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Boat is being rigged with Raymarine E80 and I am trying to decide whether I should cough up a few more thousand for the 4kw Dome Radar.
I will be fishing in Florida inshore as well as offshore up to 30 - 35 miles.
I won't be doing much night fishing and the fog issue is not really an issue.
My main thought for having a Radar is monitoring thunderstorms and possibly birds or boat traffic.
I have never had a radar before so I don't know much about them...
How hard is the Learning Curve?
How well does it detect storm cells?
How well does it detect bird or boat activity?
For the few times a year I may night fish, No fog problems here in South West Florida, And not fishing more than 35miles offshore
will I get my use out of the Radar or should I put the money into something else?
Boat is being rigged with Raymarine E80 and I am trying to decide whether I should cough up a few more thousand for the 4kw Dome Radar.
I will be fishing in Florida inshore as well as offshore up to 30 - 35 miles.
I won't be doing much night fishing and the fog issue is not really an issue.
My main thought for having a Radar is monitoring thunderstorms and possibly birds or boat traffic.
I have never had a radar before so I don't know much about them...
How hard is the Learning Curve?
How well does it detect storm cells?
How well does it detect bird or boat activity?
For the few times a year I may night fish, No fog problems here in South West Florida, And not fishing more than 35miles offshore
will I get my use out of the Radar or should I put the money into something else?
start here - Radar For Mariners by David Birch - EZ read - get it off amazon - for accident avoidance and the like, a 2 or 4 radome will do fine for you.....
as far as i was always told the 4kw is useless unless you can get it high enough like a sailboat mast etc
forgive me if i am wrong but someone will correct me
I went through the same debate about a year ago. I former Raymarine employee called me (we became buddies) and he said that I should save my money and get the 2KW. The difference in target seperation and the ability to pick out targets was not worth nearly double the price.
__________________ . . . . . . BALLYHOO PIN RIGS For SALE HERE 10 pack:
The 2kw will show all the t-storms, boats, ATON's, etc. and save you $1G+. The 4kw will show birds* better than the 2, IMO the 4kw's not worth the premium on a 24' boat.
The Raymarine units are very easy to operate. Spend a few hours with good visability so you can learn what you are seeing. Remember, radar is primarily for collision avoidance, all the other uses are the frosting on the cake.
*Birds and boats are two distinct echos, you'll soon learn the difference. You will see birds with a 2kw, they just need to be closer.
Remember that the height of the radar determines the distance that it can see. Radar does not see over the horizon. So on a small boat with the radar relatively low, the power is not the determining factor in distance. Yes, it will pick out birds better, but not that much better, Both will see storms as they are at a high elevation and not limited by the horizon. For the money I'd stick to the less expensive unit. The C-80 has a great, large screen and will give you a good read out. I second buying the book, Radar for Mariners by Burch. Amazon has it and it's very easy to understand and will give you good start on using radar.
__________________ John O
2007 Maycraft 2300PH w/225 Yammi
4kw gives better weather penetration (fog, rain, etc).. 4 kw will also have better target definition and will be able to see small fiberglass boats within 3 miles, as oppose to 2kw where small fiberglass disappear in 1 - 2mile range (depending on brand). I went with 4kw garmin to be able to see crab traps offshore, since most of our runs are night to early morning...
I've had both 2 and 4kw Raydomes. I run a lot at night because of the distance I have to travel to the fishing grounds. My 2kw dome was just fine for this task and I hardly used the 24 mile setting. It also tracks weather cells easily and with different colors for density. I upgraded to the 4kw because of an experience I had running the Gulf ICW at night. I was forced into a port about 50 miles north of my hailing port because of building seas. It was safer and faster to run to this port and take the ICW back home. With the 2kw, my target separation was not good enough to see the "can" markers from the 2-3 closely spaced waves in some of the open bays along the way. The 4kw solved that problem.
__________________ ---------
36 Luhrs SX CATs
30 Pursuit Offshore CC F225s
22 Blue Wave Extreme Vmax 150
as far as i was always told the 4kw is useless unless you can get it high enough like a sailboat mast etc
forgive me if i am wrong but someone will correct me
your sort of right and sort of wrong . to use the longer range you may need it mounted higher (line of site ) but the extra power of a 4KW can be useful at any hight
I've got the 4kw, and there are times when I turn the gain waaayyyy up, probably well beyond what the 2kw would reach, in order to track distant boats in not-flat seas. The increased power locks in the return. Same for small targets at greater distance.
Would the 2kw be ok? Probably, but I'm happy with the 4kw. Yeah, it was more money, but this hobby isn't exactly cost effective to begin with.
Next boat I may even go to an open array model in the 6+ kw range.
__________________
Terry Jason 35, Yanmar 370 hp, Lots of fun at a leisurely pace
as far as i was always told the 4kw is useless unless you can get it high enough like a sailboat mast etc
forgive me if i am wrong but someone will correct me
Your wrong
__________________ Ignorance is bliss, but stupid HURTS
USCG 1600 ton Master Oceans, Master of Towing, Master of Aux. Sail. Master of Baiting
as far as i was always told the 4kw is useless unless you can get it high enough like a sailboat mast etc
forgive me if i am wrong but someone will correct me
had both, and found both to be extremely limited in capability. you want to see the "basics", shore, larger ships, whatever, you can do that, but I'd for at least the 4K. However, if you want to see birds, small stuff floating on the water and really be able to differentiate targets, at least the 4K. I personally would never use a Radome again, went to the open array and believe me, it makes all the difference in the world.
One other note - 80% of owners never really learn to use the radar, or in particular, tune it for sea and other conditions. Sorta like having Excel on your PC; you use 10% and never touch the rest of the functionality. You could probably get most of what you need on a 4K if properly tuned and you were trained to use it. Otherwise, difference in 2K and up is a waste of time and money. If you want to use the technology for all its worth, go higher, invest the $$, you would be extremely surprised what a powerful radar will do for you if the operator understands it and can use it for what it was designed to do
as far as i was always told the 4kw is useless unless you can get it high enough like a sailboat mast etc
forgive me if i am wrong but someone will correct me
Your wrong
i figured, but i tried
I don't know if you are right or wrong.....it's was just and easy pot shot......enjoy your weekend
__________________ Ignorance is bliss, but stupid HURTS
USCG 1600 ton Master Oceans, Master of Towing, Master of Aux. Sail. Master of Baiting
I have the 4KW Raymarine Raydome hooked up to my E-120. Use it to run offshore in the dark of the early A.M., and for fog mostly. It has been great, but I'm still learning all of its capabilities. That being said, I think you would be fine with a 2KW. If you are really counting on using it to locate bird activity, you'll need an open array. My 4KW picks up birds within a mile, but is not capable of picking up bird activity several miles away.
__________________
LISA MARIE
28 SOUTHPORT W/TWIN F250 YAMAHAS
LIL' LISA MARIE
17 FT WHALER W/90HP F90 YAMAHA
RayMarine 4K Dome Radar -- Pro vs Neg? 
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