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Originally Posted by dodgyone
Yep, all those mettallic gulls give themselves away.
Detecting gulls against clear air is possible.
But you won't detect a crab pot buoy against the waterline background.
- Darren
I found that after the initial calibration my Furuno setup remained aligned. I checked it every time I went out, too - easy enough, just ensure the return matches the mark on the map.
Another key, ripping, brilliant and fantastic advantage of the radar overlay is that it gives you an immediate reading of North, instead of having to wait for the GPS to update, ie. no waiting for the damned thing to update your direction. Very useful on a dark night.
Cheers,
Tim
Carbon Really Ain't Pollution.
Yep, all those mettallic gulls give themselves away.
Detecting gulls against clear air is possible.
But you won't detect a crab pot buoy against the waterline background.
- Darren
I first used RADAR ~22yrs ago, in the pre GPS days, and it was installed purely for nighttime navigation. Then, it was a massive benefit. They have since come a long long way, but even with the benefit of good GPS plotters with electronic charts, I believe it (RADAR) is an invaluable aid for nighttime navigation, and that’s why I have one on my boat – especially to pick up these clowns that travel unlit at night.
A GPS plotter with an electronic chart shows you what’s around you ‘at the time the charts were produced’. A RADAR shows you what’s there ‘right now’ - in real time. There is a big difference!
All the benefits as others have said; rain, waves, birds and other non-metallic objects, but obviously anything metallic ‘generally’ reflects so much better, especially if panel geometry offers good reflectance (think about the Stealth planes etc and why they came about). A std lateral marker, with the flat panel front-on to you, will generally reflect much better than a 6m glass boat even at a distance.
Overlay is fantastic, but I generally don’t use it at night when I use RADAR mainly for collision avoidance, and hence negate any possible ‘issues’ from temporary heading sensor inaccuracies (mobile phones or other EM sources etc too). I split the screen, have the RADAR screen on a small range and ‘Head-Up’ display, and the Plotter on a much larger range and ‘North-Up’ (which is how I normally have it displayed). Might sound confusing to some but it works fantastically for me. I leave the <Control> on RADAR so I can temporarily zoom in/out quickly if required (when I have picked up a target etc). This way the RADAR screen only shows targets, and that is what I am concentrating on. To do this you need 10” widescreen minimum. (Oh, and as Darren has mentioned, a good ‘spotter’ is a must, plus the ‘Night HUE’ display is much easier on the eyes for quick re-focusing up ahead etc)
As far as ‘clear screens’ go, although I have never used an HDS unit, I am a bit wary of too much fancy filtering electronics, because it can be easy to miss a weak echo when the receiver is ‘tuned’ or switched to be less sensitive. For instance, if I activate the FTC circuit (forget what the acronym actually means), which is different from the Sea Clutter and the Rain/Precipitation filtering, I can make my screen crystal clear, but I lose weak echoes and some definition. They might be that good, and am happy to be proved wrong– maybe I am too old fashioned
Cheers
Brendon
G'day Muzz
Yeah its me and noTom is not buying another boat (for the moment). Another mate has purchased a hydrofield. Shes a great boat and I cant believe how well she rides in all conditions. We were meant to pick it up yesterday.Unfortunatley she still isnt ready. Maybe next week now.
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