On Mon, 6 Jun 2005 14:05:43 -0400, "*JimH*" wrote:


"Shortwave Sportfishing" wrote in message
.. .
On Mon, 6 Jun 2005 12:27:17 -0400, "*JimH*" wrote:


"Shortwave Sportfishing" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 6 Jun 2005 07:50:31 -0400, "*JimH*" wrote:

Wow, birds picked up on radar....and radar that shows water depths.
Amazing. What brand of radar is this Harry?

Maybe he's got a multifunction display like I have?

On the Ranger:

http://tinyurl.com/czb2d

On the Contender:

http://tinyurl.com/42u25

I had multifunction also. But only the chartplotter showed water depths,
or
as a side window on the radar when it was displayed. As you know, the
radar,
however, does not read water depths. And recreational marine radar
cannot
pickup birds.

Really?

Damn...

I knew you knew it Tom.....I posted it for Krause so he understands how
radar works. :-)

Well, not exactly. And I wasn't trying to sand bag you there either -
I wouldn't do that. I was being a smart ass and I apologize for that.

The trick to using recreational radars, even the 2 Kw class radome
antennas, is to set it for extreme range and reduce the discrimination
a bit. Now I'll admit that a good set of binoculars on a small boat
like the Ranger is a hell of a lot more useful than a 2 Kw radar
system set for marginal operating conditions, but it can be done with
practice and operating experience.

On the Contender, it's a different ball game. I have an open array 4
Kw and at mid to extreme ranges, it will pick up large flocks of birds
working surface bait. Now the relative advantage to this escapes me
because if you see a flock of birds working you only have two choices
- either head for the flock or move in front of the flock and set up
for whatever you might think is causing the bait ball to surface. And
the chances are the flock will move away at a tangent relative to you,
so you end up chasing anyway. :)

Now before you start going but, but, but - yes, 10 Kw and up radars
with some height work much better for birds than small boat radars.
The Audubon Society uses radar all the time to track migratory birds -
they even wrote a book about it but I can't find the book at the
moment. If you Google it, like birds on radar, I'm sure you can find
it.

For the big game guys, it is a good tool. For the recreational
schmuck like me it's relative.

The point is that you can't make a blanket statement that you can't
pick up birds on recreational radar because, with training, some
experience and the right setup, you can do it.

Later,

Tom