Radar

[JJRJR]

Hey guys,

None of my boats have ever had radar. I've always assumed radar is only useful for seeing things at night. I suspect I'm wrong. I now have a 92 Gulfstream 232. I am having a 4000 series Garmin GPSMAP chart-plotter as well as the g2 chip for better detail, fish-eye view, mariner view, etc.

So, I'm wondering if I should get radar? Boat has a hard T-Top. I'm told that with that GPS, I can get the radar to display right onto the chart-plotter's monitor.

Can some of you guys out there that swear by radar let me know the positives of having them, how difficult to install and whether or not you think I would "need" it if I only fish during the day?

Finally, what unit do you think would work well with that rig. I suspect a Garmin unit to match the plotter, but not sure. Would appreciate some ideas.

Thanks very much,

John

 

[RJTFD]

Hi
If you want it to display on chart plotter you will need radar to match chart plotter so you can network the 2. As far as using it during the day you never know when fog will roll in and you'll be glad you have it. Still have to remember just cause you have it doesn't mean you can run like there is perfect visibility cause the other boat who is running like that may not have radar and will not see you. Radar is very nice to have but depending on where you fish and the type of fishing your going to do. I have it on mine and I only use it as a second set of eyes I still keep a very cautious eye out when running at night or in the fog.
Good luck

 

[artodea]

I am also looking to add radar to my '96 Gulfstream. I have decided to not add radar to my GPS plotter because I only have a 7" screen which doesn't leave enough real estate on the display for split screen operation. An overlay of the radar image on the full screen gps is a great concept but to properly implement that you need an external heading sensor. I believe Garmin systems do an overlay using COG to align the radar image to the map on the display but that could get dicey if you're going real slow in pea soup fog...

As a standalone unit I'm looking at the SiTex T760 - I hear good things about it:
http://si-tex.com/item/t760seriestouchscreencolorradar

 

[SmokyMtnGrady]

I am also looking at adding radar to my boat and I have a Garmin 4208. I am wondering though what the real difference is between the 18 and 24 HDx radomes? It is not in the budget for a 4 foot array and that also seems large for my boat anyway. I have read the garmin stuff on line and the heading sensor is for their marpa tracking software where it will track other vessels and such. Everything I have read indicates their radar images can be overlayed on charts without the sensor.

My questions are wil a 24 inch radome also provide some weather returns or is that fearure only doable on open arrays? Also, will a 4kw 24 inch radome pick up birds at all? I would like radar so i can leave earlier or comeback later. I would like it to also pick up weather and birds if possible. The weather thing i might add an xm weather pack so really for me weather and birds are a bonus .

 

[JJRJR]

thanks all. sounds like it could be great to have. more thinking I guess.

 

[GulfSea]

I've got the Lowrance 3G radar with chart overlay on an HDS-8. I'll put it this way, my BR24 went out about 1 1/2 years ago and I immediately purchased the 3G. I just needed a reason to upgrade and now have the repaired unit for a back up. The obvious uses are during rain, fog and night but I actually use it more for monitoring distant summertime storm cells, navigational traffic and other watercraft when coming in from offshore. With chart overlay, items of interest show up on the screen so there's no need to have a separate radar screen.

 

[Fishtales]

Day uses - Fog comes in, spotting birds (if set up right and powerful enough), tracking other boats/ships. If you boat near shore or coastal and go during the day, you can prob go without. Offshore, twilight or night you really must have it.

 

[Meanwhile]

I've had a small Furuno 1715 unit on a 22' aluminum boat for fog issues. I liked the idea of the two units in case my plotter quit. It worked great. I could pivot the large RAM holder so the screen faced me or assign radar duty to my mate and I could focus on the water in front of me. I bought that specifically for a trip to Vancouver Island, BC, for the month of Fogust.

I then had a Raymarine product that had overlay on my plotter. I like the overlay. I did have a Flux compass installed as the one time I was outside the mouth of the jetties in thick fog my display was tool slow to keep up via GPS alone as I crept along. That was a 4kw unit and it worked well.

I now have a 4kw open array Furuno VX2, an older unit but it works very well. I cannot see masses of birds with it but can reach out and put a waypoint on a boat as it fishes, so I can check out the spot later. As some boats use code or a scrambler, I can still know where they are fishing. That is kind of nice. I can also see defined storm fronts coming. We usually have drizzle here but it was nice to reach out once and watch a lightening storm. It dissipated before reaching me.

I know I'll not have another boat without radar.