Larry --

You forgot to point out that on the 80 mph cigarette boat, it doesn't matter
if you don't see the can buoy at 50 yards, because its too late to do
anything about it, anyhow.

Dave.

"Larry W4CSC" wrote in message
...
On 13 Mar 2004 05:22:12 -0800, (Mark Sastre)
wrote:

I have a 37' Marinette that I will be using offshore in the Gulf of
Mexico. I would love to get a GPS/Radar for no more than about $3000.
Is that dreaming? Am I out of my mind? Thnx. Mark


I don't think you're crazy, at all......

Assuming you're located in a popular boating area, what I would do,
first, is to go to all the local marine electronics SERVICE people to
see what they have available in a radar. I used $3000 radar that came
off some millionaire's big yacht is a lot MORE radar than $3000 will
buy you new in any overpriced marine supply store. The service people
will make it operate and install it for you on the Marinette.
(There's a nice Marinette 32 for sale at Ashley Marina, here in
Charleston, SC, that's from Ohio, at the moment. It's a fresh water
boat that looks nearly new! I love its no-nonsense, no bubble boat
look, personally.)

If that fails, ask around the marinas to see what's for sale. The
Joneses are always replacing a perfectly good piece of electronics
with the latest Gee-Whiz 8000 Plus and will almost give away the nasty
old 4KW they USED to use.....

Of course, Caveat Emptor. There's some real crap for sale out there,
too. Again, those guys at the SERVICE shop know the difference and
can help you find something useful but not $24K for a few bucks.

On that faster-than-sailboat boat, let's go for the 24 mile radar, not
the 2KW cheapie. You got plenty of DC power to run a better, more
powerful unit than the rag baggers need. I'd be on the lookout for a
used 8KW with an open antenna, which gives it better resolution to
separate targets further away from the boat.

Whatever radar you get, be SURE to mount it ABOVE the humans on deck,
not in front of the windscreen of the flybridge frying their brains
ever revolution of the antenna. Microwave RF is dangerous to humans.

Another thing to think about is range. It's nice to have aircraft
carrier range by putting the antenna so high you can only see it on a
cloudless day, BUT, the higher you place the antenna the more it
shoots OVER that can bouy you are about to run over in the fog. There
always has to be a compromise between being able to see something low
down on the water at great range.....or......something so close to the
boat the radar beam shoots over and gives you no target in the dark or
fog or rain......

The question to ask yourself is:

How much leadtime do I need at my normal speed before I get to the
furthest target I can see? If you're cruising at 12 knots at sea with
ships doing 20 knots, you're better off seeing that can bouy in the
fog than you are a ship at 48 miles that is no threat whatsoever to
you. So you place the antenna low enough to show that bouy 50 yards
ahead.....low down. If you are a Cigarette boat running 80 mph, you
need to see the targets further away because you'll be on top of them
in a minute or two, so you need the antenna higher up for more range.
See?



Larry W4CSC
POWER is our friend!