Can someone explain radar to me please...

[lustyd]

Better than nothing though, right?

Many of these older devices use chart cards which are no longer available, hence the number for sale. No charts means you don't really have a plotter and have nothing to overlay the radar on. Personally I'd avoid them and use a phone with Navionics if budget didn't allow something modern enough to get chart updates.

 

[Sea Change]

Am I right to assume that any Raymarine starting with 'RD' is a digital radome? Which should work with an Axiom?
And if it's simply an 'R' it would work with E or C series?

 

[PaulRainbow]

Am I right to assume that any Raymarine starting with 'RD' is a digital radome? Which should work with an Axiom?
And if it's simply an 'R' it would work with E or C series?

Adding radar features to an Axiom or a/c/e/eS/gS-Series MFD

 

[PaulRainbow]

I'm not planning on using any older gear. My existing Raymarine stuff is all 'i' series using STNG*

Wish you'd have mentioned this sooner.

*with the exception of the autopilot which currently is older, but I have the newer one with a p70 head ready to install.

In light of the above, fit an Axiom. You can get a "remote" for some functionality instead of using the touch screen

** oh and my AIS is 0183 so I know I will need a converter there

The Garmin MFD's have 0183, the Axiom does not.

 

[st599]

With suggested reading tonight - Most Secret War - R V Jones

Real life cloak & dagger with the newly designed magnetron being smuggled in briefcases across the Atlantic from MIT in Boston and Operation Biting to recover enemy tech from one of the first radar stations at Bruneval.

The first Radar station was actually pre-WW1, but the company branded it as an iceberg detector and didn't explore its other uses.

 

[KevO]

We have a Vulcan 12 and an entirely separate old ST series analogue radar. One of the things we are discussing for the winter is upgrading to a digital radar that will overlay on the Vulcan and it’s something we are going to explore at the boat show. Notwithstanding the apparent poor forum opinion of the B&G, we have it and do not intend to change it for the foreseeable. What prior knowledge of compatible radar set ups should we have before chatting to someone on a show stand? Are there some makes that are simply not compatible? What will we need? New radome, new cabling, some wiggly amps box of tricks between the radome and the MFD? Will the flux gate compass likely need changing too? Grateful for an early steer.

 

[PaulRainbow]

We have a Vulcan 12 and an entirely separate old ST series analogue radar. One of the things we are discussing for the winter is upgrading to a digital radar that will overlay on the Vulcan and it’s something we are going to explore at the boat show. Notwithstanding the apparent poor forum opinion of the B&G, we have it and do not intend to change it for the foreseeable. What prior knowledge of compatible radar set ups should we have before chatting to someone on a show stand? Are there some makes that are simply not compatible? What will we need? New radome, new cabling, some wiggly amps box of tricks between the radome and the MFD? Will the flux gate compass likely need changing too? Grateful for an early steer.

See posts #3 and #4

 

[KevO]

See posts #3 and #4

Are all the Halo20+ models I can see on google the same piece of kit despite having a B&G, Lowrance or Simrad name on the side?

 

[Dockhead]

We have a Vulcan 12 and an entirely separate old ST series analogue radar. One of the things we are discussing for the winter is upgrading to a digital radar that will overlay on the Vulcan and it’s something we are going to explore at the boat show. Notwithstanding the apparent poor forum opinion of the B&G, we have it and do not intend to change it for the foreseeable. What prior knowledge of compatible radar set ups should we have before chatting to someone on a show stand? Are there some makes that are simply not compatible? What will we need? New radome, new cabling, some wiggly amps box of tricks between the radome and the MFD? Will the flux gate compass likely need changing too? Grateful for an early steer.

The MFD controls the radar so MFD and radar need to be explicitly compatible.

The Vulcan 12 won't work with the Halo radars with all of their functions, so you'd be better off buying a used 4G radar somewhere. That's a perfectly decent radar so not a bad result, and it will be much cheaper than a new Halo. Just don't count on the MARPA which is almost comically bad. But other performance of the 4G is great; particularly at close ranges. I have a 24" Halo radar and other than MARPA/ARPA, and weather at long distances, it is not dramatically better than the old 4G it replaced. The 4G is competent out to 40 miles, does do weather reasonably well, and has fantastic target discrimination.

The 4G radar will come with a cable and an RI11 interface box. You put power into the RI11 and connect it to your NMEA2000 network, Ethernet to the Vulcan, and Bob's your mother's brother.

Your existing fluxgate compass MIGHT work if it's getting its data into your N2K network somehow, but if it's an old fluxgate then you should upgrade it in any case to some kind of rate compass. The Airmar H2183 and Navico Precision 9 are good choices. Your autopilot will be grateful, too.

 

[Sea Change]

Wish you'd have mentioned this sooner.

Sorry, I can see why you'd have assumed that my existing gear was that sort of age. Actually it's reasonably new, just basic.

In light of the above, fit an Axiom. You can get a "remote" for some functionality instead of using the touch screen

Ok this is sounding promising.
I've just spotted an RD218 radome for $50 on marketplace, that leaves plenty in the kitty for a new Axiom.

 

[wonkywinch]

Do you absolutely need radar? Personally I find having an AIS receiver more useful and the AIS transmitter for visibilty (to other vessels and friends/family tracking) as well as peace of mind.

I have radar but don't use it much of the time.

 

[Sea Change]

Do you absolutely need radar? Personally I find having an AIS receiver more useful and the AIS transmitter for visibilty (to other vessels and friends/family tracking) as well as peace of mind.

I have radar but don't use it much of the time.

We hardly ever used radar when we had it before. Maybe two or three times a year, and that's as a full time blue water cruiser.

