What radar do you guys recommend for finding birds ? My two nephews are struggling with an old Simrad that is of no use.
finding birds on radar
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SkunkBoat
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It has been my experience (with my 24" dome Garmin) that unless it is glassy flat calm seas, you will find birds easier with your eyes than with the radar.
The radar has to have the gain turned way up and the sea clutter(noise) rejection turned off.
In close of 1 mile will be a mess but of course, you would see the birds with your eyes. You are looking farther off with the radar.
You might have a "Bird Mode" that does that. If there are any birds you have to pick them out of the clutter as a moving patch of clutter.
4' arrays would do a much better job than smaller domes. The larger the antenna array, the smaller the resolution of targets and so the better the separation of targets.
I would not recommend buying a 4' array just for the purpose of trying to find birds. Especially on boats of Grady size....its overkill.
18" domes are fine for navigation in the fog& dark. 24" gives a little better separation of targets that are near each other.
The radar has to have the gain turned way up and the sea clutter(noise) rejection turned off.
In close of 1 mile will be a mess but of course, you would see the birds with your eyes. You are looking farther off with the radar.
You might have a "Bird Mode" that does that. If there are any birds you have to pick them out of the clutter as a moving patch of clutter.
4' arrays would do a much better job than smaller domes. The larger the antenna array, the smaller the resolution of targets and so the better the separation of targets.
I would not recommend buying a 4' array just for the purpose of trying to find birds. Especially on boats of Grady size....its overkill.
18" domes are fine for navigation in the fog& dark. 24" gives a little better separation of targets that are near each other.
Ekea
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whats the size of the boat have to do with it? the radar is for detecting targets regardless of what size boat its on. the radar should be spec'ed for how the cap plans to use it and what targets he wants to find at what distance
SkunkBoat
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It has everthing to do with it. The earth is not flat. Radar does not curve.
Adding a 4' array on a hardtop that is 10 feet off the water isn't going to get you any more distance than an 18". yes maybe you will see the tops of some very large steel ships out over the horizon....or some airplanes flying low or some high hills on land...
This me working on a radar that weighs more than your boat, 80+ ft up, underway.
SkunkBoat
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Ekea
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a smaller boat could have a tower. that could put the radar twice as high off the water. OP has a marlin, that could easily handle a good size tower.
it can also be used for tracking weather. storm cells are detectable over very long distances. plus, a 4' open will give better quality / higher resolution feedback
im not suggesting that the OP needs a 4' open, but im just saying it can be useful on a smaller boat.
SkunkBoat
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I did say a 4' array would do a better job finding birds. (If sea conditions allow) It will have more resolution.
Very few gradys have towers and very often even large boats, with tall towers, place the 4' array on the first level hardtop anyways.
These radars are not stabilized. If you put them up high they will rock in the waves and point at the sky, then water,then sky....
They can become useless in any kind of sea if they are mounted up too high.
These small boats, yes a 30' Marlin is small, don't have room for a 4' array. You are "supposed" to keep minimum distances from other antennas
IMO, finding birds is a wish that might miraculously come true in the right conditions. In those conditions, the 24" dome probably sees them too. Your eyes probably see them too...
The birds you seek are hovering 10 or 20ft above the surface. They have to be within 3 miles for any realistic expectation to get an identifiable radar return from them.
99% of Grady boaters will do well with an 18" or 24" radome.
The added expense of a 4' array is not justified.
The resolution at distance isn't particularly important to a small boater. Do you really care if there is one ship, or two ships next to each other, 12 miles away?
Ekea
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overall, i do agree with you. i was just stating that an argument can be made when a 4' could be a good choice for a smaller boat. for my boat, a dome like you mentioned is plenty good.
Harrysea
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When I bought a new radar, I toyed with the idea of mounting the dome above the surry top on my tower, but kept it on the hardtop because my sole use has been navigation during reduced visibility conditions and it works just fine there.
Fishtales
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g0tagrip When one is fishing offshore and finds a working flock of birds, it is seductive and orgasmic. Therefore, just like real life we toss money at it to maximize the frequency. And like real life, such investments doesn't always provide the results we are looking for. Radar is just the same. I have a 4ft aray 12kilo Garmin $7,500 investment with no orgasmic results. Awesome radar with great resolution, but you will not effectively mark birds beyond your own visual range. After much discussion with various radar manufacturers, only commercial radars will effectively mark birds beyond the normal visual range. Commercial radars will not really work on our pleasure vessels. If I would have known what I know now, I would have just bought an 18 raydome and called a day and better spent my hard earned money, but that's just me. Good luck with your endeavor!
I asked around a bit several years ago. I tried the fancy binos, but they did not work well. My boat is small, and rocks too much to get good use out of high magnification binos.
Most of my fishing consists of finding bird piles over schools of skipjack. I ended up purchasing a Furuno DRS12AX X-Class with 4ft open array. It was recommended over the newer ones for finding birds, and the price was reasonable. I have used it the past two years to consistently find birds 2- 5 miles away. It has saved many fishing trips for me. The bird mode works great. It takes a bit to get used to, but you can tell the difference between boats, offshore buoys, birds, rain clouds by the way the return acts over time.
For me it was the best purchase on my boat and has resulted in catching the most fish. I mainly troll. I have an Adventure 208. I reinforced the hard top and put it right on top. Prior to installing, I made sure to measure the pitch while going my normal speed to make sure the array was at the right angle.
I attached a picture from a couple weeks ago. We were about 5 miles out and I found a large spread out bird pile another 4 miles out. The picture is my buddy hooked up on a 15lb skipjack. The other picture is the birds I picked up, which you have to zoom in some.
Most of my fishing consists of finding bird piles over schools of skipjack. I ended up purchasing a Furuno DRS12AX X-Class with 4ft open array. It was recommended over the newer ones for finding birds, and the price was reasonable. I have used it the past two years to consistently find birds 2- 5 miles away. It has saved many fishing trips for me. The bird mode works great. It takes a bit to get used to, but you can tell the difference between boats, offshore buoys, birds, rain clouds by the way the return acts over time.
For me it was the best purchase on my boat and has resulted in catching the most fish. I mainly troll. I have an Adventure 208. I reinforced the hard top and put it right on top. Prior to installing, I made sure to measure the pitch while going my normal speed to make sure the array was at the right angle.
I attached a picture from a couple weeks ago. We were about 5 miles out and I found a large spread out bird pile another 4 miles out. The picture is my buddy hooked up on a 15lb skipjack. The other picture is the birds I picked up, which you have to zoom in some.
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Here is a picture of the install.
Good luck with whatever decision you make!! It can be a fun or frustrating addition for more tools to find fish.
Alot of other local boats have a bridge or steering up top so it is easier to use binos and pick out rubbish or birds while driving.
They don’t have radar and catch alot more fish than I do
Good luck with whatever decision you make!! It can be a fun or frustrating addition for more tools to find fish.
Alot of other local boats have a bridge or steering up top so it is easier to use binos and pick out rubbish or birds while driving.
They don’t have radar and catch alot more fish than I do
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