Getting the most from your RADAR

[JimFromMD]

So I started a new thread since there seemed to be a lot of discussion about using your RADAR and getting the most out of it under varying conditions. I thought maybe those with more experience may be able to share some tips and tricks for those of us with a bit less RADAR configuration experience.

For my own part, I use it whenever I'm on the boat, and have found it very helpful in making sure I'm seeing everyone around me on the bay. It's also come in very handy in identifying fish traps and other movable but stationary objects not listed on charts when running early in the morning or at dusk.

I've never used my RADAR to identify weather, but really havent found any resources for figuring out how to do so... So all you graybeards (not being sarcastic), please fire away!

 

[ZZ13]

This thread is a great idea for us radar newbies. Hope it grabs hold. So I'll start it with a question. I have older 2kw dome. So what am I missing out on during the learning stage (this season will be my first season actually trying to integrate radar use into my daily cruising) by having that versus the newer 4kw HD domes? Will things be blurrier (for example other boats and their wake trails - this is mostly what I am interested in getting out of radar), monochrome, stuff not recognizable, etc?

 

[hack4alivin]

I keep mine on all the time, but for the most part the need is only been at night. Mine is setup for close range, and for the most part does its job well. I can’t use it to pick up the crab pots however; usually the wave chop will hide them, unless it is very smooth out there. A condition I don’t get often in the bay. There was an occasion several seasons ago when I was returning from a Middle River Restaurant with a group of my co-workers on board. We were on the home stretch of the Gunpowder River and at this point I knew there were no crab pots in my way, and since I could clearly see the lights on the day markers I was not worried about the radar that much. One of my friend’s girlfriends came up to the helm and was asking me questions about the controls and the radar, when she looked at it and said “what is that yellow spot right there”. I looked down and said “Oh ****, something I should avoid”, and made a quick turn to port. It was one of the small bounty markers that the proving ground uses to “mark their territory” and it was directly in my path.

 

[CAMELLA]

My radar is on when my GPS is on for two reasons, I like to excerise the unit and it allows me to be more comfortable with it. I typically leave all the settings on AUTO, the only setting I change is between HBR (harbor) and OSH (offshore). The harbor setting is used inland and the offshore when out at sea or in large bodies of water.

 

[trit21]

As you may have already read, radar is only as good as the person setting it up and those that can interpret the data is presents. Most people will use the radar with the automatic settings. These settings are a general start and work for most users in general boating to get around. As you may have noticed, some objects appear very well and other not at all. This is due to the amount of radar reflection that object may have. Boat, some markers have much more reflective surface than birds or traps. So interpretation of data is important and unfortunately time consuming where patience is needed. My recommendation for new users are one, go out in your area during bright daylight and turn the radar on automatic mode and see what the radar will and will not pick up. Obviously easier during the day than at night. If you can anchor this may work well too but anchor swing will cause problems so might be easier on a slow cruise. If you find an object that the radar does not pickup, try increasing the gain until the object can be seen without washing out the screen. You have just learned how to increase gain to detect objects and interpret some data on the screen. You can also adjust the distance you radar is being viewed, ie 36NM or 1NM etc. The shorter the distance the easier it is to see objects directly in front of you. I set my radar at night for very very short distance and rings. Maybe 1/16 or even 1/32 mile rings. This way the radar blips are easily detected when at night. Just remember, every blip could be something in the water. It could also be a wave or a bird. But by playing with the range and gain you can see alot of stuff on your screen and by doing it at daytime you will be able to verify what the radar is telling you by sight. I very seldom use my radar in the 5-16 mile range. really doesn't tell me much. I use it for weather on the 24-36 mile (or longer) range which will detect cloud tops and the very short range for navigation. Remember if doing 25mph, you are traveling 36feet/sec. At 1/32mile (165 feet) range rings, it will take you 5 seconds to reach that radar ring. So, how fast can you stop your boat to avoid something. If you have 4 rings on your radar, that is 20 seconds of travel time before you reach the top of your radar. If you detect something at the top of your radar, top of the rings, you have 20 seconds to stop before hitting it. Can you stop your boat in 20sec? A real 20 seconds. Maybe you should go up to the 1/16 range rings. It will increase your time to stop. Have to run, work calls will be back to add more, hope my math is right, in a rush to fill this out, damn work.

 

[moparlvr4406]

very interesting thread
I don't have radar and realistically no real use for one where I boat.. but
am looking at boats that have it already have radar installed and I would want to know how to
use and interperate it whether I actively relied it or not.
Good info here ...keep it coming :thumbsup:
I do have a question though...
How does it react to heavy fog conditions ..does the fog feedback on the screen ??

