Hi Lloyd,,

1. On a sailboat, where do you put the display?

On a swing out arm in the companion way. That way, it's visible
anywhere in the cockpit and out of the way when not using it. You could
also see it form inside, but we never really use it from inside.

2. Realistically, how far do you set the max range?

Depends on conditions and what your doing. During night/inclement
weather horizon checks, we scan both close in and far out.

3. Do you trust yours enough to use it instead of a "watch"

No. In heavy fog/rain, we rely on it, but we use it in addition to eyes
and ears.

4. "constant-bearing alarm". Why not?

Dunno, But we just set a bearing line on a target and if it stays on the
line, alter course.

5. I'm looking at the Furuno 1623 or 1712,

We put the Raymarine SL-72 on both our last two boats and love it. I
really don't like the display on the JRC.

6. Is it worth while to mount the antenna up the mast

We had it on a self leveling unit on the mast on our last boat. But
decided to put it on a manual leveling unit on a tower on this one.

FWIW, I used to think of radar as a toy I'd like to have but couldn't
really justify the cost (sorta like a mast mounted wind indicator) .
Then, after we ran into heavy fog while approaching an unfamiliar harbor
one evening, my wife got me a set for my birthday. After using it for a
few years, when we bought our current boat, it was one of the very first
additions we did. I now think of it as almost a must have for the kind
sailing that we do. (I'm still hoping for the wind indicator for my
birthday some day)

Hope this helps - Dan

--
Dan Best - (707) 431-1662, Healdsburg, CA 95448
B-2/75 1977-1979
Tayana 37 #192, "Tricia Jean" http://rangerbest.home.comcast.net/TriciaJean.JPG

On Thu, 18 Dec 2003 17:40:10 -0800, "Lloyd Sumpter"
wrote:

Hi,

Considering buying a radar, so I have a few questions:

1. On a sailboat, where do you put the display? I rarely steer from behind the
wheel, mainly by sitting on one of the gunwales beside the wheel, or sometimes
by Otto while hiding from the rain under the dodger (hence the name... ).

You need it where you can see it when you will actually be using it. I
have it mounted over the wheel. If you expect to use it while steering
from the side, you might consider making it turnable.

2. Realistically, how far do you set the max range? I'm seeing that unless I
mount the antenna up the mast, I'm not gonna get more than maybe 10 miles range
no matter what unit I buy. Then again, if I see a freighter steaming at 30
knots, 10 miles away, I still have 20 minutes to do something. Is a 20-mile
range worth getting?

I usually switch between 3 and 6 miles. I occasionally go to 12 or 24
momentarily to see land or large ships.

The default settings of my radar make it show rain on 6 mi and filter
it out on 3, a handy combination.

3. Do you trust yours enough to use it instead of a "watch" (ie watch the radar
screen instead of where you're going)? Trying to decide if getting a radar will
increase my cruising time significantly (ie more confidence in running at night)

I use it when I can't see anything in dense fog. At night, I can see
the radar and look ahead as well, although the radar impairs night
vision. My biggest beef with my Raytheon SR72 is the coarse steps in
the illumination. The dimmest setting that lights at all is far too
bright for dark nights.


6. Is it worth while to mount the antenna up the mast, or should I use a
"dedicated" mast at the transom?

I put it on a stern mast, because it added less to the pitching moment
and I could mount it lower than I could on the mast without
interfering with spinnaker gear. I didn't want it higher because it
was more vulnerable to sea clutter.

The sea clutter consideration applied to my original radar, a Furuno
1720. It may be that the Raytheon has good enough filtering so this
wouldn't be as big a problem, but I still have it on a mast. I don't
want the genoas hitting it during tacks anyway.



