wandafishing

Not really familiar with the product any one have this on their boat and can tell me a little about it.

ClockedOut

It works great..

wandafishing

What does a standard one go for?

Ethan

No, I have one and rarely use it.
Most of my traveling is at night too.

Only good while crawling.

ClockedOut

They have several different models. They have a hand held that is roughly 2.000.00. They also have several versions that mount on your boat. Ranging from 4-10k. I have a boat mounted version and I use it mostly for navigating in the Intercoastal waterway in the pre-dawn hours.

Boat Hound

Don't have one, but boat at night a bit...seems like a cool to have, but for the price they can keep it. 8-10k buys a lot of fuel. Now if money is no object, why not.

capecuddy

I would think a 4G radar would do more for you at a modest dark night speed for < 2K.

wandafishing

Do all brands have the 4 g option ? Looking at simrad electronics right now

Justin_NJ

Flir prices are from handheld for $2,000 to $35,000 *no typo here, 35K* for Flir's M series 618CS camera which has active stabalization. Watch the video below, it's pretty awsome and can be a great addition to a radar for night time use while the boat is underway at speeds.

http://www.flir.com/cvs/Americas/en/...cktheboat.html


With that said, i'd buy a radar first and then a camera. Radar is useful at night and in foul or foggy weather! I am not sure if the cameras have the ability to see through the fog, at least I haven't seen that advertized yet.

capecuddy

I wouldn't expect FLIR's to work real well in fog since fog really absorbs infrared light pretty well and that's what they work on.

BeachTyme

It's worth it if you have the $$$ to spend.

Birdman

Will be soon, when they are below $2k!!!

Justin_NJ

See Cannon - 1999.00 - just $1 shy of your $2k requirement!!!

http://nitetoday.com/seecannon.html

Birdman

That's not a FLIR.

wandafishing

Im looking in to the 4g radar now.

MYTraveler

I have one (the Navigator II, as I recall -- the least expensive fixed-mount PTZ model). I really like it -- no disappointment at all. It is not a substitute for radar, but it does things radar can't begin to do (like let you see plain as day the channel in front of you, or really show a MOB). I don't regret the purchase, but its a small percentage of the total cost of the electronics I put on my boat at commissioning. If my budget had been much smaller, it would not have been included. It's hard to understand why its so expensive, but at least when I looked into it, there was nothing comparable. Sort of like the Furuno scanning sonar I put on the boat. There were much less expensive alternatives, but none are comparable.

It is always on when running at night (as are ARPA radar and AIS chart plotter) and it gets watched more than either of those, and more than naked viewing.

Justin_NJ

I know - but I had to put it out there for you and maybe for those looking at a low end unit.

thataway

The hand held first Mate FLIR is $2,000--and I believe the least expensive of the true infra red cameras. It uses the micrblog sensor that some of the more expensive units use. It does not have video out, or an SD card slot (you will pay at least $1,000 more for these features. I have one. It works quite well. I think better in most cases than a Gen 2 night scope (which will work better than the ultra low light cameras--but they are getting close). The disadvantage of the hand held FLIR is that you cannot use it thru any normal glass. The glass blocks the IR. Yes fog does block the IR--but it depends on the density of the fog, and you can see better with the IR than with a camera or raw vision in many cases. So far I have not used it much, but there are some places--such as on the ICW where you loose night vision due to the two powerful searchlights on tugs, or in pitch black areas, and you are looking for buoys and unlit channel markers (which might show up on 4G radar, but don't on my Furuno) where it gives an excellent picture and situational awareness. I agree--generally I would buy a 4G radar first, depending on circumstances. The hand held would be better if you are navigating narrow waterways with no light for example.

SaltyG

I have the FLIR Navigator II PTZ. Works fine and is a nice safety feature, when going under about 15 MPH. It is NOT useful at speeds over 15 MPH and will give you a false sense of security. It just doesn't have the range and wide enough angle of view, to allow you to run faster than that, see something and re-act to it. It is great and very helpful, but get radar first, and then be careful on how to use it and dont get over confident when traveling at fast speeds.

fishbone24

flir is useless in the fog, its like looking a a black screen, but great otherwise - its actually pretty cool when on the edgeat night and putting around it will light up birds on the surface like little chrismas lights!