Radar Anyone ??

[fish-n-dive]

I'm just curious if anyone uses radar and if so why and what for.

Additionally, is there a 'recommended' radar for small boats that go out wide?.............

[Piscatory Pursuit]

There are a lot of uses for radar but safe navigation is probably the number one reason to have one. If you navigate busy waterways and if you navigate in difficult visibility, radar can save your life. Radar will display other vessels, rain and storms, navigational aids, land masses, surface obstructions and so on. It will also display the target range and bearing. Really good radar can even pick up birds diving on bait to improve your fishing.

Most radars will search for targets within a specified range. Less expensive units might have a 16 nautical mile range while high end units might have a 72 nm or more range. The range will also vary depending on how high the radar antenna is mounted on the boat. Radar works on line of sight and the higher on the boat it is mounted the longer the range.

Radar antenna come in two forms, a radome or an open array. Most small vessels opt for the radome as it is relatively small.

One aspect of radar which will determine the quality, or detail of a target is horizontal beamwidth. More expensive units have a smaller horizontal beamwidth that will deliver better detail and resolution than a unit with a wider horizontal beamwidth.

Hope this helps.

Good Luck!

[Shanoss]

My boat had Radar on it when i bought it. After a couple of trips fiddling about with it, i was less than impressed and biffed the whole thing. It was an older cheapy unit though and i'm sure the newer ones are a whole lot better.

[snelly1971]

I find it a must have for fishing safely....especially is squalls and fog.....and especially at night...Gps`s tell lies sometimes...but a radar wont....

Mick

[camsharkman]

Night time is when it becomes really useful. I can keep an eye on other vessels mainly trawlers and the like. Set up a guard zone so I know when something is near, this is also good to stop people sneaking up on you.....
I can also keep an eye on where the other boats have really gone.

[brrbear]

I was a first time user earlier this year when I skippered a 33' vessel from brisbane to swansea.It was a real help on the 2 allnight runs.
other boats and storms were picked up,plus the outline of the shore was a bonus.
If travelling long distances at night i would recommend it.

[Mr__Bean]

I have a Raymarine radar that is integrated with the plotter.

If I was to buy another boat I would go out and buy another radar unit.

Whilst it isn't used all that often, it is when the chips are down that it gives me greater confidence when travelling around at night.

Unlit markers, narrow inlets, navigation around moored boats all become much safer when there is a "blip" on your plotter showing where an item is.

Not sure I would be as happy if the unit was seperate, but an integrated unit is good to have if you regularly go out at night with these challenges.

As mentioned earlier, the GPS is not always accurate, well I should say the plotter is not always accurate. On many occasions I have relied on the radar to get me through unlit beacons that the plotter says are elsewhere.

I will differ a bit on the range, unless you can get your radar unit high up on a mast I find it is unreliable on small craft over a kilometer away, the reflection is so small that it is lost on the screen. SUre you will detect ships etc but small craft just don't reflect well enough to be of great value.

- Darren


Late edit: I guess this says it all really, a recent post about a fishing trip we had when the weather got a bit rougher than expected.

As soon as it got dark the wind picked up a bit and I started to turn green and was very pleased to hear I was not the only one so we headed into the Lady Musgrave lagoon using the chart plotter and radar on the Bad Eye to guide us in with the Mary-K close behind, Its amazing what quality electronics allow you to do in the dark navigating in through a reef that we had never been in before, top effort Darren.