New radar Halo or halo+?

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GHA

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Time to splash out on a new radar, the aging raymarine sl72 has done a fine job but getting on a bit now. So as it's a solo cruising boat - after many a mile and year 99% of the time all the radar has done is keep a watch and sound an alarm if a ship or squall comes within the 5Nm guard zone when the skipper is having a snooze. New one will be into opencpn running in a raspberry pi4, plenty fast enough computer to cope.
Halo seems to fit the bill very well. Unless there are others worth looking at?
Questions >>

  • Any point paying the extra for the halo+ ?? Doesn't seem to be much more than I'm interested in, dual display just won't get used, not sure of any other benefits that would actually be worth the extra cash.
  • Halo into opencpn > Any comments from anyone who has actually used that setup in the real world? Seems really useful in the emulator and gets good reviews from others but any real experience would be interesting. Need a fast compass and loud alarm but that's easy enough to sort out. Looks like just plug rj45 into the Pi and off you go.
  • Are simrad/lowrance/b&g all exactly the same unit just with a different sticker?
SVB | Online shop for yacht and boat equipment

And will need a dedicated display at some point, too important for solo offshore not to be able to run standalone - don't suppose they do just a radar display anymore - need to be a plotter? Any recommendations for a cheap one? Will never be used. But it might.... :)

TIA
 
Yes they are the same.

The standard halo isn't as good as the 4G dome in my opinion.

If your using the radar plugin on open cpn the + version doppler future isn't going to work at the moment so i guess there's not much point! But if your planning on a MFD as well then go for it.
 
Apart from changing the colour of the target on a mfd what does the Doppler function actually do?
And beam sharpening - worth the extra anyone who's used it?
 
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The Vulcan is a reasonable display and they occasionally do cashback offers. I just bought mine and it ended up costing £500 for the 9" version which was exceptionally cheap.

I'll be swapping out my radar soon for B&G too, I think for your use-case the halo 20 seems fine. The 20+ and 24 seem to just add range and resolution. I'll be using either 20+ or 24, probably 20+ but I've not been to the boat to see what's on there now (old Raymarine). I also have the v60B radio so radar will be complimenting the AIS in my case and probably usually off to save power!
 
I'm fitting the Halo 20 PLUS this spring, for similar reasons to the OP (but undoubtedly less ambitious passages initially).

I'm attracted to the PLUS version because I'm thinking the dual range could be useful to pick up pot markers very close whilst still looking afar. It also has the longer range; which I guess may only be useful really for more warning of a squall. The difference in cost didn't seem huge
 
Ok, so didn't know the 4G had been retired. that's a shame.

Doppler changes the colour.... that's it! I guess its a nice to have and might give a less experienced operator a bit of an easier time.

If you can wait until May we are trialling a Halo+ on the new vessel we are acquiring at work!
 
Hmm, tricky, €450 isn't a huge amount, but still enough for a few weeks hidden away in an anchorage somewhere... doesn't seem to be benefits enough to justify going for the plus, after the ancient sl72 anything will be space age on opencpn :) But ......
 
GHA said:
Hmm, tricky, €450 isn't a huge amount, but still enough for a few weeks hidden away in an anchorage somewhere... doesn't seem to be benefits enough to justify going for the plus, after the ancient sl72 anything will be space age on opencpn :) But ......
Click to expand...

Seems the radar plug in guys recommendation is the standard Halo having read their bumpf

Exciting some of raymarines radars are now supported in beta testing
 
Bitcoin leapt up yet again overnight so halo plus it is :cool: better click the buy button quick in case it dips :)
Looks like everything needed is in there, cable to Rj45 and adapter from Rj45 for when I get round to getting a MFD.
Any recommendations for a cheap MFD just as a backup radar display?
 
GHA said:
Bitcoin leapt up yet again overnight so halo plus it is :cool: better click the buy button quick in case it dips :)
Looks like everything needed is in there, cable to Rj45 and adapter from Rj45 for when I get round to getting a MFD.
Any recommendations for a cheap MFD just as a backup radar display?
Click to expand...

