Radar Wanted

[chrism]

With all the talk about RADAR, I am interested in putting it onboard.

Does anyone have reccomendations on what to get? I know I want a color system... But I don't know where to look. Am I better off mixing and matching the dome and display on eBay to save money, or should I buy a brand new package? Does anyone know of any used electronics dealers?

Thanks,

Chris

 

[Loren Beach]

You might, once you feel confident in assessing used models, check out the upcoming swap meets. A friend of mine sold a late 80's Apelco LCD radar complete for $100. He had bought a new fancy one and probably would taken $50.
It worked just fine.

I have the very same model on our '88 boat and it still works. Technology has improved a lot for resolution since then, but the units are about the same size. You might want to look into the $700. JRC model -- this is much "better" to look at than my early-technology display. If I had the BUC's I would get a color unit for around $2K plus.....
But I figure that any affordable radar beats none at all, in darkness or fog.
:eek:
Sidebar: I doubt that one out of a hundred recreational boaters in our area *ever* turns on their radar when visibility is good... Only commercial vessals use it all the time.

Loren in PDX

 

[chrism]

Re your sidebar... that was my comment in the other radar post...

I'm looking into taking a radar class over the winter. We'll see how that goes.

 

[cawinter]

More info

There were a few good articles in Practical Sailor over the last few months. They tested some of the lower price models and found them quite good. I agree with Loren that having anything in the fog is better than nothing. We had a few interesting trips into NY harbor in the fog...

I have an old Raytheon Pathfinder 1100 (?) on board. Huge thing. If all goes according to plan I might upgrade to one of the new Raymarine C80 units. Integrated everything but I like the chart plotter and RADAR overlay coupled with GPS. They are just too slick. One issue delaying the upgrade is that I will have to replace the radome and cable(!), too.

 

[chrism]

Use the old cable as a leader for the new one as you bring it down the mast... That should save some time.

 

[rssailor]

Radar units

Yeah for sure check out ebay for saving money on units. One of my customers bought a raymarine display on ebay and got a good deal. Spend the extra money and go with a Raytheon or Furuno system as there is great dealer support out there and the products are easy to use. Integrated system with GPS/chartplotter/radar is the only way to go. You get more bang for the buck, plus you save space by putting all those functions in one unit. Good luck. Ryan