Will answer those questions I can .... answers interspersed.

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... ).

Put it where it best suits your conditions when running in fog or at
night. Normally this will end up being a trade-off and may mean you
can't have it where you'd really like it.

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?

Your actual radar range will vary at any given time, for a number of
reasons. In open water conditions, use the range which gives you the
maximum range for your individual setup. In closer conditions, stay at
the highest range which give you a good all round view and switch to
lower ranges to get a better look. Be aware that staying on longer
ranges may mean that you may miss close in targets, so always scan.

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)

Radar is never to be used instead of your "Mark I eyeball", but in cases
of fog, it can be a better alternative, as long as you also maintain the
use of the "MarkI", and it can greatly reduce some of the concerns
regarding 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)?

Would be easy, for those sets, "gyro stabilized" but I'm not sure that
the benefits of the normal relative motion sets would increase over the
distance "guard zones". To be honest, to begin with, you are more
concerned with all vessels approaching within a certain distance than
you are with individual vessels on a collision course. The idea is to
alert you to ALL traffic within the guard zone.

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


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