Buying Radar - Providence Boat Show

[Mickey Goodman]

I have never had radar on any boat I owned so I am off to the Providence RI Boat Show this weekend to see if I can make a deal on purchasing Radar for my boat. My dilemma is which radar to buy and what type of mount should I use?Since I only do coastal sailing do I need the "high price spread" or could the basic and least costly JRC 1000 for $845.00 from West Marine be most cost effective for my needs? Where to mount: mast, pole, or backstay?West Marine is giving a 10% off for opening a charge account and $10 coupons for each $250 of purchase. That means it would net me, for the JRC 1000, $730. Whats the best place and least expensive cost to purchase the radar?Thanks for your help.

 

[Walt G]

My Furuno 1621

has given me no problems, and is more than adequate for coastal cruising. However, the JRC has been rated is a best buy by the independent review folks whose name I can't quite remember. Looks as if the JRC phased array is superior to the Furuno parabolic array. If I were to buy a radar today, I'd be leaning towards the JRC.

 

[Alan J]

Make mine autohelm

Something like two years ago practical sailor had a write up on radars and my recollection is that they found JRC to miss some targets. I purchased an 2KW Autohelm SL72 and it works great and I mounted the radardome below the spreaders and it works great. I can get a hit from as close as 50 yards and I bought it from West Marine catalogue when they had a 20% rebate coupon. I don"t know if they are offering the coupons on mail order again but it was a great deal. I got a free lowrance GPS

 

[Fred]

Not JRC

Also searching for the right Radar. Spoke to an operator for Sea Tow who had a JRC unit. I don't want to let a best buy get away but, best buys are not necessarily the least expensive. He told me that the JRC was far inferior to the Raytheon (Autohelm)in his experience and opinion. Said he would go the extra dollars for the assurance of better quality on something this important.

 

[Thomas @ WCYC]

JRC makes most of them

When I got my new Autohelm ST50 some years back I opened the radom to check it out and it had imprinted on the workings "Made by JRC"... Later I read in Practical Sailor that JRC makes all or most of the lower end units sighting it was just not cost effective for other companies to make their own.My ST50 works just fine and meets my needs.