Rodney Myrvaagnes J36 Gjo/a


"In this house we _obey_ the laws of thermodynamics." --Homer Simpson

On Thu, 18 Dec 2003 17:40:10 -0800, "Lloyd Sumpter"
wrote:

Hi,

Considering buying a radar, so I have a few questions:

1. On a sailboat, where do you put the display? I rarely steer from behind the
wheel, mainly by sitting on one of the gunwales beside the wheel, or sometimes
by Otto while hiding from the rain under the dodger (hence the name... ).

You need it where you can see it when you will actually be using it. I
have it mounted over the wheel. If you expect to use it while steering
from the side, you might consider making it turnable.

2. Realistically, how far do you set the max range? I'm seeing that unless I
mount the antenna up the mast, I'm not gonna get more than maybe 10 miles range
no matter what unit I buy. Then again, if I see a freighter steaming at 30
knots, 10 miles away, I still have 20 minutes to do something. Is a 20-mile
range worth getting?

I usually switch between 3 and 6 miles. I occasionally go to 12 or 24
momentarily to see land or large ships.

The default settings of my radar make it show rain on 6 mi and filter
it out on 3, a handy combination.

3. Do you trust yours enough to use it instead of a "watch" (ie watch the radar
screen instead of where you're going)? Trying to decide if getting a radar will
increase my cruising time significantly (ie more confidence in running at night)

I use it when I can't see anything in dense fog. At night, I can see
the radar and look ahead as well, although the radar impairs night
vision. My biggest beef with my Raytheon SR72 is the coarse steps in
the illumination. The dimmest setting that lights at all is far too
bright for dark nights.


6. Is it worth while to mount the antenna up the mast, or should I use a
"dedicated" mast at the transom?

I put it on a stern mast, because it added less to the pitching moment
and I could mount it lower than I could on the mast without
interfering with spinnaker gear. I didn't want it higher because it
was more vulnerable to sea clutter.

The sea clutter consideration applied to my original radar, a Furuno
1720. It may be that the Raytheon has good enough filtering so this
wouldn't be as big a problem, but I still have it on a mast. I don't
want the genoas hitting it during tacks anyway.



Rodney Myrvaagnes J36 Gjo/a


"In this house we _obey_ the laws of thermodynamics." --Homer Simpson

I have a 19' bowrider and mounted the radar atop the wakeboard tower. I
normally set the range for .25 or .5 NM inside San Diego Bay and 1 NM in the
channel leading to the Ocean.
I haven't been more than a couple of miles out since adding the radar; I
don't think I'd be very concerned about anything more than 16 miles away.
As for constant bearing, you can watch that by setting the cursor on a
target, and observing if the target stays on the cursor line.
I looked at JRC, RayMarine and went with Furuno (1622) because that's what
most of the recreational and professional fishermen seem to be using here.
All three had radars with the same features in the same price range. I think
JRC used a CRT instead of an LCD, and I don't have the space for a big
display on my little instrument panel.
I mounted the display on a RAM universal base in front of the passenger
seat, visible and controllable from the drivers seat.
We rely on our eyes as lookouts, but check the radar to be sure we're not
overlooking anything.
I've been caught in very dense fog and it's comforting to be able to see the
coast, buoys, other ships on the radar as we follow our GPS.

"Lloyd Sumpter" wrote in message
...
Hi,

Considering buying a radar, so I have a few questions:

1. On a sailboat, where do you put the display? I rarely steer from behind
the
wheel, mainly by sitting on one of the gunwales beside the wheel, or
sometimes
by Otto while hiding from the rain under the dodger (hence the
name... ).

2. Realistically, how far do you set the max range? I'm seeing that unless
I
mount the antenna up the mast, I'm not gonna get more than maybe 10 miles
range
no matter what unit I buy. Then again, if I see a freighter steaming at 30
knots, 10 miles away, I still have 20 minutes to do something. Is a
20-mile
range worth getting?

3. Do you trust yours enough to use it instead of a "watch" (ie watch the
radar
screen instead of where you're going)? Trying to decide if getting a radar
will
increase my cruising time significantly (ie more confidence in running at
night)

4. I see a "guard zone alarm" but no "constant-bearing alarm". Why not?
wouldn't
a constant-bearing alarm be far more useful (and not that hard to
implement)?

