Should I do away with old equipment

[hillsideshortleg]

First off please excuse my lack of proper terminology.
We just bought a 93 400EC that has some form of radar on top of the arch that is, I believe as old as the boat. It's got some old school looking screen on the dash. There is also a dish up there that I guess allows you to get TV. I would like to remove all the radar stuff from the dash as well as the arch and possibly remove the dish if technology has changed so much that it is useless to have up there. Is this a mistake? Thanks in advance

 

[GirlyGirl1999]

First off please excuse my lack of proper terminology.
We just bought a 93 400EC that has some form of radar on top of the arch that is, I believe as old as the boat. It's got some old school looking screen on the dash. There is also a dish up there that I guess allows you to get TV. I would like to remove all the radar stuff from the dash as well as the arch and possibly remove the dish if technology has changed so much that it is useless to have up there. Is this a mistake? Thanks in advance

I can’t speak to the radar but the dish should be an Over the Air antenna. I have a 32” Fire TV in the cabin, with the antenna I get 40 channels, I use a small inverter to power it when we are not on shore power and I don’t want to bother anyone with the generator. The TV also has Wi-Fi if you want to set your phone or tablet up as a hotspot when away from the dock.
My .02
Jon
Edit, here’s a picture of the TV I put in

 

[Skybolt]

First off please excuse my lack of proper terminology.
We just bought a 93 400EC that has some form of radar on top of the arch that is, I believe as old as the boat. It's got some old school looking screen on the dash. There is also a dish up there that I guess allows you to get TV. I would like to remove all the radar stuff from the dash as well as the arch and possibly remove the dish if technology has changed so much that it is useless to have up there. Is this a mistake? Thanks in advance

Given your on a lake I would be on the fence as well, but I would want the latest in MFD's (GPS Screen). That means everything has to go and be replaced. The old won't play well with the new.

At the very least I would get a new HD antenna that takes care of the tv antenna.

I would also get the latest GPS charting and sonar. Radar could wait in your case I believe. That is if your going to keep boating in the lake.

I would take a look at Garmin xx43xsv or the new Raymarine Axiom as far as GPS maps go. Raymarine will be a little less then Garmin, but I think Garmin has more to offer. That said the Axiom is a very nice device.

 

[Golfman25]

Keep the arch. You can take the old radar off if you want, or keep it up "for show." Anything you remove, you should seal the holes with thickened epoxy and maybe gelcoat if you want it to kind of match. You can remove and replace all the older electronics at the helm. Garmin is what many people upgrade to. Good luck.

 

[hillsideshortleg]

I will definitely keep the arch. I want to clean up the arch as well as the dash. We have had our 280 on the lake for 13 years and had no use for a radar. I used a Navionics app on my phone one night when the smoke was very thick and did very well. What is the use of the radar on a lake. Thanks for the advice.

 

[ranger58sb]

What is the use of the radar on a lake.

Other boats, logs, other floating obstructions, shoreline, etc.

If your old radar works, and if you don't need too much, it won't hurt you leave it there, use it the few times it might be important.

The older monochromatic screen displays are generally as accurate as newer color screens with entry- to -mid-level radar sensors. The enclosed circular array (antenna) looks pretty much like any other circular array. You could spend a lot of money on more recent (modern) radar stuff and not really see your money's worth of improvement.

You would have to learn to use it, and practice with it, to make it truly useful... but it doesn't take much work to get useful beginner results.

The "dish" antenna is probably an omni-directional AM/FM/TV antenna for over-the-air (OTA) signals. Looks like it might be a Glomex, but I don't recognize the mount. There's not much tech involved in an AM/FM/TV antenna, although they do usually work better than a coat hanger. If it works, it'll receive current TV signals in your area (check tvfool.com for predictions). "New" OTA TV antennas are usually advertised as "digital" but antennas only grab radio frequency (RF) and don't really care about analog or digital or whatever. (All the tuning, digital these days, is done in the TV.)

Usually there's a series of splitters involved in the coax run to bridge AM/FM radio tuner, saloon AM/FM radio tuner, saloon TV, stateroom TV, etc. and sometimes the TV path (especially) might have an amplifier in it. To test the antenna, you can bypass all the built-in coax and run straight from antenna to TV, see if it goes. If it works, there's not much sense in replacing.

Unless you just don't like the looks of it, have other AM/FM/TV options, or don't care about all that, etc.

Bottom line: old doesn't necessarily mean non-useful.

-Chris

 

[copb8tx]

I'm pretty sure he wasn't saying that he was going to remove the arch, but was referring to the equipment on the arch.

BTW, great boat. Had the same one for 10 very happy years.

 

[Skybolt]

One thing I omitted regarding the radar and radar screen, which is probably the charting screen as well. These two devices are paired together, meaning it's not just as simple as getting a new radar array, you also need to get a new screen as well. So in replacing the radar you also have to replace the MFD as well. The newer MFD's will not support the older analog radar array's. Also you must stick with the same manufacturer as each manufacturer uses their own protocol's to make sure you only use their equipment.

The older radar will only show you larger boat's and shore line, it's very hard pressed to pick up things like a dinghy or logs. The newer doppler (digital) radar will do a nice job with those.

I would take your time in deciding which manufacturer you want to go with. I am very partial with Garmin, other's here Raymarine. I would stick with one of those as you will find a lot of support on this forum for those manufacturers.

 

[Golfman25]

One thing I omitted regarding the radar and radar screen, which is probably the charting screen as well. These two devices are paired together, meaning it's not just as simple as getting a new radar array, you also need to get a new screen as well. So in replacing the radar you also have to replace the MFD as well. The newer MFD's will not support the older analog radar array's. Also you must stick with the same manufacturer as each manufacturer uses their own protocol's to make sure you only use their equipment.

The older radar will only show you larger boat's and shore line, it's very hard pressed to pick up things like a dinghy or logs. The newer doppler (digital) radar will do a nice job with those.

I would take your time in deciding which manufacturer you want to go with. I am very partial with Garmin, other's here Raymarine. I would stick with one of those as you will find a lot of support on this forum for those manufacturers.

For him I think the easiest thing is a new MFD from Garmin to start. Then add radar if desired. Until then I’d keep the old one on the arch just for looks.

 

[km1125]

Lake Pend Orielle is a pretty good sized lake. If it ever develops fog much and you could be caught in it I would want the radar function. Do you know if the current system works? If it doesn't work then there's no downside to removing the dome, but if it does work and you're not prepared to replace it with an updated radar then I'd lean towards keeping it and using it. You'll also gain the experience of using radar which could come in handy in future boating situations.

What are the displays you presently have?

The TV antenna looks like it's mounted on some kind of bracket and there's something else near that. Hard to tell with the picture. If you still would like to use the antenna for reception (it'll pick up any HD tv broadcast just a good as a new antenna), then I'd keep it. If there are no broadcast stations close enough to pick up then it's not an issue to remove that entirely.

 

[Skybolt]

For him I think the easiest thing is a new MFD from Garmin to start. Then add radar if desired. Until then I’d keep the old one on the arch just for looks.

Agreed, getting an updated chart plotter is the way to go. And we all know how important looks are.