Radar
Submitted by mightymouse on Sun, 2010-11-14 12:22
Hi Guys,
I have seen a couple of boats at the ramp this year with radars on their hardtops
As I don’t have one and don’t know how they work
What exactly does the radar here in perth do eg..just to pinch peoples spots or for auto/pilot
Anyone here have one and what are they used for .
fishy fingers
Posts: 1719
Date Joined: 28/04/07
Well at a guess
I would say it does the same here in perth as anywhere else in the world! it helps you see other boats etc that you cant see with the naked eye.
carnarvonite
Posts: 8673
Date Joined: 24/07/07
Night
Travelling at night becomes a breeze with radar, you can pick out channel markers, shorelines and most of all other vessels regardless of them having their navigation lights on.It also gives their speed and heading allowing you to make changes to your course to avoid them.
If your GPS dies you have an extra source besides your compass to find you way back to your destination. They can give you a warning of wind and rain squalls approaching and an indication of its intensity.
I know if my boat was bigger and I had the money there would be one fitted for sure.
PilbaraBrad
Posts: 3628
Date Joined: 16/05/07
you forgot to mention that
you forgot to mention that you can also ping other people spots, hehehehe
carnarvonite
Posts: 8673
Date Joined: 24/07/07
Deliberate???
Not sure if I left that out deliberately or not!! Sure it can be and is done by some but i think the benefits outway the bad reputations.
It would be an expensive item to buy if that was the sole purpose for buying one.
PilbaraBrad
Posts: 3628
Date Joined: 16/05/07
i was only joking mate ive
i was only joking mate
ive never had a radar, but i have heard a few stories about that sort of thing going on in the past
Seaquest
Posts: 1132
Date Joined: 22/10/09
Radars are pretty limited on
Radars are pretty limited on small boats specially in swell. If the top of the radar goes below the swell or if the boat rocks too much they can give false readings. Mate has a lowrance on his 6m boat and its a total waste of money. He has also copped a lot of shit for having it.
marble
Posts: 778
Date Joined: 03/09/09
Exactly what I was gunna say
Exactly what I was gunna say . .Weve got furuno 24NM radar on our rig and in any swell it really struggles to pick up other boats. At night in Geographe bay in snapper season it is invaluable in picking up the drongos without a light on though . . Have picked up tuna busting up the surface in perfect conditions and can find birds working baitfish and rain squalls easy enough though it does have to be calm . .
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Seaquest
Posts: 1132
Date Joined: 22/10/09
I know what you mean about
I know what you mean about the idiots in Geo bay that either turn their lights off at night to avoid beening pinged or just don't have any. Just missed a dingy that didn't have any lights last winter. Went very close. Didn't see it till I was just about on top of it. People don't realise what limited vision you have out of hard top. I take it very slow now at night in the Bay. I could see how valuable a radar would be it that situation.
allrounder
Posts: 1853
Date Joined: 10/11/08
I was thinking of getting one
so that i could see the pingers coming before it was to late.
So tell me have you got your info from years on the water or hours on the internet?
Lucky Tim
Posts: 2536
Date Joined: 28/11/07
I can't imagine many rec
I can't imagine many rec boaters who have radar actually have much of an idea on how to use it.
Like the others said, it's good for night time or restricted visibility navigation, as well as close quarters navigation, particularly using parallel indexing. And just because the pack says it's a 16nm or 32nm radar, never expect those sort of ranges from it. If you are getting other trailer boats at 5-6nm you're doing well from a smaller boat.
Oh yeah, they are very good for subtle spot pinging. I don't know why everyone gets so worked up about pingers coming past when they've probably already been pinged by radar before without even seeing the guilty boat. You just have to hope the pinger has no idea on how to fish your spot. There's no secrets out there anymore.
allrounder
Posts: 1853
Date Joined: 10/11/08
The way i look at it is
if he is good enough to ping me by radar he is good enough to find his own ground.
The ones i hate are the blatant drive up do a lap then ping and set a drift behind you over the ground you are fishing.I have been known to drive many nm out of my way just to shake these guys of.I once drove up past two rocks out in the 40s until one of them gave up and went out a bit deeper.I then drove in to the back of the three mile and drove all the way back down to go west of mindarie.Now that is pinging dedication to follow all that way to ping some ground is crazy.
I am in the process of seting a pinger trap should make for some fun on a good day.
So tell me have you got your info from years on the water or hours on the internet?
Lucky Tim
Posts: 2536
Date Joined: 28/11/07
ha ha, look forward to
ha ha, look forward to seeing the trap in action.
Paul G
Posts: 5215
Date Joined: 12/12/07
We had the best gear on the
We had the best gear on the cray boats before gps ,and It use to take hours to find one lump.we could pic up ships ,but small boats no way unless they were close.
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carnarvonite
Posts: 8673
Date Joined: 24/07/07
Latest generation
The latest generation stuff is brilliant compared to the older models. Can be hooked up to a pc for course track, both yours and any other vessel in range giving their exact co ords.
Paul when you are back down in Two Rocks take a peek at the one up in the sea rescue building, it show how far they have come
marble
Posts: 778
Date Joined: 03/09/09
It would definately help
It would definately help having the antenna array on a fixed non rocking land based building.. Even the best unit on a smallish boat in big swell is going to struggle to be much use for spot pinging. We copped flack when ours went on but like it was said earlier, fish are easy enough to find with a good sounder and some common sense without having to ping someones `spot`even if your radar can get an echo from the other boat in the first place . .
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