5. I'm looking at the Furuno 1623 or 1712, or the JRC 1000. I have a
Furuno
GP-31 GPS and I'm impressed by the quality (also, probably 90% of
commercial
boats around here have Furuno radars). Any comments?

6. Is it worth while to mount the antenna up the mast, or should I use a
"dedicated" mast at the transom?

That's all for now...dreaming on a dull winter's day...

Lloyd Sumpter
"Far Cove" Catalina 36

I have a 19' bowrider and mounted the radar atop the wakeboard tower. I
normally set the range for .25 or .5 NM inside San Diego Bay and 1 NM in the
channel leading to the Ocean.
I haven't been more than a couple of miles out since adding the radar; I
don't think I'd be very concerned about anything more than 16 miles away.
As for constant bearing, you can watch that by setting the cursor on a
target, and observing if the target stays on the cursor line.
I looked at JRC, RayMarine and went with Furuno (1622) because that's what
most of the recreational and professional fishermen seem to be using here.
All three had radars with the same features in the same price range. I think
JRC used a CRT instead of an LCD, and I don't have the space for a big
display on my little instrument panel.
I mounted the display on a RAM universal base in front of the passenger
seat, visible and controllable from the drivers seat.
We rely on our eyes as lookouts, but check the radar to be sure we're not
overlooking anything.
I've been caught in very dense fog and it's comforting to be able to see the
coast, buoys, other ships on the radar as we follow our GPS.

"Lloyd Sumpter" wrote in message
...
Hi,

Considering buying a radar, so I have a few questions:

1. On a sailboat, where do you put the display? I rarely steer from behind
the
wheel, mainly by sitting on one of the gunwales beside the wheel, or
sometimes
by Otto while hiding from the rain under the dodger (hence the
name... ).

2. Realistically, how far do you set the max range? I'm seeing that unless
I
mount the antenna up the mast, I'm not gonna get more than maybe 10 miles
range
no matter what unit I buy. Then again, if I see a freighter steaming at 30
knots, 10 miles away, I still have 20 minutes to do something. Is a
20-mile
range worth getting?

3. Do you trust yours enough to use it instead of a "watch" (ie watch the
radar
screen instead of where you're going)? Trying to decide if getting a radar
will
increase my cruising time significantly (ie more confidence in running at
night)

4. I see a "guard zone alarm" but no "constant-bearing alarm". Why not?
wouldn't
a constant-bearing alarm be far more useful (and not that hard to
implement)?

5. I'm looking at the Furuno 1623 or 1712, or the JRC 1000. I have a
Furuno
GP-31 GPS and I'm impressed by the quality (also, probably 90% of
commercial
boats around here have Furuno radars). Any comments?

6. Is it worth while to mount the antenna up the mast, or should I use a
"dedicated" mast at the transom?

That's all for now...dreaming on a dull winter's day...

Lloyd Sumpter
"Far Cove" Catalina 36

"Lloyd Sumpter" wrote in message
...
Hi,

Considering buying a radar, so I have a few questions:

1. On a sailboat, where do you put the display? I rarely steer from
behind the
wheel, mainly by sitting on one of the gunwales beside the wheel, or
sometimes
by Otto while hiding from the rain under the dodger (hence the
name... ).

At the chart table (have a tiller, not wheel, so no wheel mounted
instrument binnacle). I have been considering mounting the display on a
swivel to be able to turn it to face the companionway directly.

2. Realistically, how far do you set the max range? I'm seeing that
unless I
mount the antenna up the mast, I'm not gonna get more than maybe 10
miles range
no matter what unit I buy. Then again, if I see a freighter steaming
at 30
knots, 10 miles away, I still have 20 minutes to do something. Is a
20-mile
range worth getting?

