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Old 11-12-2019, 12:20 PM   #1
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More Radar Questions

As I stated in another post, I know nothing about radar. I recently purchased a Raymarine C120 system. It was purchased from an estate sale and sold As Is, since it belonged to a gentleman that recently passed and his son was handling the sale. I bought it because the price was right and I was willing to take the risk.


Now, with all that said-- I have the Unit connected to the Radar Dome (with the top off). I will call the unit -- a Monitor (for lack of a better word). The monitor boots up, and under certain condition, the Dome (is array the right word?) will turn.


So essentially I have a functioning radar? The monitor boots to a page showing navigational display of an area in Miami, Fl.



I downloaded a manual, but so far I haven't figure how to determine if this is working as it should



*****side note** -- The unit is on my work bench -- not on a boat, if that makes a difference.


Can someone offer a suggestion(s) on what I need to do at this stage to say if the unit is working as it should. Or, perhaps tell me what I need to do to complete a bench test.


In other words, I am attempting to do brain surgery without knowing what a brain looks like


Any help and/or suggestions would be greatly appreciated



Terry
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Old 11-12-2019, 01:00 PM   #2
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The display is usually referred to as MFD, Multi Function Display, and the radar dome as radome. I had an E120 years ago and if I remember correctly the radome has to warm up, about 30 to 45 seconds, before you can turn it on. There are soft buttons on the bottom of the display that will turn it on. Do you have a GPS antenna hooked up to it? The radome should turn on after it warms up via the soft button. Do you see anything on the screen as the array in the radome turns? The MFD will support things like radar, GPS and depth finder. You will need chart chips for your local area. I think it defaults to a built in chart chip that does not have much detail. There are different pages in the MFD that you can access to do different functions.
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Old 11-12-2019, 01:09 PM   #3
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Comodave, thanks for the reply. The MFD goes through a boot up series and then settles on a display of an area in Miami, Fl. I assume it is something save on a hard drive or perhaps the card. It has a card for US and the Bahamas.



The radome will turn. However after a while it will stop. I assume I don't have it on a part of the programs that requires scanning.



All the buttons seem to work (they change screen display -- etc.



I am wondering --- if active Radar, will the until or should the unit give me a "real time" display?


Again, Thanks. I consider this a crash course in radar operation
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Old 11-12-2019, 01:09 PM   #4
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Yes, as Comodave said. I have and still use an E80. I don't use it for Nav charts, but only radar display.
You may have to use buttons to change display to radar.
It should give you an "OK" upon initial start up, that you have to respond to by pushing button on bottom right.
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Old 11-12-2019, 01:13 PM   #5
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Wxx3 --- thanks for the reply. --- As I said --- all the buttons seem to be working. Unfortunately, I know so little (nothing) I have yet to figure out exactly what it is telling me.



My 1st quest is to determine that the unit is actually working. One would think that an easy task --- but not for me
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Old 11-12-2019, 01:28 PM   #6
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I believe that after it has warmed up it will say something like ready or TX for transmit. You push the soft button and it will start transmitting. Then you should see a return on the display. But if you don’t push the soft button it won’t transmit. I would take it outside and see if you get a return on the display.
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Old 11-12-2019, 01:30 PM   #7
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I have the radome unit sitting outside. I will try it and see if I see the option.


Thanks
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Old 11-12-2019, 01:31 PM   #8
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Assuming you saved a bunch on the original purchase, I'd. suggest you reinvest some of it in a visit to a repair shop for a real bench check and some hands-on experience.. Alternatively, a manual should be downloadable from Raytheon.
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Old 11-12-2019, 01:33 PM   #9
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By default, powering up a Raymarine MFD can power up the Radar, but only put the radar into Standby. You need to set the radar to Transmit before you can see anything. I had a c70, but can't remember I also needed to specifically power on the radar as well. My currently e127 and e97 power on the radar but put it in standby mode.

I've never owned an open array, so I can't confirm, however it is my understanding that the radar will not 'spin' unless it's in Transmit mode.

