappan Zee bridge, etc.

- so does the radar 'see' the log in the water or not??

The question shouldn't be does the radar see the log in the water, it should be did the Captain see the log in the water - by whatever means...


I don't go any faster than I want to hit something while piloting at night. YMMV

Highlander wrote:Boat
'Catalina Express' she,s a hydrofoil right or just 4 jets driven ?

J

I dunno - it's pretty fast and it goes at night time and why can't I ? Why do I have that big motor on the back?

I'm no expert, but I am led to understand that as useful as radar may be in spotting other boats, channel markers or shorelines for collision avoidance, especially in heavy fog or on a moonless night, as this thread from another forum makes clear, most marine radar's not really designed to identify floating or semi-submerged debris in the water, like say, a log. In fact, I am led to understand that some radar systems still out there peering into the fog may even have a challenge spotting a whole sailboat, which is why some boaters hang radar reflectors, mylar ballons and streamers, aptly-named Hefty® or Glad® bags full of foil condom wrappers and other reflective whatnots in a bid to make themselves better visible to those lumbering water beasts of the darkness. There are even lots of DIY projects out there on the 'net showing one how to cobble together one's own radar reflectors from old CDs, pie tins and so forth--many said to actually be of debatable or of no measurable efficacy whatsoever, apparently just like many of the storebought reflectors.

Still, if you've got time and money to burn, are a born "fiddler of settings", and don't mount some old unit that'll radiate you until you're as blind and sterile as a moon rock, I cannot see how it could hurt to have another set of eyes peering through the gloom...especially if you sail in particularly fog-prone areas. I wouldn't rely on it to spot that log out there though.


Log detected.

Is there such a thing as a radar transponder for boats, like there is for aircraft? Or some other type of broadcast method to make a boat light up a radar screen?

Bilgemaster wrote:...I wouldn't rely on it to spot that log out there though.

And another one who couldn't avoid a clearly visible log during the day! CLICKY

Tomfoolery wrote:Is there such a thing as a radar transponder for boats, like there is for aircraft? Or some other type of broadcast method to make a boat light up a radar screen?

AIS?

Tomfoolery wrote:Is there such a thing as a radar transponder for boats, like there is for aircraft? Or some other type of broadcast method to make a boat light up a radar screen?

I don't know anything about RADAR except that it spells the same thing if you reverse the letters: RADAR - so I guess they catch you coming OR going - and we did not have RADAR on our little boats back in 70's but we were told that many big ships did have RADAR and if we were to be sailing at night out in the ocean we were to hang pie tins and pots and pans and other stuff off the top of the mast so the big ships would see us with their radar. And I admit we did haul up a lot of junk up the bosun's chair at night (hull, back in those days we actually hauled up oil lamps as a mast light) - and we were actually dumb enough to go to sleep - (we had mechanical wind pilots back then) - I have slept many times crossing the Sea of Cortez but the most dangerous one we ever slept on were the shipping lanes in the San Pedro Channel out of Long Beach - we had this stupid belief in those pie tins reflecting RADAR and that if anything came our way we would "magically wake up" - and believe it or not that actually happened many times. We assumed we would awaken before trouble would strike. Every time we did spot a ship we assumed they were seeing us with their 'RADAR' and that was why we did not get run over.

Then one day we talked to a real live container cargo ship pilot - he was at a wedding we attended and sat at our table, I was a whole 13 year old I think - I told him about our pie tins on the mast and asked him if they worked and I were pleased an smug to hear him say "Yes, I can usually spot something metallic as a chaff signal" - he continued: "We don't turn the boat for chaff signals because it wastes to much fuel and time."

Great, I thought - then that very same week I read about Robin Lee Graham in National Geographic sailing his boat at night with a professionally made RADAR reflector on the mast and got run down by a big ship in the ocean - in the article Graham was hopping angry because he insisted the ship did see him on the RADAR but he found in may instances they would refuse to alter course or even blow their horns because they would not be held responsible for a minor signal on the RADAR and their bosses would be angry if they altered course every time a reflection appeared that was no danger to the ship - after reading that and hearing what the pilot said I have never trusted cargo pilots ever again - as far as I am concerned they will run you over - your little boat is not worth the 100 dollars of bunker C they will burn trying to turn around you. I was told only the passenger ships will turn because they don't want witnesses.

These are things I was told and opinions of Graham - so I can't say for sure it's true - but it did make me not like cargo pilots. I think we need our own ways to spot them - and i don't even trust AIS - it's great but I think a RADAR for night travel is a really great idea - I will get one eventually. I need to learn a lot about it though.

BOAT wrote:...after reading that and hearing what the pilot said I have never trusted cargo pilots ever again - as far as I am concerned they will run you over - your little boat is not worth the 100 dollars of bunker C they will burn trying to turn around you. I was told only the passenger ships will turn because they don't want witnesses...

You don't trust cargo pilots because they were honest with you?...That despite radar and radar reflectors, the bigger boat wins!

