Radar or not

[sbw1]

Do you need to be out in wide open spaces to see the weather? ie: if you are close to shore and the weather is approaching from shore, does it all blend?

It depends. If you are too close to the shore, you will see trees or whatever you are close to. However, the storm tops show up clearly at a range of 12 miles even if you are on an inland lake as in my signature pic. In that slip we can see storms approaching from our port, starboard and stern from several miles out. It's not so easy looking straight ahead as we have a densely wooded lot and the scanner sees mostly trees until the storm is almost on top of us. It's pretty interesting to watch storms move in, track their speed and see their size. After a while you can pretty much determine the time they will reach you, how long you will be in them and when they will leave.

 

[Gofirstclass]

Actually, unless there's something unique about Simrad's display modes, I think GFC may have misspoken.

There are two display modes for radar- Relative Motion, and True Motion.

tobnpr, thanks for stating more clearly what I was trying to say. When I bought my unit (CA44) it was brand new to the market and it didn't have both of those display modes programmed in. I had to send my display unit to the Simrad office in Seattle (twice) for them to work their magic on it. I don't know if my unit need reprogramming because it was not working properly or if they had not included in their original programming the redraw of the screen when the boat was nearing the borders.

Actually, the redraw is not a big deal. It happens only ever few minutes (depending on my speed) and it only takes one sweep of the antenna for the redraw to happen.

 

[kg4vgh]

DPF.....the way it was explained to me.....GPS / Chartplotters show you where YOU are
Radar shows you where everyone else is and potential nasty weather....
A lot of my boating is done at night....absolutely love the quietness and the lights....Radar in my area is a MUST for night boating.....I even added AIS to the chartplotter....so I see the echo on radar, look at my plotter and if the echo is AIS equipped, it ID's them.....allows me to contact them by name....if I need to.....
It IS a good investment and when the time is right, will add to your resale value.....
Cheers

 

[Alex F]

I even added AIS to the chartplotter....so I see the echo on radar, look at my plotter and if the echo is AIS equipped, it ID's them.....allows me to contact them by name....if I need to

What AIS shows you besides what radar shows for vessel's not equiped with AIS and/or other type of targets?

 

[melida]

As others have said, you need it. Get it.

You will need it for all reason said above, plus one more that I can think of. My apologies if someone brought it up already.

THOSE GDAMn'd fishing floats that the canadians use in Lake Erie. With light seas, your radar will be able to pick those floats up before you hit one. The local sailing club here in Michigan City puts out markers (uncharted) which are basically PVC poles about 10 inches in diameter in various places out on the lake, miles apart. They are unlit, and unmarked, so 99% the only way I see them at night is by radar.

You WILL have no regrets adding radar to your vessel, but you will definitely regret not having it when you hit something.

I know that or if I know wrong please correct me, radar is sending ultrasound waves and when it hits an object shows on your display.
But the objects must be metal and/or land, and wooden boats and fiberglass boats whom doesn't have any metal object on them wouldnt answer to the ultrasound waves so they must put radar reflector, and if they haven't you can't see them on your display.
http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wc...toreNum=10107&subdeptNum=10557&classNum=11120
In the entrance of my marina there are 2 yachting schools and they put pvc buoy while training. A few months ago at a dark night while coming near to the marina entrance thank God I came off plane at idle hit one of them while my radar was operating and they weren't seen on the display.
Do I know wrong about these or have I need to change my radar settings to see pvc staff on my display?
Thanks in advance.
Melida

 

[Presentation]

Melinda,

....0bjects must be metal and/or land, and wooden boats and fiberglass boats whom doesn't have any metal object on them wouldnt answer to the ultrasound waves so they must put radar reflector, and if they haven't you can't see them on your display.....

Some items reflect better than others but all but the best military radar stealth products give a radar reflection. Even rain gives a reflection.


The radar dish, or antenna, transmits pulses of radio waves or microwaves* which bounce off any object in their path. The object returns a tiny part of the wave's energy to a dish or antenna which is usually located at the same site as the transmitter. The time it takes for the reflected waves to return to the dish enables a computer to calculate how far away the object is, its radial velocity and other characteristics.


* Note: the newest ‘broadband radar’ uses a different technology.




I can see objects as small as a single bird in flight.



If you were not able to see the PVC pole its likely you may need to manually adjust your radar; increase the gain, reduce the sea clutter filter, reduce the rain clutter filter, or zoom in further or a combination of these.


If you are having issues not seeing objects then try this..

Turn off the auto adjust setting for gain, sea and rain clutter and use the radar in the daytime with clear visibility to become familiar with its manual operation then consider going back to auto adjust only after you develop the experience to determine when something needs manual adjustment.

Personally I keep the gain control, sea and rain clutter controls to manual and I turn up the gain until I see a slight bit of speckles on the screen then turn the gain back down one click.

Close to shore like coming into the marina I will be at .5 (1/2) miles range, possibly .25 (1/4) miles range.

Unless you are way off shore, anything over 3 miles range is for big ships or seeing rain in the distance. I run 1.5 miles range most of the time when I’m not close to shore. This is all that is necessary for collision avoidance unless you are seriously offshore in big water with ships.

