Radar ?

[Spoiled Daddy]

OK My lovely wife has loosened her purse strings and told me that I can start shopping for a radar for my boat. Keep in mind that it is a small boat (18') with limited dash space.

I have two neighbors who fish commericially out of Newport. Both suggested that I look closely at the JRC brand for a small boat application.

I have found one JRC model, 1000 MK II, for less than $1000. It includes the cable and antenna and has a range from 1/8th of a mile to 16 miles.

Anyone have any experience with JRC or have other suggestions for the appropriate application for a smaller boat?

Thanks SD

[Spoiled Daddy]

TTT

SD

[The Bad Fish]

we have a raytheon in our new boat. it picks up pretty much everything, nice to have in the fog, im sure it will get lots of use this summer. they all do pretty much the same thing. one thing corrirod told me was that the smaller the boat the harder is is for the radar to read stuff due to swell and all how high it is mounted. hope that helps. kb

[Mark Mc]

The most over-looked specification is the beam width; then combine that with transmit power. The "range" (i.e.16 mi, 24 mi, 36 mi) is misleading.

If two units have the same power, lets say 2 kW, but one has a 5 degree beam and the other has a 6 degree beam, the 5 deg. version will have (geometrically) better target resolution the farther out you look. It's all about power per unit area (watts / cm^2). With relatively low power units and wide beam angles, you will have a hard time seeing a small target at longer distances (5 to 20 miles).

If all you care about is being able to see targets within a half mile or mile, it is less of an issue. But don't be too surprised if you can barely see the shore 14 miles away with a low-end, 6 degree beam unit that says "16 mile range".

[Spoiled Daddy]

Thanks! My main concern is not getting run over or doing the same in the heavy fog. I will look closer at the specs for this and other units.

SD