K9Kampers wrote:

BOAT wrote:...after reading that and hearing what the pilot said I have never trusted cargo pilots ever again - as far as I am concerned they will run you over - your little boat is not worth the 100 dollars of bunker C they will burn trying to turn around you. I was told only the passenger ships will turn because they don't want witnesses...

You don't trust cargo pilots because they were honest with you?...That despite radar and radar reflectors, the bigger boat wins!

And generaly has right of way over you! Just because you are a sailboat does not mean you have right of way over all motored vessels.

grady wrote:

K9Kampers wrote:

BOAT wrote:...after reading that and hearing what the pilot said I have never trusted cargo pilots ever again - as far as I am concerned they will run you over - your little boat is not worth the 100 dollars of bunker C they will burn trying to turn around you. I was told only the passenger ships will turn because they don't want witnesses...

You don't trust cargo pilots because they were honest with you?...That despite radar and radar reflectors, the bigger boat wins!

And generaly has right of way over you! Just because you are a sailboat does not mean you have right of way over all motored vessels.

I don't trust them to alter their course to prevent themselves from killing me and my crew even though they are aware that they will do that very thing - YEAH, I don't trust them.

K9Kampers wrote:

Bilgemaster wrote:...I wouldn't rely on it to spot that log out there though.

And another one who couldn't avoid a clearly visible log during the day! CLICKY

Someone did that in the channel in Irondequoit Bay a few years ago. Split the boat on a channel marker (piling, with big red or green marker, and a big light). Someone also ran right into the Genesee River giant boulder breakwater in the middle of the night, at high speed (drinking was involved), even though he came out of that river and was a local (knew it was there), it's on the chart, and it has a light on each of the two breakwaters. Two or more dead, and I believe the skipper is still in prison.

I go slow in the dark. The less I can see, the slower I go, down to an idle in the Erie Canal when there's no moon, as it's really black and you can run into a guard gate* or the odd piling or dolphin cluster or even just the banks.

I think radar would be very useful at times, but just not worth the expense and added complexity, as one motivation (of many) for getting this Mac was the reduction in the number of systems, to keep things simple. Kind of a van with a mattress and a camp stove and porta-potti vs a full-on Winnebago.

*Openable dams that are raised for boating season, but can be closed when there's a problem with a blow out or during the winter to isolate the canal from a river it crosses so they can drain the canal, for those not familiar. As I wasn't until I moved up here.

Right Tom

...and there's the issue of diminished natural eyesight to interpret /react to things at night while at the same time looking into the glare of the radar...and then to try to do all that at speed!

If you don't mind me saying, I think our topic has gone off the rails. This started as basically: Should people, Mac Capts, consider radar as an upgrade or addition to our boating / sailing.

Speeding at night - can be done. But is it really wise or prudent should be another topic.

Radar, as a nautical option, is a simple plug & play add on for most modern chart plotters for about a boat buck & a half.
It is not the be all and end all of nautical nirvana. It is simply an additional tool a captain can use as a prudent mariner. It won't "slice, dice & make Juliienee fries -or make good bass.
While some or many semi submerged items may show up on newer radars, it can Not core a apple Captain of the future!

Gazmn wrote:If you don't mind me saying, I think our topic has gone off the rails. This started as basically: Should people, Mac Capts, consider radar as an upgrade or addition to our boating / sailing.

Speeding at night - can be done. But is it really wise or prudent should be another topic.

Radar, as a nautical option, is a simple plug & play add on for most modern chart plotters for about a boat buck & a half.
It is not the be all and end all of nautical nirvana. It is simply an additional tool a captain can use as a prudent mariner. It won't "slice, dice & make Juliienee fries -or make good bass.
While some or many semi submerged items may show up on newer radars, it can Not core a apple Captain of the future!

Correct Gazmn,

I,m up-grading my 10yr old GPS & Sonar , the New Raymarine ES98 9" MFD GPS/Sonar unit is also Radar Compatible , so all I had to buy extra if I also wanted Radar was the Quantum Chirp Radar Radome
& as we all know if u r able to get a good boat show package deal plus a Raymarine rebate & also beat the 2017 price increases

So I was able to get my deal about 1 boat buck cheaper than some quotes I got back in Nov. , which includes Boat show discount / Raymarine Rebate / taxes saved

Just Sayin Thats All

J

I,m up-grading my 10yr old GPS & Sonar , the New Raymarine ES98 9" MFD GPS/Sonar unit is also Radar Compatible , so all I had to buy extra if I also wanted Radar was the Quantum Chirp Radar Radome
& as we all know if u r able to get a good boat show package deal plus a Raymarine rebate & also beat the 2017 price increases

So I was able to get my deal about 1 boat buck cheaper than some quotes I got back in Nov. , which includes Boat show discount / Raymarine Rebate / taxes saved

Just Sayin Thats All

J

Well Congrats again. It sounds like you got a hull of a deal!

I look forward to your installation posts, John.

I think it's also good you got the larger 9" screen, especially for radar where resolution is key & don't forget split screen capabilities