Replace Radar

[buddybear]

I have a 2001 310 with a Raymarine Radar and a C70 Raymarine display. I am looking to upgrade, possibly to a Garmin Radar system. Would like to get some feedback on what Radar systems owners have upgraded to and what issues I should look for.

Thanks,
Mark

 

[jssailem]

Mark
Choose a radar not by name but ease of function for you. You will discover the most important feature is that it is easy to use by you. The controls are self evident, the interface information is easy to understand, and the data displayed makes sense.

Radar only works as extended eyes for you if you can interpret what it is showing.

I would go to various sites ( West Marine Or a boat show where many vendors display their goods ) and play with the displays.

 

[Kings Gambit]

I’d avoid the fancy color displays, and go with the basics. I use Furuno. I have the Furuno model 1623, monochrome, 16 n.mi. advertised range. About $1,500. It’s easy to use after a few times through the operation. I have modest needs for radar. It’s not tied in with the chart plotter, and I doubt I get the full 16 n.mi. range for many targets b/c it’s mounted on a stern post. Four to six n.mi. range is enough to stay out of trouble re: the coast if you know where you are, but I do get some interpretable returns at 12 n.mi. distant from high bluffs. I can clearly detect companion sailboats to about 2 to 3 n.mi. The big bruisers (container ships) six to maybe eight n.mi. distant. I suppose I should log some of these contacts for more precise reporting! I wonder who here has?

As John noted, it’s necessary to be able to identify/confirm the target from its image and probable location if on the chart. For that, I use me Fijinon 7x50 Polaris for confirmation of image identity. If a see a strong, slowly moving target when I’m approaching the shipping lane off Los Angeles, I suppose it’s a container ship, but I confirm it in daylight for increasing confidence at night or in fog.

 

[capta]

IMO you can't go wrong with any manufacturer other than Raymarine. I've had nothing but terrible experiences with their gear and customer support.
You can't go wrong with Furuno, though their gear is generally produced for smaller commercial vessels, and a bit more expensive than other gear. I also like Garmin in conjunction with their chart plotters. I love the look of the color radars, but they have taken away many of the manual features that make radar useful in difficult conditions. Once you have learned to use the monochrome, it is hard to switch to color, unless you are adding it to an already installed and functional system.
I much prefer radar to AIS, as AIS only gives you notice of vessels equipped with it. Radar can see everything on the water and what weather might be out there, if it is within range.

 

[BC Bernie]

Hi Mark,
I bought the Garmin Fantom radome for my 2004 310. Installed a Garmin 942 XS Chartplotter, Steadycast unit, Vesper Cortex AIS, Standard Horizon VHF, and installed the radar cables and NMEA 2k backbone. All integrate so well, it is mind blowing. Garmin is like the Apple of marine gear: it's intuitive and user friendly. There's a post I did back in 2020. Cheers!

 

[dlochner]

Since radars and their displays are proprietary, you will need to choose an MFD and a radar from the same company. The differences in accuracy between the latest generation of radars is pretty small. The Simrad/B&G Halo radars are highly rated. The big change in radar happened about 15 years ago when the first digital radars came out. Simrad/B&G was a pioneer. Digital radars offered greater accuracy and lower power consumption.

Don't be swayed by claims of distance. At any thing over 8 miles or so all you will see are hilltops and the occasional really tall ship. I use the 4-8 mile range the most as that will show anything between me and the horizon. Accurate short range is handy for measuring distances in an anchorages

For nuanced reviews check with www.panbo.com.

Panbo

The Marine Electronics Hub

panbo.com

 

[tfox2069]

I've had a fully integrated Garmin system (liked it a lot) and now have a fully integrated Raymarine System that's 2 years old. While the two systems are a decade apart, I think I preferred the Garmin better, though the more modern features of the Raymarine are welcome.

My preference is to have the capability to have all the systems showing on my chartplotter when necessary/desired. Being able to overlay AIS and radar on a chart is immensely helpful for safety of navigation. On my Garmin I could also overlay weather from the satellite weather XM receiver (didn't find that particularly useful though). It is a lot of information, but if you spend the requisite time becoming familiar with what you're seeing before it gets dark, or foggy, (and you need to) you'll be very comfortable when under those conditions. It will also help you tune your radar better, since you'll be able to know whether the radar is displaying those markers (for example), or not, and tune it to display what you want to see. Is radar displaying offset from land on your chart underneath it, and if so my how much, and what direction? Etc.

I strongly recommend color doppler radar as well. It will help you prioritize targets very quickly, understand more quickly at a glance what you need to be concerned with, and what's not an issue at that moment.

 

[buddybear]

Hi Mark,
I bought the Garmin Fantom radome for my 2004 310. Installed a Garmin 942 XS Chartplotter, Steadycast unit, Vesper Cortex AIS, Standard Horizon VHF, and installed the radar cables and NMEA 2k backbone. All integrate so well, it is mind blowing. Garmin is like the Apple of marine gear: it's intuitive and user friendly. There's a post I did back in 2020. Cheers!

Thanks for the reply I will check into it sounds like it will work for me.

 

[buddybear]

Thanks for the reply I will check into it sounds like it will work for me.

Is it the 24 and was the cable long enough it says 49' I measured around 50' with adding several feet for extra

 

[BC Bernie]

Is it the 24 and was the cable long enough it says 49' I measured around 50' with adding several feet for extra

GMR 18. Mast mounted above spreader, the cable should be long enough to go into bilge area easily, but I laid cable from the Navpod/cockpit into the bilge area, bought a splice kit to join the cables. The terminal ends of the radar cable are big, and otherwise too large to fish through the small pathway openings, so you might as well plan to cut and splice the cable.