I find 16 miles more than adequate and rarely use more than 8 miles.
When keeping radar watch, don't forget to cycle regularly through the
ranges. On a small set a weak target (e.g. yacht with no reflector) may
only show at 1 mile or less and not be seen on a set at 16 mile range
but be readily visible on the 1 or 2 mile setting.

3. Do you trust yours enough to use it instead of a "watch" (ie watch
the radar
screen instead of where you're going)? Trying to decide if getting a
radar will
increase my cruising time significantly (ie more confidence in running
at night)

In general No. Particularly in areas of lobster pots a visual watch is
essential. OTOH with radar and solo I will now spend more time at the
chart table than when without radar.

4. I see a "guard zone alarm" but no "constant-bearing alarm". Why
not? wouldn't
a constant-bearing alarm be far more useful (and not that hard to
implement)?

For a constant bearing alarm to work you would probably need to
initially mark a potential target with the cursor whichwoulkd then allow
the machine to track it. I also sail on Tall Ships with commercial gyro
stabilised ARPA radars. We can 'mark' up to 30 targets and the readout
gives the target's course, speed, closest point of approach and time to
CPA. However you are now talking real money! On my little radar I have
not found the guard zone to be useful as it is too often triggered by
spurious clutter.

5. I'm looking at the Furuno 1623 or 1712, or the JRC 1000. I have a
Furuno
GP-31 GPS and I'm impressed by the quality (also, probably 90% of
commercial
boats around here have Furuno radars). Any comments?

Happy with my small Furuno. The ability to link with GPS is key. One
can put in a GPS waypoint and this then shows as a 'lolipop' on the
radar, so easy to identify a buoy set as a waypoint and differentiate
from any other trgets nearby (e.g. yachts jilling around the buoy in
thick fog)

6. Is it worth while to mount the antenna up the mast, or should I use
a
"dedicated" mast at the transom?

I use a mast mount - cheaper than a pole and a view from higher up. I
have not noticed any adverse heeling effect from the extra weight aloft.

That's all for now...dreaming on a dull winter's day...

I bought radar about 4 / 5 years ago after aborting a channel crossing
to France in poor visibility sailing 2 up. Since then it has been
frequently helpful (e.g. I am not good at estimating distances off of
large vessels in shipping lanes, radar shows this exactly) and
invaluable on a few occasions - this year we lost vis off the NW coast
of France and it was 0.1 - 1 mile all the way to within the Solent,
about 180 miles. Without radar that passage would have been alarming at
least!

Lloyd Sumpter
"Far Cove" Catalina 36

Tony Boas
Sadler 34 - Bold Warrior

"Lloyd Sumpter" wrote in message
...
Hi,

Considering buying a radar, so I have a few questions:

1. On a sailboat, where do you put the display? I rarely steer from
behind the
wheel, mainly by sitting on one of the gunwales beside the wheel, or
sometimes
by Otto while hiding from the rain under the dodger (hence the
name... ).

At the chart table (have a tiller, not wheel, so no wheel mounted
instrument binnacle). I have been considering mounting the display on a
swivel to be able to turn it to face the companionway directly.

2. Realistically, how far do you set the max range? I'm seeing that
unless I
mount the antenna up the mast, I'm not gonna get more than maybe 10
miles range
no matter what unit I buy. Then again, if I see a freighter steaming
at 30
knots, 10 miles away, I still have 20 minutes to do something. Is a
20-mile
range worth getting?

I find 16 miles more than adequate and rarely use more than 8 miles.
When keeping radar watch, don't forget to cycle regularly through the
ranges. On a small set a weak target (e.g. yacht with no reflector) may
only show at 1 mile or less and not be seen on a set at 16 mile range
but be readily visible on the 1 or 2 mile setting.

3. Do you trust yours enough to use it instead of a "watch" (ie watch
the radar
screen instead of where you're going)? Trying to decide if getting a
radar will
increase my cruising time significantly (ie more confidence in running
at night)

In general No. Particularly in areas of lobster pots a visual watch is
essential. OTOH with radar and solo I will now spend more time at the
chart table than when without radar.