But we've been working our way up the east coast of the USA this season and I've never seen fog like it. It's also hoaching with 50ft sports fishing boats zooming around at 30kt, an alarming number of whom aren't on AIS.
Secondly, the thunderstorms here are much more serious than anything we've seen before, and whilst we can dodge them using the weather radar layer on Windy, it would be nice to be a bit more self contained. Especially as the Starlink is liable to lose signal in the kind of heavy rain that thunderstorms bring.

 

[wonkywinch]

I've just spotted an RD218 radome for $50 on marketplace, that leaves plenty in the kitty for a new Axiom.

Don't forget you'll need a mast mount for it if not included.

 

[PaulRainbow]

Do you absolutely need radar? Personally I find having an AIS receiver more useful and the AIS transmitter for visibilty (to other vessels and friends/family tracking) as well as peace of mind.

I have radar but don't use it much of the time.

AIS can't see through fog

 

[KevO]

Do you absolutely need radar? Personally I find having an AIS receiver more useful and the AIS transmitter for visibilty (to other vessels and friends/family tracking) as well as peace of mind.

I have radar but don't use it much of the time.

We have AIS transmit and receive too. Replacing the old radar has been on the list for 5 years since we bought this boat and it’s finally getting near the top of the list so we are starting to think about it properly now. We have used the analogue periodically in low vis and it’s pretty awful and below at the chart table. Having something overlaid on the cockpit plotter would be a big improvement.

 

[PaulRainbow]

Sorry, I can see why you'd have assumed that my existing gear was that sort of age. Actually it's reasonably new, just basic.

In post #13 i said "If you have Seatalk instruments that you want to keep they will not directly interface with the MFD, you need the ST to STNG converter."

You didn't say you hadn't so i had to guess

No matter though

Ok this is sounding promising.
I've just spotted an RD218 radome for $50 on marketplace, that leaves plenty in the kitty for a new Axiom.

Bargain, make sure it has cables, they are not cheap.

 

[Sticky Fingers]

Radar just connect to the MFD with an ethernet based cable and a power cable.

To connect older Seatalk stuff, like ST60s etc you need a Seatalk to STNG converter. Raymarine SeaTalk ng to SeaTalk 1 Converter Kit - E22158
Red and black cable goes to power, Seatalk goes to the yellow socket, the two white sockets are STNG/N2K. The two blue sockets are terminators, leave one out and fit a STNG to N2K backbone cable, connect N2K Tees to this cable, then terminate it. STNG devices can be plugged into the white sockets, N2K can be plugged into the tees, need more devices add more tees.

I'm not planning on using any older gear. My existing Raymarine stuff is all 'i' series using STNG*

*with the exception of the autopilot which currently is older, but I have the newer one with a p70 head ready to install.

** oh and my AIS is 0183 so I know I will need a converter there

To encourage the OP, this is exactly what I have. Original 1990’s Autohelm autopilot, plus Autohelm heads, and compass, some magic box to interconnect, and modern Axiom MFDs AIS and radar. Works perfectly although I have no idea how or why. Previous owners did the work and there’s precious little detail in the supplied manuals of how it’s actually been done.

 

[Dockhead]

Do you absolutely need radar? Personally I find having an AIS receiver more useful and the AIS transmitter for visibilty (to other vessels and friends/family tracking) as well as peace of mind.

I have radar but don't use it much of the time.

Good Lord.

This is thread drift. But -- radar is useless if you don't know how to use it, and what for.

For those who do, it's the most important piece of electronic gear bar none, far more important than GPS or depth sounder. Or for God's sake AIS.

Radar sees; radar directly measures range and bearing to objects independent from whatever they want to tell you. AIS only tells you what is broadcast. Many vessels don't broadcast, and others don't broadcast correct information, or you get outdated information. AIS is great, but it's SECONDARY to what you can directly measure. Either with your eyes, your HBC, or your radar.

And radar is not only for collision avoidance. It's also for pilotage, for double checking your charts, for picking your way into strange harbors in the dark, for taking bearings. I spent a whole summer in uncharted waters in Northern Greenland navigating with radar alone. On my boat it runs 24/7 when I'm on board.

Of course radar really shines when you're in a fog bank or a moonless night or entering a strange harbor at night and you're blinded by shore lights and your regular eyes don't work. But once you get accustomed to using it, you will refer to it even in good visibility. Unlike your eyes, it will do range and bearing, which you can directly read from the instrument.

 

[Sea Change]

In this part of the world, there seems to be much more Raymarine kit than other brands. I can save so much on the radome itself that I can turn a blind eye to certain shortcomings.

Thanks for the heads up about the cable cost, worth bearing in mind. In some cases these have been cut at one end- does that make them worthless?

Also, I presume that if I don't like the WiFi functionality of the Axiom, I could add a separate WiFi device that can do more than just screen mirroring.

Or, if I decide to tackle the WiFi bit separately, would it be a terrible idea to look for an E series MFD? I think these are compatible with RD radomes and have physical controls built in. And, obviously, would be quite a lot cheaper on the used market.

 

[PaulRainbow]

In this part of the world, there seems to be much more Raymarine kit than other brands. I can save so much on the radome itself that I can turn a blind eye to certain shortcomings.

Thanks for the heads up about the cable cost, worth bearing in mind. In some cases these have been cut at one end- does that make them worthless?

Also, I presume that if I don't like the WiFi functionality of the Axiom, I could add a separate WiFi device that can do more than just screen mirroring.

Or, if I decide to tackle the WiFi bit separately, would it be a terrible idea to look for an E series MFD? I think these are compatible with RD radomes and have physical controls built in. And, obviously, would be quite a lot cheaper on the used market.

If the cable has been cut (usually has) it's easy enough to splice back together, providing you have both halves, of course.

I would not go back in time to an E series.