Radar

I have a Furuno radar* that isn't displaying the sweep on the screen. I can hear the unit rotating inside the dome, and all other functions seem to be normal. Any Ideas?

thanks

steven

1979 Hershine 37

Have you checked all the to do things in the manual.

*Gain and so forth.

if all thet stuff in the book checks.

Attach a anchor swivel to the whole thing and there you go.

You have to use these things. Lack of use shortens life greatly.

SD

*

skipperdude wrote:
... You have to use these things. Lack of use shortens life greatly.

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*I*run*the radar even if I'm not leaving the marina.

Yeah, I was afraid of that. The boat show is going on here in Seattle maybe I should go shopping for a deal. thanks

Yessireebob! If you have one.**Run it.

I would certainly have a technician check it out before attaching the anchor swivel. It may be repairable, as Furunos seem to last forever.

steven wrote:
I have a Furuno radar* that isn't displaying the sweep on the screen. I can hear the unit rotating inside the dome, and all other functions seem to be normal. Any Ideas?

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While I don't know if the newer generation Furunos have this (we have a relatively new Furuno but I've never bothered to see if it has this function) some radars if not all of them have a way to defeat the transmission of a signal even though the antenna is rotating.* This is a maintenance feature.* On our old Raytheon it was a waterproof switch on the underside of the radome.* I got caught by this once--- bumped the switch to the no-transmit position and then like you wondered why I could hear the antenna rotating but there was no sweep or returns.

It may be that the newer radars have this feature but now it's menu driven rather than being a basic switch function.

The good news for you is that you are in the PNW where Furuno has a very good factory service center.* So if the radar is still a serviceable model and you can't find anything in the manual to help you, you could send it to Furuno themselves pretty easily.

You might want to have a good radar shop take a look at it first, however, as it may be something that's fairly easily fixed.* I can give you the name of a good tech in* Bellingham but I've had no experience with any shops in the rest of Puget Sound except Lunde Marine Electronics in Seattle who, at the time we dealt with them many years ago, were considered the top electronics shop in the city.

Harris Electric in Seattle is a good outfit and knows Furuno.

I have owned 2 Furuno radars. BOTH have had the motor that runs the antenna go bad.* The last one I could hear a noise that SOUNDED like the motor was running. However with the dome off I could see it was not turning the antenna.

So that is my suggestion..look inside while it's running to see if the antenna is sweeping.

The motor is between $100 and $200.

*

*

We have an older Furuno radar that was showing (or not showing) similar symptoms. I called Furuno in Camas, WA and talked to tech support.* They had me go through several tests and they*ended up replacing the magnetron.* The magnatron*is a replacement part based on the number of hours that you have on the unit.* I don't remember the approximate numbers but they do where out.***Furuno talked me through the menu to get the hours.* I was*able to see how many stand-by hours vs running hours the unit had.* The radar is back up and running for less than 1/4 the cost of a new unit.* You can email them or call.*

As far as always running your radar, it is mechanical, you will shorted it's life by running it all the time.* I'm not saying don't periodicly use it, but why run it it all the time when you're cruising in fair weather?

Who here thinks navigation rules require you to use radar if it is installed and operational? Rule 7- Risk of Collision. It seems to me that you must properly use it.

xfedex wrote:
Who here thinks navigation rules require you to use radar if it is installed and operational? Rule 7- Risk of Collision. It seems to me that you must properly use it.

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*Here's the first line of rule 7..

*Every vessel shall use all available means appropriate to the prevailing circumstances and conditions to determine if risk of collision exists. If there is any doubt such risk shall be deemed to exist.

We normally don't use bow lookouts even though they may be appropriate in pea soup fog.* I doubt the USCG is going to beat up the average recreational boater for npt using RADAR on a clear day.* If they were going to...they would also extend the requirement to have a trained operastor on watch when using it...they know all too well the average rec boater can barely turn it on let alone use it wisely.

Mark makes a good point...unless you pull the dome..the motor can be turning and it could be the belt is slipping/broke (at least on some models).* There are lots of reasons RADARs don't show a display...most newer ones show a message on the screen and the troubleshooting guide gives a hint to what direction to work towards.

