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What would you recommend for a good radar unit to be used on a 24 ft pilothouse boat. Used mainly in the Chesapeake Bay as a fishig boat. How much is a good unit and what brands, models to consider.
A 4kw is nice and will give a sharp picture, but the extra power is wated with the low antenna height. a 2kw 18" radome would suffice.
Just stay away from the entry level units and any radoms smaller than 18" and you will be happy. To compare one unit against the next look at the "Beamwidth" as expresed in degrees. the smaller the beam, the clearer the picture.
I do have 4kw 24" radomes on my boats, but I really want the narrow beamwidth, and am wiling t pay extra for it
If you can stand it, a 4' mast will greatly extend your radar horizon. Even higher would be better, to take advantage of the range of a 4kw unit and show you both shores mid-bay. Look for a 2" ss pole mount with brace struts. Garhour (sp?) makes a nice one.
__________________ If it ain't broke, I haven't played with it.
If you can stand it, a 4' mast will greatly extend your radar horizon. Even higher would be better, to take advantage of the range of a 4kw unit and show you both shores mid-bay. Look for a 2" ss pole mount with brace struts. Garhour (sp?) makes a nice one.
Raising the radar 4' will extend his radar horizon by less than 1 nm. Probably not worth the effort and expense of adding a 4' mast.
A 4kw is nice and will give a sharp picture, but the extra power is wated with the low antenna height. a 2kw 18" radome would suffice.
Just stay away from the entry level units and any radoms smaller than 18" and you will be happy. To compare one unit against the next look at the "Beamwidth" as expresed in degrees. the smaller the beam, the clearer the picture.
I do have 4kw 24" radomes on my boats, but I really want the narrow beamwidth, and am wiling t pay extra for it
A 4KW radome does not have a very narrow beamwidth - it you want a narrow beamwidth you would need to get an open array. The advantage of the narrow beamwidth is better target separation.
A 4KW radome does not have a very narrow beamwidth - it you want a narrow beamwidth you would need to get an open array. The advantage of the narrow beamwidth is better target separation.
Ed
Well narrow is of course relative, a 24" radome will offer a narrower beam than an 18" unit. An open array will of course be narrower.
Radar Question 