4. I see a "guard zone alarm" but no "constant-bearing alarm". Why
not? wouldn't
a constant-bearing alarm be far more useful (and not that hard to
implement)?

For a constant bearing alarm to work you would probably need to
initially mark a potential target with the cursor whichwoulkd then allow
the machine to track it. I also sail on Tall Ships with commercial gyro
stabilised ARPA radars. We can 'mark' up to 30 targets and the readout
gives the target's course, speed, closest point of approach and time to
CPA. However you are now talking real money! On my little radar I have
not found the guard zone to be useful as it is too often triggered by
spurious clutter.

5. I'm looking at the Furuno 1623 or 1712, or the JRC 1000. I have a
Furuno
GP-31 GPS and I'm impressed by the quality (also, probably 90% of
commercial
boats around here have Furuno radars). Any comments?

Happy with my small Furuno. The ability to link with GPS is key. One
can put in a GPS waypoint and this then shows as a 'lolipop' on the
radar, so easy to identify a buoy set as a waypoint and differentiate
from any other trgets nearby (e.g. yachts jilling around the buoy in
thick fog)

6. Is it worth while to mount the antenna up the mast, or should I use
a
"dedicated" mast at the transom?

I use a mast mount - cheaper than a pole and a view from higher up. I
have not noticed any adverse heeling effect from the extra weight aloft.

That's all for now...dreaming on a dull winter's day...

I bought radar about 4 / 5 years ago after aborting a channel crossing
to France in poor visibility sailing 2 up. Since then it has been
frequently helpful (e.g. I am not good at estimating distances off of
large vessels in shipping lanes, radar shows this exactly) and
invaluable on a few occasions - this year we lost vis off the NW coast
of France and it was 0.1 - 1 mile all the way to within the Solent,
about 180 miles. Without radar that passage would have been alarming at
least!

Lloyd Sumpter
"Far Cove" Catalina 36

Tony Boas
Sadler 34 - Bold Warrior

Lloyd Sumpter wrote:

Considering buying a radar, so I have a few questions:

1. On a sailboat, where do you put the display? ...

I use a Furuno 1622 which has a small lightweight LCD display. I have
fitted 2 Furuno mounts for the display, one in the nav area (just below on
the starboard side), and a second on the cabin top under the spray dodger on
the starboard side. The display itself has a substantial length of cable(s)
secured into a bundle. The display can thus be mounted below (normal use)
or moved up under the dodger in a few seconds when the need arises. Both
positions have advantages and disadvantages, but switching is easy enough.

2. Realistically, how far do you set the max range? I'm seeing that
unless I mount the antenna up the mast, I'm not gonna get more than
maybe 10 miles range no matter what unit I buy. Then again, if I
see a freighter steaming at 30 knots, 10 miles away, I still have
20 minutes to do something. Is a 20-mile range worth getting?

There is no "set distance" in general. In dense fog in Halifax Harbor I
found 1/8 or 1/4 mile quite helpful. Off the coast of Cape Sable I found 4
miles helpful when dodging shipping. On Long Island Sound I often use the 8
mile range to track tug and barge rigs.

I suspect that any range beyond 8 or 16 miles is of little consequence to
the average small cruising boat. Of course if you are heading for South
Georgia Island, you may feel differently about this.

3. Do you trust yours enough to use it instead of a "watch" (ie
watch the radar screen instead of where you're going)? Trying to
decide if getting a radar will increase my cruising time
significantly (ie more confidence in running at night)

Sometimes the radar sees something I missed, and sometimes it's the other
way around. The way to develop the _proper_ level of confidence with radar
is to use it often, and to use it in conditions of visibility so that what
is on the screen can be related to the surrounding reality. I sometimes
hear folks say that they can find their way in restricted visibility with a
chart plotter and a GPS, but this neglects the fact that they are counting
on the other guy to avoid them, and that those little red buoys on the
electronic chart are sometimes not where the chart authors say they are.
There is _no_ substitute for radar when things get thick.

