Radar Upgrade Help \ Suggestions

[ohsnow]

Need help wit radar upgrade. I have a 1990 350 Sundancer.
Instlled at present is a Apelco (Raytheon) LDR 9910. I think it is close to original.
The display screen is mono color, black with grey readout. Pretty nasty looking.
Questions are, can I just change display?
If I have to change dome, can I just change the internal guts?
Is the cable from dome to dispaly the same or will it need to be changed?
I don't mind the work but just want to know what I am facing before I start.
I am on Lake Ontario, Port Dalhousie.
Thanks for comments in advance.
Tom

 

[Pseudomind]

Just a guess here on my part, but an answer to all of your questions would be "no."

I have the Raymarine RL80CRCHSB2 Plus with a Raymarine 4kw radar array. It is all analog and will not work with the new chart plotters as they are digital. According to Raymarine my radar system is to old to be upgraded, based on their serial numbers table.

My option is to keep the old RL80 for radar use and add a chart plotter in for charts, Sirius weather (an additional module cost item and a monthly rate), depth, etc., but no radar unless I upgrade all items. I do however have the new 125 GPS system, which is also something you may need to replace when you upgrade.

 

[Gofirstclass]

Nope, nope and nope.

What you're looking for in a radar is something that will identify other objects on the water. A 20 year old radar has outlived its usefullness and ability to perform even as well as it did when it was new.

The new radar components won't work with a 20 year old set so you're looking at replacing the whole thing--display, antenna and cabling. If you're boating on the Great Lakes, don't spend the money to buy a "48 mile" radar. Due to the curvature of the earth, the height of your boat's radar arch will only let the radar "see" a target on the water at a range of about 11 miles or so. Longer if the target is real tall (buildings, mountains, etc) but don't get talked into buying too much radar.

Do your homework, find a nice 2kw or 4kw closed array radar that has a nice "sun readable" display with it. It will amaze you at what you'll be able to see with it. My Simrad system could spot flocks of birds, jet skis, kayakers, etc.

You might take a look at the new Broadband radars. They transmit with a lot less power, come on instantly when you turn them on, and have much better target discrimination. That's what allows you to see two things that are very close to each other as two targets, not just one large one. It's worth a look.

 

[ohsnow]

Thats what I thought.... and thanks for the comments....
I will start my reasearch and take these comments as an excellent guide.
Tom

 

[sbw1]

Nope, nope and nope.
If you're boating on the Great Lakes, don't spend the money to buy a "48 mile" radar. Due to the curvature of the earth, the height of your boat's radar arch will only let the radar "see" a target on the water at a range of about 11 miles or so. Longer if the target is real tall (buildings, mountains, etc) but don't get talked into buying too much radar.

I wouldn't be too quick to rule out a 48 mile range. My last boat had that and this one has a 72 mile range. We use the upper limit all the time when the weather is bad. When cruising on the Michigan side of Lake Michigan, we can watch storms coming out of Wisconsin and decide if we need to divert or can safely keep on running. Last Friday night on our little inland lake that dumps into Lake Michigan, we watched storms for more than a hour and pulled into our slip in 45 MPH winds before the big stuff hit. And that was on a narrow body of water with lots of mature trees. I agree with your point about water targets, but there is a lot of utility in radar that involves storm tracking.

 

[Glen S]

We have an Raymarine E80 with 48" 48 mile open array. While the 48 mile may is a bit overkill on the Great Lakes for picking up vessels and even some coastline I agree that the ability to identify storm cells as far away as possible and track them is great. For sure in this area they pop up quick on those hot hazy humid summer days that we sem to have more and more of.

 

[tobnpr]

I would agree with the correctness of the above statements, but I would add that IMO, the cost to upgrade to a 48 or 72 mile open array, vs. a 2 or 4 kw dome for collision avoidance is big $$ that would be better spent on real-time Wx from Sirius or XM.

The range is infinite, and it provides a lot of information at a glance such as storm speed and direction that's not as easy (yes, you can figure it out) to determine from radar returns.

Before the advent of real-time Nexrad radar on our displays the longer range radar served that purpose, now I look at it as kind of a dinosaur.

 

[Pseudomind]

I would agree with the correctness of the above statements, but I would add that IMO, the cost to upgrade to a 48 or 72 mile open array, vs. a 2 or 4 kw dome for collision avoidance is big $$ that would be better spent on real-time Wx from Sirius or XM.

The range is infinite, and it provides a lot of information at a glance such as storm speed and direction that's not as easy (yes, you can figure it out) to determine from radar returns.

Before the advent of real-time Nexrad radar on our displays the longer range radar served that purpose, now I look at it as kind of a dinosaur.

The feature that has sold me on this is the ability to see and get buoy readings, wave height, water temp, wind direction etc. etc.