JRC Radar, any views please?

A

AndyPandy

Well-Known Member
Joined
23 Nov 2006
Messages
106
Location
Hartlepool. UK
Visit site
Hi Folks,

we've been offered a JRC Radar, not sure which model exactly, and would welcome any comments either way on usability, build quality etc.

We have Raymarine instruments up to now but would use the radar as a stand alone system, completely separate from our existing kit so I'm not too worried about it being a different make.

Thanks for any info,

Andy
 
I;ve had 2, diffferent boats JRC1000's both have worked well for a small no frills radar. The best bit is the size of the dome.
 
I've been using one for 10 years - not many frills but miles better than no radar.
So far no issues with reliability just turn it on. It can display waypoints from a NMEA source and can take compass & nav data.

Hope that helps,

Andy
 
I have the JRC1800 which is a colour chartplotter/radar. No problems, just swich it on and it works.
I have mine interfaced to Raymarine ST4000 through a Seatalk/NMEA converter, and have the Raymarine Compass inputting to the radar.
I also have the Wind/Log/Depth connected also as a backup display idf the instrument heads fail.
Unit is an 18 inch dome, 4kw which will, in perfect conditions do 24 miles. However, its useful range is 12 miles for most situations.

No ability to display AIS on screen though.
 
Excellent simple basic piece of kit. In real life you dont need and cant really use 24 mile radius - what you need is the radar to work well at 6 miles and down to a hundred metres. The JRC does this - once picked up a bird sized mooring buoy 50 yards ahead!

Its black and white and now outdated so I wouldnt pay a lot for one - I think the JRC 1000 was typically £700 new so a second hand one might be £100 or so. And only that in full working order.
 
Nice simple bit of kit - easy to use and small light radome. Beware the cost of fitting it as any bracket you need may cost a lot more than the radar!
 
as another post says it is better than no radar. I had a JRC 1000 which was just ok. Last season I updated to raymarine e80. It makes the JRC 1000 look bad. I am selling the JRC 1000 if anyone is interested.
 
It does the job is says it does on the box.
It was my first radar and I soon got the hang of it.
Don't be tempted to mount it high to get range, you don't need it. Mounting lower improves small object detection such as stick channel markers.
 
I ve had the 1000 and the 1500 both very good for collision avoidance and navigation. Now have a Ray marine system and frankly its not worth the extra £££s.
 
JRC 1800, 2kw 18 inch dome, excellent colour images and C Map NT plotter is integrated in the display, switchable to full radar, full chart, or 1/2 each.

Shame it's no longer made and worst of all JRC do not sell replacement domes as they have a finite life in transmit hours.

Question that should be asked of reviwers: MTBF

(Mean time between failures)

1000 hours?
 
I think you should check which one you are getting. I understand there's a big quality difference between the 1000 and 1500 due to the dome size. I bought the 1500 a number of years ago rather than the 1000 due to the review reports at the time.
I only use it limitedly (in fog only) but find the 1500 does all that was stated at the time.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top