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Which Radar to Buy

3K views 19 replies 11 participants last post by  obelisk 
#1 ·
OK my 1975 vintage Furuno Radar bit the bucket and I am looking for recommendations for a replacement. I sail in Casco Bay Maine which gets lots of fog on short notice in July and August. The traffic gets heavy too around Portland harbor so radar is essential equipment. I use a handheld GPS so I am not sure I would need the overlay variety radar. Just an easy and simple unit.
 
#2 · (Edited)
Tadds, I did a search some time ago for my own unity. I red Practical Sailor review on several unities, and found Furuno and Raymarine, by far, the best ones. In fact, I went to 3 different boatshows and had the opportunity to see it operating demo mode, and did "click" all the buttons, for JRC, Garmin, Furuno and Raymarine. I concluded that all of them has same basic functions, and some chart overlay. I could not compare the real stuff, like target discrimination, but I found Raymarine pretty straight forward compared to the others. Menus, "clicks", pages, etc .. were very intuitive to me, taking a 5 min to get used to the unity. I got the E80 screen, with 2KW radar antena, and use it for 2 years now. Chart overlay was my major requeriment, but confess I use it rarely, as the screen become too overloaded with information making hard to tell things. I found the radar/chart side-by-side screen much more controlable and far easier to see. Marpa is also very usefull (I have gyro info on net), but could live without a target tracking. Alarms is a must, and use it so frequently that I can't imagine how could I live without that before. Another point of choice was the extensive dealers support. I installed a Furuno at a friend's boat (he's happy with the radar anyway), but it was a nightmare to contact support services for cabling, extension and options, that we decided to install it in a different location without accessories. The unity (B&W screen) has very crispy discrimination, good size (7") and function very well, but I missed the easy of use, as needed to go over the manual o couple of times to remind me some functions. In the other hand, Raymarine provide a full web support, that works 90%+ of times you need them.
 
#3 ·
On a straight radar, I agree with Negrini that it is hard to beat Raymarine...but from a recreational sailor viewpoint and a budget orientation, I like the Garmin approach if a chartplotter is to be integrated....even though I own a Ray combo radar/plotter myself. Ray let me down on mapping and compatibility going forward and if I want to upgrade my plotter I have to throw out all my charts. That is poor concern for existing customers in my book.
 
#8 ·
The 4kw radomes are superior to the 2kw's, and JiffyLube is right on about the extra target discrimination; let alone ability to see through rain. However, you must take into account that benefit versus the size/weight difference that will affect the "Righting Moment" (Rm) on your particular boat. Do not just blindly go get a 4kw without considering the effect it will have on your Righting Moment.
 
#13 ·
Garmin makes an 18" 4kW radome. :)
 
#15 · (Edited)
Guys, none 18" antenna will give you the desired discrimination, what matters for crispy target definition is the size of the antenna. Power has to do with range, where Raymarine think 24NM is rasonable for a small boat and Garmin think 36NM could also be of choice for same size. But, both has same target definition, that works in 99% of its addresseable market. Issue is: opposite is not straight, I mean, range has not to do with power only, but mostly to height. This way, a 4KW radar is of little help on a small boat, as you can't place it in an affordable height, but 24" would give you a good target discrimination.
 
#19 ·
Garmin has already tried and failed to acquire Raymarine.
 
#20 ·
i found the Raymarine products to be more difficult to use than Garmin. I went with a Garmin 4008 GPS/Chartplotter and Garmin 4kw 18" radar display and integrated the system. I think the system is going to be more than staisfactory. Garmin is way more intuitive and user friendly than Raymarine.
 
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