I have a 14-year old Furuno 1731 Mark II, 4kw with a 24" dome.* A couple of years ago the sweep would intermittently not show on the screen, though the antenna was turning.* I removed the dome cover, and found a bit of moisture inside.* Years earlier there had been a small crack in the dome, which I had fixed with Marine Tex.* Apparently I had not cleaned out all the moisture, or not cleaned/siliconed the mating gasket well enough when re-assembling.

There was a bit of corrosion covering part of one of the wires leading to the magnetron, sorta glueing it to the adjacent metal frame.* I figure it was due to the moisture.* Cleaned that up, pulled the wire slightly away from the frame, made sure the magnetron was tightly screwed in place (for some reason it seemed a bit loose when I looked at it), and voila!* The sweep display has been consistently functional, and maybe even a bit sharper, ever since.

Mr Neeld, thanks for pointing out the first line of rule 7. I think I may change my interpretation.*

Steven:

How old is your radar? My boat looks about the age of yours, and came to me with an old Furuno, the kind you have to put your face into a mask-like frontpiece to see against the daylight. When it failed, I had a tech come out and he quoted me a few hundred $ to fix it, and was quite unenthusiastic. He claimed the unit, once fixed would then be worth a couple of hundred $. The boat show was the next month. I now have a JRC.
You may want to get an estimate of its value, as well as of the cost to repair.

Have the radar on whenever I'm awake underway or in the marina.* Rely more on visuals, GPS, and fathometer,*but find radar helpful for finding the ends of breakwaters.* (Haven't done any*night-time operations yet: unless it's dark or there's limited visibility, radar is of limited importance.)* Every few minutes look out the pilothouse's rear windows to see what may be coming up from behind.

I pulled the dome off and the antenna is turning just fine, although it seemed a little noisy but that could be because it was now uncovered. plugs and harnesses all seem to be secure in their places. Not sure of the year but it does not have the face mask. Since we usually don't travel in fog and as yet had no reason to travel after dark it's not the first thing on the list, however my mate doesn't like the sound of things not working.

xfedex wrote:
Who here thinks navigation rules require you to use radar if it is installed and operational? Rule 7- Risk of Collision. It seems to me that you must properly use it.

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Depends on the interpretation.* The USCG people I've talked to in the past used the same interpretation that Scott used.* "Appropriate"* means just that.* If it's "appropriate" to be using it, then you should be using it.* If it's not "appropriate" that you be using it, then you don't have to use it.

Some people interpet the rule to mean if you have radar (or whatever other means of collision avoidance) it should be on whenever you are running the boat.

But "appropriate" doesn't mean "must."* A synonym for "appropriate" can be "suitable."

Now, if you are involved in a collision on a clear day and you did NOT have your radar operating you could be found to be partially or fully at fault in tne accident.* Why?* Because since you had a collsion, and since radar might have helped prevent the collision, then the use of radar in this instance would have been "approrpriate."

So whether or not you elect to use radar is dependent upon the degree of risk you are willing to take.* We use ours most of the time not because we are worried about a collision but because we want to stay current as to how things look on the display.* So if we have to transition from visual steering to steering on instruments it's a no-brainer transition.* We have had to do this on numerous occasions over the years and because we are totally familiar with the radar display and interpreting it is nothing at all for us to enter a fog bank and simply keep on truckin'.*

We also use the EBL and VRM indicators on the radar to confirm our course vs. another vessel's where we think their may be a conflict (although it's very easy to determine this without the use of radar, but it's a good thing to practice we think).* This is particularly the case with commercial vessels like tugs and whatnot.* Even though we may be the stand-on vessel we always give way to a commercial vessel if it's going to be even remotely close, even if it's just a small tug travelling without tow as we encoutered yesterday.

But there is no rule that says (if you accept the USCG interpretation we were given and that Scott has defined, I believe, correctly) you HAVE to have your radar on at all times.* Only at those times that YOU deem are appropriate to the conditions.

markpierce wrote:
*Every few minutes look out the pilothouse's rear windows to see what may be coming up from behind.