 

[melida]

Pres,
Thanks for detailed info.
I’m boating and using radar/gps/autopilot for more then 16 years.
My boat is 2005 model and has raymarine(C80) is same year’s product.This is my first raymarine product. So I’m new to ray staff.
My boating distance to nearest island where I live in summer is 4nautical miles and the farthest island is 12n.miles.
I always set my range to 1,5-3n.miles according to weather and day/night.
Tomorrow gonna change the settings as you prescribed and try to see pvc things on screen.
Best regards.
Melida

 

[Presentation]

...Tomorrow gonna change the settings as you prescribed and try to see pvc things on screen.

Great! Please post a follow-up with your findings.

Just a bit more…..going from auto-adjust to manual is sort of like going form a bike with training wheels to one without. At first it’s going to be frustrating. You just need to stick with it and work thru your frustration. Like riding that bicycle it will just come to you as you develop the skill to balance gain, sea and rain clutter settings.

It’s easiest to learn manual operation on a clear day with a calm sea so you can turn the sea and rain filters all the way off and focus only on learning the gain control.

Get out a bit, say two miles from shore.

Slowly increase the gain until you see speckles in open water. Keep increasing the gain. Over do it so you see all sorts of cutter and become familiar with a screen with too much clutter. Slowly back down the gain one click at a time until you only have a small bit of clutter. Don’t completely eliminate the speckles / clutter. That’s right, as you are learning this manual adjustment process a little bit of clutter is OK. Now with no rain and no rain filter, no rough seas and no sea clutter filter, and your gain a bit on the high side I bet you will see that PVC pole with ease.

Over time, as you gain experience with manual adjustment of gain control, slowly reduce the gain down a bit but not to the point where small objects like that PVC pole are no longer visible.

....My boat .....has raymarine...

You have my condolences.

 

[melida]

Pres.
I'd print out your prompts and try them tomorrow. Weather will be near perfect.
http://www.windguru.cz/int/index.php?sc=122673
Raymarine too bad?
I liked it and got familiar.
No problem thats the booty from previous owner also 3/4 tank diesel
Best regards.
Melida

 

[Presentation]

Raymarine too bad?

Raymarine is in deep financal doo doo.

Just to give you one example, Ray continued to make a heading sensor that they knew would loose its way when it was needed most, in rough seas. Member Four Suns may have more to say on that one.

 

[melida]

Pres,
You scared me man.
I have also ray autopilot and its fluxgate compass. I set the response level 8 over 9 for course keeping accuracy and since last year its taking me where I desired.
Curious to hear from Foursuns.
Best regards.
Melida

 

[Gofirstclass]

Melida, Presentation's right on with his answer. Mine is still set on the "Auto" setting but I've picked up kayakers at 1/3 mile, PWC's at 1/2 mile, birds at a couple hundred yards, etc.

You might also want to check the angle that your radar is mounted at. If it's mounted to send out the microwave signal parallel to the water that may be part of your problem. If you're on plane, the signal being sent out is no longer parallel to the water because of your boat's bow up attitude. It may be sending too much of the microwave energy up into the sky and not picking up things on the water well.

The radar beam is not transmitted in a flat plane. It comes out in a lobe pattern like in the picture below. If you could see the transmitted signal it would appear like this both from the top and from the side, though if viewed from the side it would not be dispersed so much up and down.

There are companies that make wedges that can be installed between the radar antenna and your arch. The purpose is to tilt the radar antenna down to counteract the bow up attitude of your boat when you're on plane. This "shoots" more of the transmitted signal down towards the horizon and less is wasted just going up into the sky. It may cut down on your ability to see storms approaching but hey, you have your eyes for that.

This is what they look like.

 

[tobnpr]

Pres.
I'd print out your prompts and try them tomorrow. Weather will be near perfect.
http://www.windguru.cz/int/index.php?sc=122673
Raymarine too bad?
I liked it and got familiar.
No problem thats the booty from previous owner also 3/4 tank diesel
Best regards.
Melida

Some Garmin devotees like to bash other manufacturers...
The Raymarine C and E series MFD's are time-tested, extremely popular and mostly bulletproof.
I've never regretted owning Raymarine, or Raytheon before, electronics for the twenty years I've owned them.
Everyone has their preference, but I won't bash Garmin. I just wouldn't buy anything from them...

 

[sbw1]

I've never regretted owning Raymarine, or Raytheon before, electronics for the twenty years I've owned them....

Agree. The radars, chart plotters and gps 125 are very reliable in my experience. Had good luck with Raytheon as well.

 

[melida]

Late hi again.
First of all my radar antenna(radome) has no angle and when I'm o plane its not parallel to the sea surface.
Yesterday I tried the manual settings as Pres suggested. Set the gain manual and set the level 60-65 over 100 to see more objects on display.
Set the tune manual and set the level 60-70 over 100.
Set the sea from HBR OSH to manual and again 60-70 over 100.
When they were auto level was about 48-53 over 100 each.
I set to manual both and then started to see many objects as I didn't while they were auto.
But it is difficult to getting used to it. In a half hour cruise I played with the level 3-4 times to get rid of the clutters.
It's gonna need more try to be familiar with the new setup.
Thanks for the info.
Best regards.
Melida