it's true! wrote:

snip
The Furuno 1621 states 36w (3amps) for operation and 8w (.6amps)
standby. Not sure what standby is. snip

Standby is with the display on and the scanner powered up, beyond its
normal warmup period, but not rotating or radiating. From standby, the
radar will start rotating, radiating, and reporting contacts nearly
immediately upon activation (button press or timer).

1)
Do either of these have some kind of alarm that will buzz if an
obstruction appears within x distance of my boat? There is something
called watchman mode on the Furuno but no specifics are given.

As you browse brochures and stuff look for a feature called ARPA, MARPA,
or Mini-ARPA (Automatic Radar Plotting Aid). That is the feature that
will track targets and sound an alarm in potentially dangerous
situations. It is an optional extra on some systems.

2)
Is there another dedicated device which will draw less power and be
less complicated that might serve as an alarm for approaching tankers
less than 5 miles away for example? snip

Better than a worried boater? :)

There used to be a simple radar warning receiver on the market for
boaters but I don't remember seeing one of those for sale in recent
years. If your automotive radar detector starts going nuts when it gets
around a marina, maybe that will work.

Jack

--
Jack Erbes in Ellsworth, Maine, USA - jackerbes at adelphia dot net
(also receiving email at jacker at midmaine.com)