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******* That's one of my main reasons for using the Radar! It's a damn good rear view mirror!

Radar is far more likely to tell you there is a fish boat on a collision course with you than is AIS, (see AIS thread) as they usually wont have AIS.

Using your radar in bright sunlight will keep you familiar with the appearance of objects you can confirm visually, so when you have to use it, in fog or dark, you will know what you are looking at.

Marin wrote:We use ours most of the time not because we are worried about a collision but because we want to stay current as to how things look on the display.* So if we have to transition from visual steering to steering on instruments it's a no-brainer transition.* We have had to do this on numerous occasions over the years and because we are totally familiar with the radar display and interpreting it is nothing at all for us to enter a fog bank and simply keep on truckin'.*

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Probably many of us*can tell*stories of when an unexpected need for radar occured, and the radar*saved the day (or at least helped a great deal).

For me, it was getting an emergency call to head to Ketchikan to relieve a tug captain who had to be hospitalized.* Within 24 hours, I was transiting Wrangell Narrows with a fully loaded gas/diesel barge.* My previous towing experience in SE Alaska up to that time was on larger tugs/barges which did not regularly transit Wrangell Narrows.* The transit was daylight and good conditions, but I navigated with my head in the radar and steering with a jog stick, looking up every now and then to get perspective.

The second trip through, there was fog starting at Blind Slough (about half-way through), and my prior experience gained by using the radar under good conditions was priceless.*

Jay N wrote:The second trip through, there was fog starting at Blind Slough (about half-way through), and my prior experience gained by using the radar under good conditions was priceless.*

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*You are 100% correct.* If you learn to*use it every day it will be more reliable when you need it.*Besides I was under the impression that running it kept it working better as well.* If nothing else the chances of it not working, or you not knowing it will not work*would decrease I would think.

I don't think I want to be on a plane in a rain or snow storm and the pilot was trying out IFR for the first time.

JD wrote:
I don't think I want to be on a plane in a rain or snow storm and the pilot was trying out IFR for the first time.

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*No worries, mate.* All the pilot does is make a few menu selections.* IFR is fully automated these days

Marin wrote:JD wrote:
I don't think I want to be on a plane in a rain or snow storm and the pilot was trying out IFR for the first time.

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*No worries, mate.* All the pilot does is make a few menu selections.* IFR is fully automated these days

*Oh. Since this is the "Radar" thread when you said the pilot makes the menu selection I thought you were referring to how they got the meals hot.

Conrad wrote:Marin wrote:JD wrote:
I don't think I want to be on a plane in a rain or snow storm and the pilot was trying out IFR for the first time.

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*No worries, mate.* All the pilot does is make a few menu selections.* IFR is fully automated these days

*Oh. Since this is the "Radar" thread when you said the pilot makes the menu selection I thought you were referring to how they got the meals hot.

*No. The galleys on today's jetliners are so complicated the pilots have no clue how to do anything in there.* They need the cabin crew just to make them a cup of coffee.* The "menu" I was referring to is on their flight management input screens.

Marin wrote:Conrad wrote:Marin wrote:JD wrote:
I don't think I want to be on a plane in a rain or snow storm and the pilot was trying out IFR for the first time.

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*No worries, mate.* All the pilot does is make a few menu selections.* IFR is fully automated these days

*Oh. Since this is the "Radar" thread when you said the pilot makes the menu selection I thought you were referring to how they got the meals hot.

*No. The galleys on today's jetliners are so complicated the pilots have no clue how to do anything in there.* They need the cabin crew just to make them a cup of coffee.* The "menu" I was referring to is on their flight management input screens.

*I gotta learn how to put those smiley faces on my comments!!!

Conrad wrote: I gotta learn how to put those smiley faces on my comments!!!

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*It can be a little difficult but if you really want to know how to do it, I'm sure one of our computer gurus will chime in. :teevee:


-- Edited by SeaHorse II on Tuesday 7th of February 2012 03:43:12 PM

I wish my radar had those smiley faces on those dark and stormy nights to make me relax....