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Radomes: 2KW vs 4KW
I have a Furuno 1621 MkII radar that I've never been happy with. At this
point I believe that the radome has basically failed and I'm planning on replacing the entire system. I think that I'm going to replace it with RayMarine C70 system which provides a radar and chartplotter. This will be compatible with my Autohelm autopilot and this will provide a redundant chartplotter. I've been pondering the differences between a 2KW radome and a 4 KW radome. Based upon the litature the 2 KW unit provides 24 nm range vs 48 nm range. This doesn't seem to really matter as the radar is only mounted about 10-12 feet above the water on a radar mast and the radar horizon to a 50' high target is only 14+ miles. I've been told that the 4KW is very helpful in dense fog (not applicable to the Caribbean where I spend most of my time, but would be useful when I return to New England) or heavy rain and that it also provides better separation of targets. My typical use of radar is at night where I have the range set to about 8 nm or to watch for squalls, where the extended range would be useful. There's a huge difference in cost between the two. The 2KW unit runs around $900 and the 4KW unit runs about $1600. Based upon my usage and setup, is the additional cost worth it? Are there other things that I should be thinking of? Thanks, Geoff |