Replacing My Raymarine Radar Dome

[ALMike]

This is our 1st big boat. We LOVE our Sea Ray SB 400! I have a newer 12" Raymarine touchscreen and my original C80 Raytheon radar screen and dome do not function. I'm trying to decide if I should add the Raymarine Quantum dome or the 48 mile HD dome. We will fish offshore @ 8 times a year (35 - 40 miles out) and cruise intercoastal the rest of the time. My main concern is - will I regret having less distance...otherwise the Quantum seems to offer more detail. Any insights or suggestions?

 

[fwebster]

First, given your location and the boat you have, once you get comfortable with it, you will be spending a lot more time off shore than you anticipate. Your new boat "has legs" and you will find that coastal cruising from Orange Beach Eastward to Apalachicola offers a whole lot to see and do and putting about in the ICW is a pretty slow way to travel. Sure, it will get you to points East and West, and the open bays on the ICW are fine, but you will be stopping for every small boat fisherman in the narrow areas. If weather and seas allow, you will opt for offshsore travel more than the ICW.

My vote would be to buy a higher power long range radar unit for weather if for nothing else. I am in the same general area as you and I have a 64 mile Furuno radar that is a stand alone unit and not interfaced with the plotter. While I can see a pelican sitting on smooth water at 25 miles, I find that I use the ranges from 3 miles and below for "seeing" other boats at night, when we have fog or rain or when entering an unknown channel, and the ranges from 12 miles up to monitor approaching weather more than anything else.

Hope that helps.............

 

[ALMike]

Thank you Frank. It does help. I guess the longer range allows for better planning while at sea.

 

[rondds]

Isn't your range limited by the height of mount? So on boats like ours, realistically, we are not going to see anywhere near the advertised distance.

Because of the curvature of the earth, you can see only as far as this formula allows...

1.22 nautical miles x square root of the height of radar antenna + 1.22nautical miles x square root of the height of the target.

So if my math is correct, to pick up a 200 foot high container ship on your radar (mounted 20' in the air), all you'd need is a 22 mile radar.

I guess seeing weather is different, b/c it's much higher (?)