I would like to see out 8 to 10 miles with the
radome mounted 20-30' up the mizzen.

Hi Bruce,

As Jeff says, your radar will not be able to pick up small targets past
your visible horizon (about 6.3 nm according to Bowditch). You will be
able to pick up big, tall contacts further out, but that's about it.

I'd stick to a 1.5 to 2 kw radar if I were you. Higher power doesn't
"burn" through anything, including fog, and I think 4 kw is over kill
for what you'll be doing. In fact at the short ranges you'll be
operating at, the higher power will probably be a disadvantage. The
RayMarine stuff looks pretty nice and has alot of nice features (like
color and MARPA (their adaptation of ARPA)). But I'd go with a small
Furuno if you can afford it or another JRC if you're on the cheap. Just
my biased opinion though. Walk around the docks and see what the
smaller commercial fisherman in your area use. They tend to only get
stuff that works, why not do the same?

Just remember, if you get too fancy a radar, chances are your attention
will be fixated on that fancy screen and not your main navigation tool:
your "Mark I Mod II Eyeballs" ;-)

Hope this helps,

Paul

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