 

[northern]

Good idea for this thread
We go where there can be bad fog and rain. There is also big boat traffic, cruise ships and tugs pulling barges. We turn it on when there could be bad weather based on the forgast before we start out for the day. To learn how to use it we have it over lay the charts in good weather so we can see what things are from the charts to what is out there.
Radar also is good to have on as other boats will pick you up on their radar. A cruise ship going 22 knots in the fog might not be able avoid a 38 foot boat in a narrow channel. But a 38 foot boat can get out of the way if they know where the cruise ship is and where the shore is.

 

[carterchapman]

I do have a question though...
How does it react to heavy fog conditions ..does the fog feedback on the screen ??

Hey Jim,

One of the advantages of radar over plain old eyesight is that it does in fact "see through the fog", just as it sees through darkness. I use mine in daylight all the time for one main reason - I can visually interpret what the radar is showing, and that gives me training (and confidence) for using it at night or if I get caught in fog. It can also show thunderstorms, but it cannot see through them (the water droplets absorb the signal)...

I find the overlay with the chart plotter mode to be the best mode for my daylight training.

 

[trit21]

Hey Jim,

One of the advantages of radar over plain old eyesight is that it does in fact "see through the fog", just as it sees through darkness. I use mine in daylight all the time for one main reason - I can visually interpret what the radar is showing, and that gives me training (and confidence) for using it at night or if I get caught in fog. It can also show thunderstorms, but it cannot see through them (the water droplets absorb the signal)...

I find the overlay with the chart plotter mode to be the best mode for my daylight training.

It can see through rain if you adjust your rain clutter and the gain properly. I use it all the time to spot other vessels in the rain. I also use it when offshore to see where the rain is lighter, head for that portion of the storm and hopefully out of it before the lightning get to bad. I have used it on several occasion for such and it works well.

 

[ZZ13]

So for a first time user what do you recommend I set my range to? My old 2kw, 18" antenna only gives me a max range of 24nm anyway. I was thinking starting at the 1.5nm range with 6 rings based on what I've read (I can't adjust the number of rings - my Pathfinder radar presets them based on range). I figure I won't see stuff past 1.5nm anyway, so anything further wouldn't help me correlate what I see to what is on the display.

 

[trit21]

Bill, that sounds good. Basically you want to get something on the screen that you would like to be able to see with your radar. Pylons, markers, etc. The farther the range, the harder it is to see small stuff so play with it in your area. It will take several times and if you are like me when I was first learning, lot of frustration (damn radar isn't working for crap) until you start to get the hang of it. Patience (which I don't have) and persistence (which I do) is required here.

 

[katricol]

For a new user I would recommend .50 to 1.00 mile. (1/2 mi. to a mile) as a start, during daylight. I use my radar always day or night, as this is how I interpret the rules...if you have a working radar, it is supposed to be on.

 

[sbw1]

One feature of the radar on my boat that I've really begun to value is MARPA. Essentially it figures out how close you will pass a vessel that is many miles away from your current position. Doesn't sound too useful until you consider that we run our boat many miles offshore to avoid course changes and fishing boats off the many ports on the west coast of the State of Michigan. We set the auto pilot for a point that may be 35 miles off the coast of Ludington and only have to tack once to make Frankfort which is about 140 statute miles from where we begin our first leg. This places us right in the shipping channels with 600 foot freighters. They show up on radar 20 plus miles out and you can tell whether they are going away from you or toward you and how close you will pass. MARPA calculates the speed of the vessel, the heading and how close you will pass. This is good information to know. It is not uncommon for us to alter our heading as we close on a target to insure a comfortable margin of safety. We watch weather move in the same way. T-Storm cells can be seen to move from 30-40 miles out. It is comforting to know that holding a heading will allow you to pass behind a cell instead of running into it head on. I use the radar in these situations every time we go cruising and it affords peace of mind. Range is usually in offshore mode and toggled from 48 miles when storm watching down to 1/8 of a mile when entering a port. On autopilot at full cruise speed I toggled between 12 and 6 miles depending on location. Lower ranges are used when entering traffic.

