[SanderO]

So you would only be able to use radar in the daylight, and with sufficient solar output? Radars are generally most useful at night and in fog or rain. The Cat5 wires would not be large enough to supply power to this radar.

Mark

The battery must store enough power to run over night. Of course without sun there is no charging. So in the end a pair of charging wires would likely be required.

 

[colemj]

The battery must store enough power to run over night. Of course without sun there is no charging. So in the end a pair of charging wires would likely be required.

Sorry, I was replying to hpeer, who sounded like he wanted to power it directly from his solar panels. Your message came in while I was typing, so mine appeared after yours.

Mark

 

[MarkofSeaLife]

The only other relatively inexpensive way to do this is with OpenCPN's

I learned to sail before radar was common on pleasure boats and sailed thousands of miles and lots of years without it. For me radar is more of a "nice to have" than a "must have" so it's hard to justify spending $2.5-5k on a radar/plotter system but at $875 it becomes more of a "why not?" type of thing.

Yep. You nailed it!

Mark

 

[Minnewaska]

Wireless feature is attractive because there's a huge difference between getting power to the unit and running a cable to the nav station, forward bunk, aft cabin and the helm.

I see your point now. I'd run a data cable to the plotter, so the actual navigator has reliable use of the radar. Then add wifi to the network, so you can see it anywhere aboard on your tablet (I'm not sure what network or nav you have). The latest generation Raymarine Axiom plotters already have wifi as a built in feature and there is a companion app. I wonder how well the Furuno radar transmits through the deck of the boat too. Who knows. Haven't found anyone that owns one.

 

[hpeer]

Sorry, I was replying to hpeer, who sounded like he wanted to power it directly from his solar panels. Your message came in while I was typing, so mine appeared after yours.

Mark

SOME controllers pull the voltage down to battery voltage and would allow powering the radar. Ditto a wind generator that rectifies in the generator, like a D40.

One would have to look at the voltage requirements for the radar and output of the generator, but it may work. Essentially you would just be back feeding.

 

[colemj]

SOME controllers pull the voltage down to battery voltage and would allow powering the radar. Ditto a wind generator that rectifies in the generator, like a D40.

One would have to look at the voltage requirements for the radar and output of the generator, but it may work. Essentially you would just be back feeding.

Yes, I assumed you meant a controller that regulated at 12/24V, but that doesn't solve the issue of no solar power at night/fog/rain or not enough wind.

The voltage requirement is 12-24V, and 2.5A.

Mark

 

[hpeer]

Mark,

I have some old school controllers that allow the battery voltage to the panel. The electrons will run which ever way takes them to a lower potential. Therefore at night the radar would he fed from the batteries.

Will NOT work with MPPT controllers and maybe some others. Will work with some controllers.

 

[colemj]

Mark,

I have some old school controllers that allow the battery voltage to the panel. The electrons will run which ever way takes them to a lower potential. Therefore at night the radar would he fed from the batteries.

Will NOT work with MPPT controllers and maybe some others. Will work with some controllers.

OK, I understand. Your original post led me to think that you wanted to power the unit on the controller side of the panels, not the battery side. Now I understand that you have some old controllers that flow both ways.

This type of controller that allows battery voltage on the solar side of it is a poor choice, since this would allow the panels to drain the battery at night unless external diodes were installed. These external diodes would cause a voltage drop during charging that the panels would have to overcome, which would be difficult because they are pulled to battery voltage by design of the controller.

In other words, purposefully using an old, inefficient solar/wind regulator that could add to battery drain just to power a new tech radar would be a questionable choice. Why not just use an efficient controller and power the radar directly from the battery?

Mark

 

[capta]

Not to get too far off the subject, if you are headed for the US, XM Radio also does weather better than even the military radar I've seen. I had it on my Garmin cockpit screen, but I am sure it must have other ways for display. It showed each cell in a storm, intensity and direction. It was fascinating to watch and got me into trouble a few times, but never by a weather cell. I believe it was around $50 a month. Best deal I've ever had on anything sailing the right coast.

 

[hpeer]

OK, I understand. Your original post led me to think that you wanted to power the unit on the controller side of the panels, not the battery side. Now I understand that you have some old controllers that flow both ways.

This type of controller that allows battery voltage on the solar side of it is a poor choice, since this would allow the panels to drain the battery at night unless external diodes were installed. These external diodes would cause a voltage drop during charging that the panels would have to overcome, which would be difficult because they are pulled to battery voltage by design of the controller.

In other words, purposefully using an old, inefficient solar/wind regulator that could add to battery drain just to power a new tech radar would be a questionable choice. Why not just use an efficient controller and power the radar directly from the battery?

Mark

I understand. Yet, if it is what you have then it solves a problem. Until you “upgrade” and then need a new solution.

One problem at a time sometimes works.