Collision avoidance

[roly_voya]

Re: Collision avoidance - What spec radar

I am strongly considering the radar option, modern sets seem tolerable on power, they are also useful for navigation in costal waters and I prefer the idea of knowing wats out there so I can avoid it rather than signaling that I am there so other people can avoid me!

Big decision is what spec. The more sophisticated set which are stabilised and may have mappa are much more expensive (around 2K) the basic set can be as little as £800 but require a lot more imput to fix target positions which may not be practical solo. Having never used radar before I dont have the experience to base the decision on so what does anyone think - Basic, Stabilised, Mappa?

 

[CPD]

Re: Collision avoidance - What spec radar

[ QUOTE ]
I am strongly considering the radar option, modern sets seem tolerable on power, they are also useful for navigation in costal waters and I prefer the idea of knowing wats out there so I can avoid it rather than signaling that I am there so other people can avoid me!

Big decision is what spec. The more sophisticated set which are stabilised and may have mappa are much more expensive (around 2K) the basic set can be as little as £800 but require a lot more imput to fix target positions which may not be practical solo. Having never used radar before I dont have the experience to base the decision on so what does anyone think - Basic, Stabilised, Mappa?

[/ QUOTE ]

I have a simple JRC1000 system. It does what it says on the tin and lets me see what is out there, what relative direction it is heading in, whether it will hit me, and it also provides a zone alarm which works very well. It takes a gps feed, so i can easily see on the (paper) chart where I am and therefore see relative as well as absolute possitions. there is no work involved in working out relative positions. They are all there on the screen. The best bit about the fitting, is that I placed it on the original swing out board on my centaur that used to have the depth monitor hung from it. I can therefore be in the cockpit with the radar right there in front of me (weatherproofed). The only reason I could see in going for a much more expensive system is to enable the radar scan to overlayed on top of an electronic chart, which I think would be more interesting than useful. The system I have is brilliant and I am very happy with it.

 

[Anonymous]

Re: Collision avoidance - What spec radar

You really do get what you pay for but firstly, the resolution depends on the size of the antenna (i.e. the diameter of the radome or 'scanner'). That is the first decision to make. Power - i.e range - isn't an issue for most people because we all have GPS and we don't need to know what is more than 10nm away and even the simplest radars do much better than that.

Stabilised is really not essential for a yacht because the easiest collision avoidance technique is to watch the relative bearing (just as in visual conditions) so you don't really want a compass stabilised display, you want relative angles.

MARPA is wonderful, especially when short handed in bad viz, in areas of heavy traffic. Crossing a busy bit of sea in thick fog (or even in good viz in daytime!) it is wonderful to be able to select half a dozen or more targets and get a figure for their course, bearing, and closest point of approach, with a time. Not so important when sailing in less congested waters, however. Pointless if crossing an ocean but magic when going up the Solent in thick fog (I've done that often).

You are wrong about the more complicated ones being unsuitable for short-handed/single handed sailors. The opposite is true. If you are single-handed (as I usually am) in congested waters you want a more capable radar - they are easy to drive with a bit of practice.

If you have never used a radar before you will get a lot more out of it if you go on a course or get a video training aid. Like PCs there are hundreds of things they can do that we never discover or ways of doing something better. It's well worthwhile making a small investment on a course. You might consider doing the course first? No doubt the instructor would be a fount of wisdom and knowledge and might even be able to point you to a good deal.

Don't forget that the better radars these days come enabled with plotters or plotter interfaces - that is a different but complementary question and I will not try to answer it here as you only asked about radars!