4. I see a "guard zone alarm" but no "constant-bearing alarm". Why
not? wouldn't a constant-bearing alarm be far more useful (and not
that hard to implement)?

This is just a software implementation. I suspect that one or another of
the applications that combine a radar display with an electronic charting
application (and there are now quite a few) could do this for you.

5. I'm looking at the Furuno 1623 or 1712, or the JRC 1000. I have
a Furuno GP-31 GPS and I'm impressed by the quality (also, probably
90% of commercial boats around here have Furuno radars). Any
comments?

None of these are "bad" radars. I think the choice is between Furuno and
Raytheon, and hinges mostly on ease of installation, power requirements,
your wallet, and a few other minor things.

6. Is it worth while to mount the antenna up the mast, or should I
use a "dedicated" mast at the transom?

I have found the Questus backstay mount to be the best compromise on my 28
foot sloop. It was also the easiest for me to install on my own (but not
the cheapest). The radar is level when sailing, and the mount allows one to
clean up the stern rail and move a few other antennas up and out of the way.
I am super pleased with the Questus itself, but at the same time I have not
always seen eye-to-eye with the _folks_ at Questus.

--
Good luck and good sailing.
s/v Kerry Deare of Barnegat
http://kerrydeare.tripod.com

Lloyd Sumpter wrote:

Considering buying a radar, so I have a few questions:

1. On a sailboat, where do you put the display? ...

I use a Furuno 1622 which has a small lightweight LCD display. I have
fitted 2 Furuno mounts for the display, one in the nav area (just below on
the starboard side), and a second on the cabin top under the spray dodger on
the starboard side. The display itself has a substantial length of cable(s)
secured into a bundle. The display can thus be mounted below (normal use)
or moved up under the dodger in a few seconds when the need arises. Both
positions have advantages and disadvantages, but switching is easy enough.

2. Realistically, how far do you set the max range? I'm seeing that
unless I mount the antenna up the mast, I'm not gonna get more than
maybe 10 miles range no matter what unit I buy. Then again, if I
see a freighter steaming at 30 knots, 10 miles away, I still have
20 minutes to do something. Is a 20-mile range worth getting?

There is no "set distance" in general. In dense fog in Halifax Harbor I
found 1/8 or 1/4 mile quite helpful. Off the coast of Cape Sable I found 4
miles helpful when dodging shipping. On Long Island Sound I often use the 8
mile range to track tug and barge rigs.

I suspect that any range beyond 8 or 16 miles is of little consequence to
the average small cruising boat. Of course if you are heading for South
Georgia Island, you may feel differently about this.

3. Do you trust yours enough to use it instead of a "watch" (ie
watch the radar screen instead of where you're going)? Trying to
decide if getting a radar will increase my cruising time
significantly (ie more confidence in running at night)

Sometimes the radar sees something I missed, and sometimes it's the other
way around. The way to develop the _proper_ level of confidence with radar
is to use it often, and to use it in conditions of visibility so that what
is on the screen can be related to the surrounding reality. I sometimes
hear folks say that they can find their way in restricted visibility with a
chart plotter and a GPS, but this neglects the fact that they are counting
on the other guy to avoid them, and that those little red buoys on the
electronic chart are sometimes not where the chart authors say they are.
There is _no_ substitute for radar when things get thick.

4. I see a "guard zone alarm" but no "constant-bearing alarm". Why
not? wouldn't a constant-bearing alarm be far more useful (and not
that hard to implement)?

This is just a software implementation. I suspect that one or another of
the applications that combine a radar display with an electronic charting
application (and there are now quite a few) could do this for you.

