Rookie Radar Question

[boomerang]

Originally Posted by Keysdisease

I understand the real world implications of radar installations as well as the cover your ass statements of the manufacturer.

I just thought with all the dockside rhetoric that what the manufacturer actually had to say might be useful, kind of a baseline. I also chose that particular model as representative of what a lot of FT peeps might have aboard

Keys, my reply came off as sounding kind of snarky. I apologize. I guess I was getting irritated with the "pundits" going on & on with all of the warnings of the deadly radiation being emitted by these killer recreational-use radars...

[dhays]

Originally Posted by psneeld

many RADARs mounted like that just program a dead zone where it doesnt even transmit in the zone where the bridge seating is... so radiation is not sn issue.

while knowing what is behind you is nice, for many cruisers who chose to travel in daylight and fair weather. a dead zone aft is no big deal.

if you cant live with thst, mount it elsewhere but that usually is inconvenient so people fall back to this option .

I have great visibility forward, not so good aft. I have an aft facing camera that shows on one of my MFDs which helps. I find that in daylight, the radar view aft is the most useful. I go slow so I am almost always the boat being overtaken.

[SoWhat]

Power densities over 1000W/m2 are dangerous and may result in skin burns, cataracts, etc. Older Raymarine magnetron radars put out 10W/M2 at 1 meters. Not exactly dangerous. I would not want it at eye height continuously but radars are pulsed so it's probably OK. Digital radars are not an issue.

You should be able to setup a no transmit zone in your MFD. 360 display of targets would be great but 270 display is a lot better than 0.

[Fletcher500]

I was talking to Furono Tech Support today regarding an unrelated matter, and asked the tech to his get opinion.

Basically, as described by most people who have posted:

The higher output open arrays are not going to cause damage on short exposure, but its best to avoid when possible, and you don't want one spinning in directly of your face for hours on end.

Newer solid states are similar to a cell phone and no issues having one emitting nearby for a long period of time.

[OldDan1943]

Originally Posted by psneeld

Just do a clearing turn if you think something could be behind you.

On submarines, we call it "clearing the baffles" but, I still want to see what's behind me. My RADAR does a 360 sweep I also have a Flir IR camera pointing aft. Yes, great for backing down but also great to see 'someone' approaching from aft.

[brewster812]

I am about to install a new Simrad 4G broadband radar on my arch and am debating whether I should buy a mount to raise the unit 5” - 10” so the beam clears my bimini. Should I be concerned about this? Not sure if the bimini fabric and/or frame will reduce the ability to see objects close to the bow. I don’t have any obstructions on the sides or back.

[Fletcher500]

Originally Posted by brewster812

I am about to install a new Simrad 4G broadband radar on my arch and am debating whether I should buy a mount to raise the unit 5” - 10” so the beam clears my bimini. Should I be concerned about this? Not sure if the bimini fabric and/or frame will reduce the ability to see objects close to the bow. I don’t have any obstructions on the sides or back.

My old boat had the Simard 4G mounted too close to the hard top and it definitely affected performance. Simrad manual has specs. Regarding whether fabric would affect it, I don't know. You may want to call Simard TS. Their TS is not known to be great, but people on other forums have stated it has been much better the past couple years. You will like the 4G. It is solid, and supposedly they have finally fixed the Marpa function.

[Benthic2]

Raising it will also affect your ability to see things close to the bow.

[Fletcher500]

Originally Posted by Benthic2

Raising it will also affect your ability to see things close to the bow.

Raising it is more about achieving longer distances than seeing things close to the bow. I could watch people’s head swim by while at anchor with the 4G and it was not very high. Interesting to see, but not very useful. The scales I generally use are 1/4 mile, 1 mile, and 6 mile.

[psneeld]

proper tilt eliminates some of the issue with high mounts and bow rise....

you pay in lost recetion aft in some situations.