Suggestions and Advice Regarding Radar Purchase

[Evergreen]

Hello:

We have a Cape Dory 36 (Evergreen). Our current Raymarine radar unit may be nearing the end of its life.

So we are looking for suggestions, advice, and warnings that will assist us in choosing a new radar unit. Personal insights based on your own experiences would also be greatly appreciated. We are particularly interested in brand recommendations.

Initially we are going to consider all possibilities!! But on the other hand, we are leaning towards an independent unit - not one that shares a display with a chartplotter.

We have noted that many of the small commercial boats (lobster boats and draggers) seem to often use Furuno. Is it because these units are more durable and reliable?

Anyway, please send along any insights that you may have on Radar units.

Thanks so much,

[Joe CD MS 300]

I'd actually recommend a unit that can overlay the radar on a chart. IMHO there is nothing better for confirming your actual position. It's like being able to see through the fog, which being in Maine is nice. Get the redundancy from a hand held or portable chartplotter. This is my 5th or 6th season with a Garmin GPSMAP 3006 networked withe radar. Not a problem at all. Turn it on and it works. Their support has always been great. I've had about 6-7 Garmin units over the years. All worked well. Keeping to one brand makes it easy to keep all my waypoints and routes consistent between units.
Joe

[Maine Sail]

Phil,

Your boat looks great BTW. As for radar there is not a "bad" brand out there and it really comes down to personal preference. They all have their "issues" and short comings but none really stand out above another as more reliable at this point in time, not even the new Furuno stuff. Moset of the domes are made by JRC anyway so it really comes down to the user interface (GUI)...

I have used the new broadband domes and was less than impressed with the distance/ rage performance. There is some energy savings but less than you'd think or they lead you to believe. I really don't need 75 feet of radar performance but I do like to have the 6-12 mile range.. The units have some great features but I opted not to go that route last summer and chose an HD dome instead.

Personally I will never go back to a stand alone radar for cruising Maine and the Maritimes. I just did this last winter, and last summer (hit by lightning), and went Garmin. Could have chosen any brand I wanted but the Garmin stuff has, for me, the easiest GUI for a HUMAN to use. If you're a computer techie then Furuno, Raymarine and others are also great.

If you can still find a new old stock or factory refurbished 3200 series Garmin (3205, 3206 or 3210) you can get into an HD radar & plotter for well under 2k..

Keep in mind that the new Garmin 740 does NOT do radar overlay and ALL the new plotters use a MAGNET in the plotter door.... A very, very, very dumb move on Garmin's part.....

I have all but stopped installing Garmin's, unless I can find a 3200 series, due to the "magnet" issue.

Of the big three, Garmin, Furuno & Raymarine they are all decent products but it will ultimately be your comfort level with the GUI that likely makes the decision...

The one thing I like about Raymarine is that their repair facility is in Merrimack, NH and their turn around is FAST! The thing I don't like is their products seem to be ever so slightly less reliable, especially the Autopilots...

[MFC]

Hi Guys -

I went with Garmin. While I can't comment much on how it functions, I am extremely happy with their customer service / technical support. They are accessable, knowledgable and friendly.

MS identified some issues with the Garmin plotters. I have found that the magnet on my 4208 doesn't interfere with the compass so long as it is about 10" away. I can work with that. The 3205 is still available (cheap) but the 3206 and 3210 don't appear to be available for less that $1200-1400 (no bargain compared to the 4000 series). With sales and rebates 4208 plus the HD18 was @$2200. Not a minor expenditure at all in my budget but WAY less than much of the competition. The Garmin stuff interfaces so smoothly too -- its great.

Luck,
Matt

[J Stevenson]

We installed a new radar last year.

I used panbo.com as my primary source of testing and review information - and continue to find it very helpful.

We bought the Lowrance HDS-8 and BD24 and like them very much.

If you do go to panbo.com, search on Lowrance and note the release of the "3G" radar which is replacing the BD24.