5. I'm looking at the Furuno 1623 or 1712, or the JRC 1000. I have
a Furuno GP-31 GPS and I'm impressed by the quality (also, probably
90% of commercial boats around here have Furuno radars). Any
comments?

None of these are "bad" radars. I think the choice is between Furuno and
Raytheon, and hinges mostly on ease of installation, power requirements,
your wallet, and a few other minor things.

6. Is it worth while to mount the antenna up the mast, or should I
use a "dedicated" mast at the transom?

I have found the Questus backstay mount to be the best compromise on my 28
foot sloop. It was also the easiest for me to install on my own (but not
the cheapest). The radar is level when sailing, and the mount allows one to
clean up the stern rail and move a few other antennas up and out of the way.
I am super pleased with the Questus itself, but at the same time I have not
always seen eye-to-eye with the _folks_ at Questus.

--
Good luck and good sailing.
s/v Kerry Deare of Barnegat
http://kerrydeare.tripod.com

On Thu, 18 Dec 2003 17:40:10 -0800, "Lloyd Sumpter"
wrote:

Hi,

Considering buying a radar, so I have a few questions:

1. On a sailboat, where do you put the display? I rarely steer from behind the
wheel, mainly by sitting on one of the gunwales beside the wheel, or sometimes
by Otto while hiding from the rain under the dodger (hence the name... ).

When I installed the RL70CRC on Geoff's Endeavour 35, I mounted it on
a swivel mount he bought from Waste Marine made of anodized aluminum
so it could be swung around to the port side of the wheel, to view
from behind, or swung out over the cockpit table to view from either
of the lazarette seats. It was mounted with U clamps to the pedestal
vertical bars. Be sure to leave plenty of cable length so you don't
pull on the plugs. The only problem was the mount's locking knob
under the "table" of it came loose too easily. We broke the knob
trying to make it hold in heavy seas. It ended up lashed down in
heavy weather offshore to keep it from banging around.

2. Realistically, how far do you set the max range? I'm seeing that unless I
mount the antenna up the mast, I'm not gonna get more than maybe 10 miles range
no matter what unit I buy. Then again, if I see a freighter steaming at 30
knots, 10 miles away, I still have 20 minutes to do something. Is a 20-mile
range worth getting?

We use the 2KW radome to hold down the load on the house batteries for
long periods. When we moved it from the stern mounting pole, on the
Endeavour, about 20' off the water, to the Amel Sharki 41's mizzenmast
it moved up to double its original altitude. This reduces our MINIMUM
usable range, something I consider far more important than seeing that
freighter 30 miles away, especially when you are in pea soup fog. I
want to see that bouy on the screen until I can hear it clanking
around on its chain. At 40', I lose the bouy about 200 yards away,
which I guess is still OK. Don't go way up as you'll shoot right over
the close-in targets you're about to run over. But, don't go too low,
either, because you'll lose targets when you are in the trough between
swells higher than the radome.

On a sailboat, 2KW is plenty of power. Three mile range is plenty of
time to take evasive action when you're plodding along at sailboat
speeds. It also lets you see all the targets and use the MARPA to
track them, if you got it. MARPA works great for us. Once assigned a
target, MARPA watches him for us, alarming if he's going to get in the
way. I like the way it shows his course and speed over time, much
like a military radar I'm used to. 2KW from 40' up can see the shore
targets as far as you can see on a clear day, but in the fog. Of
course, with WAAS-GPS, using the radar to find your position becomes
pretty moot. I want to see that idiot in the center console fishing
boat and what he's doing, myself.

3. Do you trust yours enough to use it instead of a "watch" (ie watch the radar
screen instead of where you're going)? Trying to decide if getting a radar will
increase my cruising time significantly (ie more confidence in running at night)

No, it doesn't. Case in point is on my last trip from Florida on the
Endeavour 35 with one of the neighbors. We had used the radar all
night in pitch dark, under sail, about 80W off the GA coast, heading
the boat home to Charleston after Geoff left it in Daytona Beach.