I suspect the power-up spins the radar array as part of an initialization, then stops and waits in standby mode.
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Old 11-12-2019, 01:48 PM   #10
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I just looked at Raymarine.com and found the C120 manual. There should be a “Scanner” button that is either on or off. Turn it on. Then there should be a button “Radar” either TX or STDBY. Put it in TX and the radar should be transmitting. On the Raymarine site look for manuals, then Retired Manuals, then Multi-function displays, then C Series Classic and then C120.
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Old 11-12-2019, 02:05 PM   #11
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You guys are super!!! I now have radar in my shop --- I finally found the right series of buttons to press to get me to the "Transmit" option. The Radome is scanning, and the MFD is recording the image.



I feel better about my 100.00 investment ---- now if the accessories I got in this bundle will work as well.


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Old 11-12-2019, 02:05 PM   #12
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Since you are new to radars, be careful when it is transmitting. Stay away. You do not want to fry your eye balls or genitalia. These are relatively low power units but better safe then sorry.
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Old 11-12-2019, 02:07 PM   #13
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Comodave, I went to their site and down loaded, what I thought was the manual. However, what I got was 'quick reference" cards. I need to go back and get the manual. Again, thanks for the help. I am sure I will have a lot more questions.


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Old 11-12-2019, 02:10 PM   #14
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Genitalia? --- Damn I was sitting on the bench with the unit!!! No more kids for me I guess -- but at 70 --- that might be a good thing -- laughs ---



Thanks for the heads up ---- I understand the hazards --



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Old 11-12-2019, 02:52 PM   #15
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Genitalia? --- Damn I was sitting on the bench with the unit!!! No more kids for me I guess -- but at 70 --- that might be a good thing -- laughs ---

Thanks for the heads up ---- I understand the hazards --

Terry
Couple kilowatts at a range of 24" or so probably won't do any lasting damage, but your current " load" might be sunburbed. New frontier in birth control!

Fun trick I've seen done at FAA 200-mile ARSR sites is to throw a light bulb in front of the antenna.
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Old 11-12-2019, 03:07 PM   #16
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If you have a DSM300, don’t be surprised if it doesn’t work. They had a lot of problems with the ones assembled in Mexico. Glad you got it working.
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Old 11-12-2019, 03:32 PM   #17
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I did get a DSM300 as part of the deal. I just realized I don't have a power cord (I have a data cord) In my research, I have seen a lot of talk about how bad the units made in Mexico were. Any idea how I can determine where mine was manufactured?



As I stated ---- I am moving this boat from a marina just north of Mobile, Alabama up the Tennessee Tombigbee Waterway. This waterway is narrow, crooked as a drunk snake and has a lot of barge traffic. it is my plans to run from Marina to Marina during daylight only. However, since I must transverse 10 locks and commercial traffic has priority, It's conceivable I could spend a night on the hook. Once I get to my final destination (Tennessee River) I most likely will never have a need for the radar. That's one of the reason I didn't want to invest a lot into a system.


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Old 11-12-2019, 03:54 PM   #18
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I did get a DSM300 as part of the deal. I just realized I don't have a power cord (I have a data cord) In my research, I have seen a lot of talk about how bad the units made in Mexico were. Any idea how I can determine where mine was manufactured?



As I stated ---- I am moving this boat from a marina just north of Mobile, Alabama up the Tennessee Tombigbee Waterway. This waterway is narrow, crooked as a drunk snake and has a lot of barge traffic. it is my plans to run from Marina to Marina during daylight only. However, since I must transverse 10 locks and commercial traffic has priority, It's conceivable I could spend a night on the hook. Once I get to my final destination (Tennessee River) I most likely will never have a need for the radar. That's one of the reason I didn't want to invest a lot into a system.


Terry
AIS might do more to help your cause. You can see them coming around corners. If you are transmitting they will see you. Probably more important.
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Old 11-12-2019, 04:54 PM   #19
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you need the manual. There is a self test menu that will provide you with detailed data on functionality.

(Agree that AIS is a better choice for commercial traffic. You can connect the AIS receiver to your MFD. )
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Old 11-12-2019, 05:09 PM   #20
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I think that the DSM300 that I had had a label that said made in Mexico on it. It may work, mine would lock up and require a power reset to get it working. Then it would work for 5 minutes or 5 days without a problem.

I agree AIS may be the way to go on the rivers.
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