Radar

[lemon]

Howzit Guys!

Who out there has a radar? We tested one today and dont seem to pickup want we wanted! We wanted to see ski boats from a distance like 5km, but it seems to pick up alot of waves etc and the things we can see with our own eyes! So is a radar good for fishing?

 

Lemon

 

 

[Tuna Guy]

Hey Lemon,

We use radar constantly in CPT for hunting trawlers and longliners... With a great deal of success... Often we dont pick up small skiboats inshore... I would imagine that possibly the vessels that you are wanting to see are too low on the water and therefore are not registering as targets... They probably fall too low in the swells, as well as the fact that your radar is also fairly low on the water...

Having fished a lot off the Natal North coast in my younger years, my opinion would be that radars on smaller ski boats along your coast would not be beneficial...

Regards

byron

 

 

[lemon]

Thanks Byron,

The radar is on the t top so about 2.5m high, if thats the case then it wont be worth buying as we want it to find other boats on the fads and at night!

lemon

 

 

[Tuna Guy]

What range radar are you looking at buying??? If you decide to buy, then i would recommend a 16 mile unit.... I find Furuno is a very good choice for radar...

 

[lemon]

the unit we tested is a Lowrance broadband!

 

[Dorado75]

Radars tend not to pick up ski boats as they are made of glassfibre and a bit low on the water!

 

[Timothy Scriven]

I have seen before on one of the ESPN programs in the USA that the chaps set their radars to pick up birds diving so that the skipper can then chase the action.

Was extremely interesting to watch..

Like all electronics, I think if set up correctly could be worth the investment.

 

[Dorado75]

Timothy Scriven wrote:

I have seen before on one of the ESPN programs in the USA that the chaps set their radars to pick up birds diving so that the skipper can then chase the action.

Was extremely interesting to watch..

Like all electronics, I think if set up correctly could be worth the investment.

this radar you are speaking about here is a S band radar and very different to what most boats have on!

 

[fedu]

Dorado75 wrote:

Timothy Scriven wrote:

I have seen before on one of the ESPN programs in the USA that the chaps set their radars to pick up birds diving so that the skipper can then chase the action.

Was extremely interesting to watch..

Like all electronics, I think if set up correctly could be worth the investment.

this radar you are speaking about here is a S band radar and very different to what most boats have on!

Well usually 10Kw open array radars (pretty expensive)

 

[Fanie]

Hello Lemon,

Depends on the app what you would want it for. If it's long range then the radar is the thing to get. If it's short range ~7km then broadband is your thing. Aparently broadband can pick something as small as a beer can in the water up at close range.

You can follow some discussion on these here -

http://www.boatdesign.net/forums/open-discussion/loose-containers-sea-scary-30090.html

http://www.boatdesign.net/forums/onboard-electronics-controls/broadband-radar-living-up-expectations-33918.html?highlight=broadband

Keep in mind broadband is still new, it should become better and hopefully cheaper to buy. Maybe get it from abroad, local is probably going to be double the price again.

I do plan to have a broadband on my boat, you can set an alarm to warn you of items in the water, approaching vessels (ie at night) and the pirate wanting to own your stuff.

 

[benniejordaan]

lemon wrote:

Thanks Byron,

The radar is on the t top so about 2.5m high, if thats the case then it wont be worth buying as we want it to find other boats on the fads and at night!

lemon

 

Now why would you want to do that?

 

[lurker69]

Problem is that most Skiboats do not have their radar reflectors permanently attached ... If they have them at all ...

 

[bernssurf]

benniejordaan wrote:

lemon wrote:

Thanks Byron,

The radar is on the t top so about 2.5m high, if thats the case then it wont be worth buying as we want it to find other boats on the fads and at night!

lemon

 

Now why would you want to do that?

Bennie I think lemon is a pirate.lol

 

[Fanie]

Better call on the radio first, some don't cotton too well to being stormed by surprise. Shoot first ask later. Too many pirates around.

 

[fedu]

I think "our pirate" will like reading the attached article about bird location with radar.

 

[Fanie]

It's a known way to find fish.

You can of course set it so it won't 'see' the birds.

 

[Cpt. Hook]

Cliff, I think you need to play around with the settings of that broadband before you make a decision. Get the Lowrance boys to assist, they are very helpfull.

 

[Fishton]

Just reading up on all this Radar stuff makes me realize that it can be just as 'tricky' as sonar.