Just thinking about the need for a MFD.

If the radar fails;
Then the MFD will only help if it has some "service" software (EG updating the radar firmware) that OpenCPN does not. Currently that means a matching mainstream MFD.

If the MFD fails.
Then why not back it up with a second OpenCPN installation? Could be a simple as another Rpi in a foil bag, set-up and ready to plug in.

I currently have a Raymarine Quantum radar and two, networked Raymarine MFDs. Helm and nav station.
I plan to replace both MFDs with two separate OpenCPN installations.
OpenCPN doesn't yet support the Quantum radar although it may by the time I'm next able to get to the boat. So my next contribution to OpenCPN might be the Quantum support (but don't hold your breath).
 
JohnGC said:
If the MFD fails.
Then why not back it up with a second OpenCPN installation? Could be a simple as another Rpi in a foil bag, set-up and ready to plug in.
Click to expand...
Have to disagree there.. Having spent a few days mid ocean solo imho, in sailing long distance you can't control the future too much; you can't predict the future too much. Best you can do is try to push the odds in your favour as much as practically possible. And overthinking will bite you on the bum big time, bite the bullet instead and be done with it. Which means for something as vital as radar with an alarm splashing out on a MFD, 2 things connected to each other. No monitor, amplifier for alarms, ,gps etc to go wrong. Much as it pains to splash out on something which will almost certainly never get turned on. .. almost but not certainly.. :)
 
GHA said:
Have to disagree there.. Having spent a few days mid ocean solo imho, in sailing long distance you can't control the future too much; you can't predict the future too much. Best you can do is try to push the odds in your favour as much as practically possible. And overthinking will bite you on the bum big time, bite the bullet instead and be done with it. Which means for something as vital as radar with an alarm splashing out on a MFD, 2 things connected to each other. No monitor, amplifier for alarms, ,gps etc to go wrong. Much as it pains to splash out on something which will almost certainly never get turned on. .. almost but not certainly.. :)
Click to expand...

Sound's like you don't trust your Pi either! Do you have a MFD backup to that as well? Or do you consider your radar is your primary tool rather than the plotter?
 
JohnGC said:
Sound's like you don't trust your Pi either! Do you have a MFD backup to that as well? Or do you consider your radar is your primary tool rather than the plotter?
Click to expand...
I trust the Pi massively, it's been rock solid for years. But read the post, things can go wrong,it's all about pushing the odds in your favour. And the radar exists 99.9% to sound an alarm if there is anything around mid ocean while the skipper snoozes. Everything else is handy but really not that important. Position on a chart more than once a day or so really doesn't matter. done offshore passages before just on ais and really hated it. Dodgy enough solo long distance without doing everything you can to push the odds in the right direction.
 
GHA said:
I trust the Pi massively, it's been rock solid for years. But read the post, things can go wrong,it's all about pushing the odds in your favour. And the radar exists 99.9% to sound an alarm if there is anything around mid ocean while the skipper snoozes. Everything else is handy but really not that important. Position on a chart more than once a day or so really doesn't matter. done offshore passages before just on ais and really hated it. Dodgy enough solo long distance without doing everything you can to push the odds in the right direction.
Click to expand...

I was confused by your post (because I know how much you like Pis) but you have made it clear in your follow up. I now understand your reasoning. However, having read a few reports of MFDs suddenly failing to talk to the radar and needing a manufacture's fix, I'm not totally convinced by the argument. But then if the MFD was a fault you'd still have OpenCPN, so I suppose it depends on the failure mode.

Regarding radar MARPA alarms, the OpenCPN guys recon theirs are better than the MFDs. I have no experience of that either way.

Interesting.
 
GHA said:
It's not really an argument, it's just pushing the probabilities a bit in the right direction, Pi backup is simple and will be available as well, it's not a black and white thing , like the universe, it's grey :)
Click to expand...

Of course it's an argument; I paid for the full half hour.:ROFLMAO:
 
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