The sun had risen and there were no targets on a beautiful morning in
a relatively smooth sea with little swell. We were only making about
3 knots, but didn't really care. No schedule is great. Breakfast was
on the cockpit table and we had just set down to eat. I looked up at
Lloyd to answer a question and this HUGE WOODEN SPOOL cable reel was
floating about 30 yards off the port beam! That thing must have been
30 feet across and 15 feet wide! It was HUGE!

I rushed to the radar screen as it went by and set the range to 1/8th
mile to see why it hadn't alarmed. There was NO RETURN WHATSOEVER
from this target from 30 yards off the port beam until I lost sight of
it behind us....not a single blip. There just wasn't enough metal
inside the wooden reel to show up on the radar.

While continuing breakfast, we both mused over the possibilities of
hitting that reel at 8 knots during the night after the moon went down
and you couldn't see past the nav lights on the bow. I got
goosebumps.

Radar can't see everything. It can only see radio reflections, not
wooden or absorptive obstructions.....like that thousand-pound cable
reel just floating around out there...

4. I see a "guard zone alarm" but no "constant-bearing alarm". Why not? wouldn't
a constant-bearing alarm be far more useful (and not that hard to implement)?

The guard zone alarms you to targets popping up in the guard zone.
MARPA, or whatever they call it on the other companies, tracks the
target for you, giving you course, speed, and watching to see it isn't
on a collision course with you. But, you must assign the target on
MARPA. It doesn't assign it automatically. If you think radar is
going to eliminate watches, you're barking up the wrong tree. It's an
AID, not a watch stander.

5. I'm looking at the Furuno 1623 or 1712, or the JRC 1000. I have a Furuno
GP-31 GPS and I'm impressed by the quality (also, probably 90% of commercial
boats around here have Furuno radars). Any comments?

Buy what you can get SERVICED, LOCALLY. I suspect they're all running
Furuno because someone is there to fix them and sells them locally.
Don't cheap-out or you'll regret it later. The most useful
electronics on Lionheart is the RL70CRC Plus Color radar-chartplotter
which overlays the radar right on the chart for us. It matches the
GPS position, already plotted for us on the chart display to the
returns the radar is seeing any time we're near land or known objects.
With it I can even tell you which side of the channel that fisherman
is anchored to because I can see him ON THE CHART. As soon as it was
installed, everyone quit using the GPS chart plotter in the Garmin
185. Geoff built a nice fiberglass console to mount this most-useful
display right in front of the helmsman's nose where the compass used
to be. It's THAT useful....(c;

6. Is it worth while to mount the antenna up the mast, or should I use a
"dedicated" mast at the transom?

Been on both, and it's a real tossup. The Endeavour was mounted on a
tilting mast on the transom. The tilt mechanism was useless as it was
hard to reach and hard to set. If you could pull a lanyard, instead
of screwing thumbscrews around, it might have been useful. The 2KW
radome antenna is a piece of circuit board with little antennas on it
rotated by the same motor a cassette player in your car uses by a
rubber belt. (I put a spare belt inside the radome before it was put
on the mast, by the way.) This antenna has a very wide vertical
beamwidth so it works fine even if heeled over 20 degrees. The new
mounting is fixed on the mizzenmast at about 40'. It can pick up
smaller targets further away, but loses them under the beam about 200
yards from the boat, where I used to see them down to the third finger
pier from ours on the dock. I wouldn't go above 40' for fear of
losing the close-in targets you're going to run into in the fog or
dark.

MAKE SURE ANYTHING IN THE WAY FORWARD of the radome is a long ways
from the radome. Lionheart has a big in-mast furling monster mast. I
can see targets disappearing at 000 relative, even though the masts
are 25' apart. If it were closer, we'd have a large blind spot where
it counts the most.


That's all for now...dreaming on a dull winter's day...

Go sailing with some various radars and play around with them before
you decide.

Larry

Larry W4CSC

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