 

[buddybear]

GMR 18. Mast mounted above spreader, the cable should be long enough to go into bilge area easily, but I laid cable from the Navpod/cockpit into the bilge area, bought a splice kit to join the cables. The terminal ends of the radar cable are big, and otherwise too large to fish through the small pathway openings, so you might as well plan to cut and splice the cable.

Thanks, will do, my old unit Raymarine only had the network cable going down the mast, I see that the Garmin has the power and network cable going down the mast.

 

[Hello Below]

A little disappointing review of 3 radars but worth a read.
Enclosed radars compared, including Garmin, Raymarine, and Simrad

 

[jssailem]

I read the review when it came out. For less than $2500 these systems are very helpful in providing more information to the boater than ever before.

Just because you have the help provided by Radar, you are not relived of the responsibility to know the waters you are cruising and use all the other resources available to maintain situational awareness.

I think of radar as changing my vision from 20/200 to 20/100. Things I look at are better but still a little fuzzy. Knowing what’s out there and checking how they appear to radar is an important part of interpreting the radar signals. When it is sunny and clear. Use radar. Try to identify radar objects on the MFD. Then step into the cockpit and physically observe the target and all that is around it. That’s essential to becoming capable with your radar.

 

[sailme88]

I upgraded from a Furuno gray monochrome screen to a Raymarine digital color Chartplotter with radar overlay. Absolutely no comparison. Wish I'd waited a bit longer as the doppler radar came out the next year. Here are the big differences between what I had and what I have and what I could have waited for.

The radar over laid on the chart shows you that target reflection is at an ATON, so you KNOW immediately what that target is. With the old analog Furuno you need to watch watch for several sweeps to see what type of movement that ATON was giving you and have a paper chart in hand to guesstimate .. Meanwhile other targets abound..
On the gray gray scale, yogurt a return from land. But where on the land? Overlay makes it abundantly clear what the return is from.
Having a touch screen means I can navigate to a point by touching and not inputting lat/lons.

What I missed with not getting doppler is the ability to see if a moving target is moving away from me ( highlighted in green ) or moving towards in a collision scenario highlighted in RED..

Celestial navigation HAD a place and it is a unique skill set. But, technology has given us tools that are there to use. As stated above go and shop the various vendors and find the one that works for you.
Personally, I'd go with a color doppler chart plotter. If you have an auto helm, and don't want to replace it, then go with the system that best pairs to it and your other instruments.

 

[buddybear]

I upgraded from a Furuno gray monochrome screen to a Raymarine digital color Chartplotter with radar overlay. Absolutely no comparison. Wish I'd waited a bit longer as the doppler radar came out the next year. Here are the big differences between what I had and what I have and what I could have waited for.

The radar over laid on the chart shows you that target reflection is at an ATON, so you KNOW immediately what that target is. With the old analog Furuno you need to watch watch for several sweeps to see what type of movement that ATON was giving you and have a paper chart in hand to guesstimate .. Meanwhile other targets abound..
On the gray gray scale, yogurt a return from land. But where on the land? Overlay makes it abundantly clear what the return is from.
Having a touch screen means I can navigate to a point by touching and not inputting lat/lons.

What I missed with not getting doppler is the ability to see if a moving target is moving away from me ( highlighted in green ) or moving towards in a collision scenario highlighted in RED..

Celestial navigation HAD a place and it is a unique skill set. But, technology has given us tools that are there to use. As stated above go and shop the various vendors and find the one that works for you.
Personally, I'd go with a color doppler chart plotter. If you have an auto helm, and don't want to replace it, then go with the system that best pairs to it and your other instruments.

Thanks for the reply I totally agree, the new technology makes sailing so much less anxiety. I sailed the Bahamas, Caicos and Dominican Republic with a compass and paper charts in 1987. If I had only had GPS it would have been great. The new Radar will be a nice addition.

 

[BC Bernie]

Thanks for the reply I will check into it sounds like it will work for me.

By the way, I kept the Raymarine wind, depth instruments and used the SeaTalk N2K converter to integrate with the Garmin MFD. That made life way easier.

 

[buddybear]

Hi Mark,
I bought the Garmin Fantom radome for my 2004 310. Installed a Garmin 942 XS Chartplotter, Steadycast unit, Vesper Cortex AIS, Standard Horizon VHF, and installed the radar cables and NMEA 2k backbone. All integrate so well, it is mind blowing. Garmin is like the Apple of marine gear: it's intuitive and user friendly. There's a post I did back in 2020. Cheers!

Can you tell me which model you bought, there are several on the market. I am getting ready to buy.
Thanks,
Mark

 

[BC Bernie]

Can you tell me which model you bought, there are several on the market. I am getting ready to buy.
Thanks,
Mark

I have the Garmin Fantom 18 Radome. I know there are the 18+ and the HD versions now, but they didn’t exist when I bought mine approximately 4 or 5 years ago.

 

[buddybear]

I have the Garmin Fantom 18 Radome. I know there are the 18+ and the HD versions now, but they didn’t exist when I bought mine approximately 4 or 5 years ago.

Thanks so Much!!!!!!

 

[dlochner]

Just read this article. If it makes any difference, the Houthis in Yemen are using Halo 24 Radars to track and guide their drones. The US Marines have followed suit and are using the same units to track drones and shipping in Red Sea and elsewhere. An interesting endorsement.

Houthi Rebels 'Endorse' a Simrad Small-Craft Radar; Marines Take the Hint

Halo24 Becomes Tool for Disruption of Global Commerce

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