 

[Alex F]

My advise to the new user is:

1. Assuming that you have only one MFD split the screen in two (where radar takes one half and chartplotter takes the other half). This will give you very clear contrast on the radar screen and you'll be able to have dedicated tasks knowing what you're looking at on the chart and then reference to the radar screen to see the difference. You can always engage OVERLAY feature where you'll see the radar image in light pink (for Raymarine units) color on your chart. This way you'll see the big difference in contrast of your dedicated RADAR screen vs. what's presented on the CHART screen. After many years I still can't get used to just having an overlay and have only one screen, instead I split the screen and it's much easier to see bright yellow objects on the black screen. Obviously, having 2nd MFD makes things much more convenient and at night or poor viz. I just have one MFD on full screen with RADAR and 2nd with the full screen CHART.
2. Leave all settings on AUTO and only play with the range for starters.
3. Setup your unit where the chart range is not in sync with radar range. This is very helpful in many cases when you have each screen on it's own range.
4. Start using only basic features like RANGE and HBR or OFFSHR. See the difference between these functions and what's presented on the screen. As mentioned by others, the simple rule, the closer the radar range the better it "sees" the targets. So, keep it 1/8-1/4 in the harbor and 1/2-1 in more open water like ICW. When getting in to much more open waters try 1 1/2-3NM range.
5. The best way to get to know the radar is when you going slow during the day. Pick your destination 10-15NM away and go for a nice 2hrs cruise, save the fuel and have nice learning session while the crew just chills and having a good time doing whatever (except distracting you).
6. Read the MFD manual, it has good basic tips.
7. Make a rule for yourself (it's actually a real rule as Rick said), keep the radar on the moment you leave the dock.

Have fun and let us know how it's working out for you. Comeback with more questions and you'll have plenty of helping hands here.

P.S.:
For those who think that RADAR is only needed in poor viz. (night or fog), boats have "blind spots", which grow depending on the size of your crew on board. I picked up a lot of targets during the day on the radar to get my attention while someone or something was blocking my view.

 

[sea paws]

I have been looking to replace my radar/gps unit and one feature i was looking at was a radar that can pick up loster pots. I have one question Can a 18inch HD digital dome pick up lobster pots?

 

[katricol]

Yes sea paws, it can...assuming it was installed right and the settings are set right for the conditions. If you don't know about the settings....leave them on auto

 

[HomePort]

I posted this question in another section of the stie but it was recommended that I post it here.

I have been planning on replacing my 2004 Raymarine 48" open array with a new 24" HD dome.

My theory has been that, even though the beam is shorter, I'll increase my target acquisition with the HD unit. However, one of the members here pointed out that, even though I might be increasing my processing speed and get the benefit of 256 colors, since I'll be going from 48" to 24", I'll loose significant target separation.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I've purchased the dome but not yet installed it.

Oh, also might be relevant to note that I'm upgrading my chartplotter, going from the e120 to the e125, which means I won't be able to run the current 48" open array into the e125. I'd have to keep it connected to the old RLC70 and wouldn't get the benefit of chart overlay, which I haven't had in the past but am looking forward to in the future.

Thanks in advance for your advice.

 

[trit21]

Now that was a part of the information that was missing when I posted on the other thread which is the change of MFD/chartplotters as well. I don't like chart overlay but to each his own, I like running radar separately. As far as a new MFD as well, I think that is the right decision. The radome (according to Raymarine website) has a 3.9 degree beem width and the open array should be in the 1 -1.8 degree beam width. So, will the radome have the same target separation, no. But, combined with the new MFD, faster processor which means more information faster I think you will be fine. Again, it depends on what you are doing with it, offshore, Bahamas trips, night navigating, fog then I would want as much target separation as possible combined with the new MFD etc. But I think (now that I have all the information) you will still be happy with the current selection. I assume price difference was quite a lot if ou bought a new open array as well compared to the radome?

 

[hottoddie]

I have been looking to replace my radar/gps unit and one feature i was looking at was a radar that can pick up loster pots. I have one question Can a 18inch HD digital dome pick up lobster pots?

The 18" HD dome will pick up pots in some cases but not always. You will need to practice with the settings. I would never rely on radar to keep me from running over pots and always keep a sharp lockout. FWIW you have a 34 ft boat and an 18 inch dome will look like an upside down coffee cup up there. I would spent the extra few hundred and get a 24" HD and get better performance and it will like it belongs on the boat. :smt001

 

[hack4alivin]

The 18" HD dome will pick up pots in some cases but not always. You will need to practice with the settings. I would never rely on radar to keep me from running over pots and always keep a sharp lockout. FWIW you have a 34 ft boat and an 18 inch dome will look like an upside down coffee cup up there. I would spent the extra few hundred and get a 24" HD and get better performance and it will like it belongs on the boat. :smt001

Good points, but I do like this one!