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