Broadband radar

[Kevin Kaldenbach]

Has anyone installed broadband radar? If so how do you like it?

[sharkbait]

Kevin

I looked into the system about a year ago. The system looks great but there appears to be one problem that they have not resolved yet.

Because of the broadband concept the receiver portion of the radar has to be open to receive signals for an extended period of time. So, if you are in an area where there are numerous radar units you will get a lot of strobing which can blanket useful information. If you are considering acquiring one you might ask if they have solved this problem. I personally don't see how they can. Get them to set up two or three units and show you that the do not interfere with each other.

[David L]

Strobing? Is this on/off pixels on the display? Please describe.

Thanks,
David

[sharkbait]

Strobing is a beam of white appearing on your monitor. It is the result of a high energy signal hitting your antenna while the receiver is open. It results in your inability to collect any valuable data in that sector. This is exactly the same thing that happens when someone intentionally jams your receiver so you cannot see them. Look up radar jamming and you should find some good pictures of strobing.



This can occur in a small sector or cover the entire screen. What this tends to indicate is that a very strong transmitter is transmitting somewhere in the SSE sector of this unit. If I had access to the controls I might be able to reduce some of the interference.

[David L]

Thanks for taking the time to explain and post the photo.

I know that the broadband transceiver is open and sweeping across a band of frequencies full time. I don't know how wide the band is. The magic seems to be in the digital signal processing.

I was at the local dealer last week and will run this by him tomorrow for his comment.

Thanks, again.
David

[Kevin Kaldenbach]

Finding any real life experiences with broadband radar is turning out to be a ghost hunt. I waited for the Corpus Christi boat show hoping there would be some expert advice on the subject there and when I asked electronic vendors about it they handed me brochures on HD radar. I am talking about people who sold Navico products.

I want to buy broadbsand radar but I want to know its real life limits. Ok its great close in but they say nothing about how far it is good for. I hear that picking up weather it is not as good. Is it not as good or does it not do it at all?

[sharkbait]

Thanks David. I eagerly await some answers. Being from San Antonio it is really difficult to get any decent information or hands on at all. I know Kevin is having the same problems down there in Corpus Christi. Relying upon my numerous years of experience in Electronic Counter-measures for my comments I see no way they can preclude strobing. Digital processing can eliminate some of the problems and it won't be to bad until more and more units come on line. Kevin, I can see where the extremely low power would preclude any really good long range returns. Without any direct experience with these units its only a guess, but I doubt it has substantial long range weather capabilities. Clouds are soft targets and do not provide the quality of returns compared to hard targets like ships.

I found this article that might help explain the differences.

http://www.navigate-us.com/files/upload ... ar-1-1.pdf

[David L]

Today I talked with a local fire department that installed broadband radar themselves about six months ago on their fire boat, used on Galveston Bay.

They admit to limited knowledge of radar and said that broadband radar was attractive b/c it didn't need expert tweaking. Basically, it is self-tuning, self-adjusting.

As for the display, it has been crystal clear with no apparent interference from the large radar installations on commercial ships in the Houston Ship Channel or from nearby airports or military installations.

It is used for close-range targets, so there was no attempt to see stormy weather or to track it.

The fire department has had no need to interact with the manufacturer. The seller was less than enthusiastic about the manufacturer's support, citing long lead times for any warranty work or replacements.

So ... the product appears to be sound but factory customer support, if required, rather slow.

I'm still not sure if I want to drop $3000 to be a guinea pig. I can't help but wonder why there are not more installations.

Hope this helps.

Regards,
David

[Markst95]

Here's an article from sail magazine on their website.

http://sailmagazine.com/boatworks/elect ... index.html

[David L]

Here's another article:

http://www.navigate-us.com/files/upload ... ar-1-1.pdf

Although this article seems "fair and balanced" its author does work with RayMarine. (See bio at end of article.)

[MFC]

I'm still not sure if I want to drop $3000 to be a guinea pig. I can't help but wonder why there are not more installations.

Hope this helps.

Regards,
David

Hi David -

What brand(s) are you looking at?

The Lowrance unit seems to be pretty reasonable (maybe 1500-1700 if you shop). I like the idea of being able to track two ranges simultaniously. Also, Lowrance's 7" chartplotter looks pretty attractive (the Garmin and RM MFDs have gotten so darn big I don't think I'd want them at the helm).

Best,
Matt

[David L]

Matt:

There are only three brands: Lowrance, Simrad, and Northstar. All are owned by Navico. Of the three, Lowrance is the least expensive. I was told that the electronics of all three is identical, only the name label is different.

The HDS-7m chartplotter comes with updatable, detailed, proprietary charts built in and *also* works with Navionics. The "m" in the part number says, "no fish finder". The landscape orientation of the display makes the split screen view look like two separate chartplotters. Great for one view with radar-on-charts and one for either pure radar or pure charts.

I agree with you about sizing. On a Cape Dory any display over 7" rather overwhelms the cockpit.

After all this research, I am feeling pretty good about taking the plunge.

Regards,
David

[MFC]

Kevin -

I just noted from another recent post that you went ahead with the broadband radar. When you get a chance, would you fill us in on your experience with it thus far? Is it as good at near targets as heralded? How about weather and longer distances? How was the installation? Thanks!

Matt

[Kevin Kaldenbach]

This is my first radar and I installed it just before the Harvest Moon Regatta in October and have not used it since. Before that I have only used radar briefly when helping deliver boats. Installation to the Lowrance HDS 7 was easy. I look forward to seeing just how good or bad it is. My HDS 7 is mounted in the companionway on a ram mount and I reproduced the lower wash board with a piece of Lexan that has a hatch to get to it.

[MFC]

Matt:

There are only three brands: Lowrance, Simrad, and Northstar. All are owned by Navico. Of the three, Lowrance is the least expensive. I was told that the electronics of all three is identical, only the name label is different.

The HDS-7m chartplotter comes with updatable, detailed, proprietary charts built in and *also* works with Navionics. The "m" in the part number says, "no fish finder". The landscape orientation of the display makes the split screen view look like two separate chartplotters. Great for one view with radar-on-charts and one for either pure radar or pure charts.

I agree with you about sizing. On a Cape Dory any display over 7" rather overwhelms the cockpit.

After all this research, I am feeling pretty good about taking the plunge.

Regards,
David

Hi David -

Just thought I'd mention that Lowrance is now running a $500 rebate offer on the BR24 and a $100 rebate on the HDS-7 units ($150 on HDS-8's). Good until middle of next month I believe. Just to muddy the picture, I understand Garmin has a $200 rebate on its large plotters (4XXX and 5XXX series) beginning 3/1.

Meanwhile, if anyone wants to chime in on the broadband aspect of this thread, I'd be happy to hear of any additional experience CD'ers have had with it.

Thanks.
Matt