Budget Radar System

[oceanis11]

On my 32' Beneteau 311, I have a Navman 5607 at the helm, which is very satisfactory, and am now linking in the NasaMarine AIS receiver for collision alerts. Sailing mainly coastal in the Irish Sea, with rain/mist being fairly common. Thinking now about a budget radar system, as a supplement to the chartplotter/AIS combo for the "fishing boat problem" - probably mounted on a swingarm in the companionway. Looking at a couple of options, Furuno 1623 or Garmin GMR18/3005C chartplotter bundle. Both about Euro 1000.
Furuno is 2kw, 15" radome with tall aspect 6" mono screen, no chartplotter function. Garmin is 4kw, 18" radome with wide aspect 5" color screen and integrated chartplotter overlay (but different e-charts than the Navman unfortunately!!). Both screens are small and would be 6' ft away from helm. So not the primary navigation system - but perhaps better than no radar in poor conditions. Is it worth it, and which would you choose?

[xort]

Can you feed radar to the navman 5607? Does it have a bigger screen than the garmin?

[Maine Sail]

Dump the Navman and go all Garmin!! If you need a bigger screen go to the 3006 or 3206.. The GMR 18HD is an amazing little dome!! Oh and no sense having radar six feet away mount it at the helm where you can monitor targets!

[JohnRPollard]

Hi, welcome!

I like the integrated approach suggested by Mainesail, but if you are trying to keep the costs as low as possible... Another low-cost option available here in the States is a little radar unit made by JRC. It can often be found for about US$1000.

Here is a link to one U.S. vendor. Perhaps they're available in Ireland as well?

JRC Radar 1000 MKII

[Maine Sail]

Originally Posted by JohnRPollard

Hi, welcome!

I like the integrated approach suggested by Mainesail, but if you are trying to keep the costs as low as possible... Another low-cost option available here in the States is a little radar unit made by JRC. It can often be found for about US$1000.

Here is a link to one U.S. vendor. Perhaps they're available in Ireland as well?

JRC Radar 1000 MKII

They used to be an option. JRC has pulled out of the budget radar business in the US. They make a fair number of the domes for other brands and the other brands were bitching they under cut them so JRC pulled out of budget in the US.

Any 1000 or 1500 JRC you find is old stock unless things have very recently changed...

[oceanis11]

There's an old Irish response to a tourist's request for directions ... if I wanted to go there, I wouldn't start from here. I guess we are all starting from "here" when we look at adding stuff.
The Navman is a 6.4" VGA display, with AIS input but not radar. I prefer its vertical rather than horizontal screen orientation, and it takes less room where I mounted it (on top of the grab rail, as the 311 console is fairly congested). Understand that with a small radar screen, visibility from helm would not be good with a companionway mounting. But there would be zero visibility if the radar was at the nav station!
Interesting to hear that JRC pulling out of low end. Maybe my choice is to go for the vanilla Furuno, for my limited needs, rather than be tempted by the bells and whistles of the entry level Garmin.

[rikhall]

Originally Posted by JohnRPollard

Hi, welcome!
Another low-cost option available here in the States is a little radar unit made by JRC. It can often be found for about US$1000.

We had the JRC 1000. My buddy picked up a JRC1000 MKII and it is much nicer. Yes - they are out of or getting out of the small radar business - my buddy picked his up brand new for about $850.00. There probably is stock around.

For our "new to us" boat, we went with the Furuno 1623. If you are looking at a budget radar mount for the stern - look at my other radar post or send me a PM

[KismetP362]

I have a Garmin 3206 head unit, GSD 20 sounder and a GMR 18HD dome for radar. I love this set up and it cost under 1600 for the whole setup. (the GSD20 was a refurb though) I shopped around and found the best price at getfeetwet.com It's the only thing I've bought from them but my dad got an identical set up from them as well with no complaints so far. The only weak link in this system is the GSD 20. If you are like me and like to keep your electronics up and running while at anchor (for both the low water alarm and the fun of playing with your toys.) then you are at risk of "Snapping" your transducer. (By snapping I mean breaking). If you give an undervoltage to your GSD 20, like when you start your engine while the electonics are on, and your engine is a little cranky (pun intended) and it drops the battery down a bit, bad new for the ducer. I'm having a voltage limiter made for the GSD circuit. I found an electronics nut who volenteered to make it for me if I buy the parts (blank board, resisters and caps). I'll let you know how it goes. Sorry for rambling on, I've been deployed (to the bad place) and have decided not to put my boat in this year and it's making me a bit boat crazy.

Ryan