need advice on radar

[hudman]

i have a rinker 28 ft fiesta vee, use it only on the mississippi river, have gps and depth/fish finder, and vhf radio, am considering a radar unit to spot barges at night, any suggestions? am i wishing for too much? is this too small a boat to put radar on? any suggestions would be appreciated
hudman

 

[Reel Poor]

Re: need advice on radar

Take a serious look at the JRC 1500 MKII radar. They are a very good system for the money, easy to operate and have a good reputation. On a boat that size a sixteen mile radar will be more than sufficient. Your boat is not tall enough for the radar to see 16 miles at water level so a longer range radar is just a wast of money. I would recommend at least 2kw dome antenna. It has the power to punch thru fog and rain.

Let me say this, just because you have a radar does not mean you can run you boat at night like you would during the day. You will find small boats (especially fiberglass 35 ft and less) make very small targets, relative to the size of the boat. You will find that you will use the 1/8 to 1/4 mile range more than any other, as this is within your danger zone and will start showing these smaller targets, at longer ranges these targets just don't show up well, or at all. Example; if your cruising at 30 mph and a target (other boat) is approaching at 30mph, and your radar set to the 1/4 mile range.......... IF you see the target when it first appears on your radar screen at a 1/4 mile away you only have 15 seconds to determine his direction of travel and make a course change if your vessel is endangered by his course. Thats,,, IF YOU SEE IT,,, when it first appears.

Radars can be a great accessory if used for safe/slow navigation in restricted visibility situations.

Look here for details,,,,,brokenlegdave.com

 

[Texasmark]

Re: need advice on radar

You want to spot buoy's also that mark the channel.

Mark

 

[hudman]

Re: need advice on radar

What are bouys? what is a channel? are you reffering to chanel 16 on the radio?

 

[rottenray6402]

Re: need advice on radar

Hudman, it sounds like maybe you should take a power squadron boating course unless you are just joking about the bouys and channels.

 

[Reel Poor]

Re: need advice on radar

What are bouys? what is a channel? are you reffering to chanel 16 on the radio?

Are you serious ? ? ? ? :^

 

[xtraham]

Re: need advice on radar

agree w/reel poor
the JRC for a vessel of that size is more than you will need, and lot's of features for the price

 

[hudman]

Re: need advice on radar

Couldnt help throwing that one in, I have become very good at spotting the bouys at nite, and always run in the channel, I have even taught my kids to look for the red and green, and when we pass one , start spotting the next. durn thing is, those barges keep moving, the bouys are pretty well in the same spots. Dikes are not a fun thing at nite on the mississippi, so staying well in the channel makes sense. thanks for the advice, ill check out this particular radar unit. do you think it needs to go on a arch, or will the front deck be good enough?

 

[Reel Poor]

Re: need advice on radar

The antenna needs a 360* view, the higher the better. The higher you mount it, the more range you will gain. Also when mounting the antenna, make sure it's on a level plane with the water and not level with the boat hull. If mounted square with the hull it may be looking to the sky if the rear of the boat squats when in the water.

 

[swist]

Re: need advice on radar

LCD Radars are now being use on boats down to 20' and they work very well. (I had a Raytheon RL-72 on a 24' cuddy).

But here's the kicker. The radome needs to be (1) high enough to be out of people's faces and also to get a good view of the surroundings, and (2) stable enough from the boat's pitching and vibration that you don't get target distortion (a circular target, like a buoy, will look like a hot dog).

The only two good ways to do this a via a hardtop or a radar arch. I know because I did it wrong and attempted to mount it on a tower. These may be OK for sailboats with longer, gentler movements, but the radome weight at the end of a mast is just too much of a moment to keep it from vibrating either side to side or front back.

So keep that in mind. Radar has come down a lot but is still not cheap, and you could be looking at additional big bucks for a proper mounting.