JohnR.....and others,
Here's the web site that featured the Watchman. Looks interesting.
http://www.cruisinghome.com/Pages/Watchman.htm
Pat
patrick.t@home.com
C.A.R.D. instead of Radar?
Moderator: Jim Walsh
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matt cawthorne
Radar at close range.
Pat,
Until I finish upgrading my electrical pannel there is no permanent power supply to the radar. I have to patch it in temporarily when needed. I have not been using it much as a result. What I can tell you is this. I hooked it up and turned it on in a small creek when visibility was good. When a small fiberglass runabout came by I was not only able to see it on the radar, but I could also see his wake. He came relatively close and I could always see him, which way he was going and get a sense of his speed. The hatteras would have been a no-brainer. If I can see a boat moving fast in the fog, I would have taken evasive maneuvers long before we got close. In addition I could have sounded 5 blasts of my horn if we were close and on a collision course. He might have heard that over his engines. In addition I could have called him on the radio and identified him by location and speed and might have gotten through. None of that would have been possible with the CARD.
Don't get me wrong. If I could not have someone on watch while offshore I would have a CARD unit in addition to radar.
Matt
mcawthor@bellatlantic.net
Until I finish upgrading my electrical pannel there is no permanent power supply to the radar. I have to patch it in temporarily when needed. I have not been using it much as a result. What I can tell you is this. I hooked it up and turned it on in a small creek when visibility was good. When a small fiberglass runabout came by I was not only able to see it on the radar, but I could also see his wake. He came relatively close and I could always see him, which way he was going and get a sense of his speed. The hatteras would have been a no-brainer. If I can see a boat moving fast in the fog, I would have taken evasive maneuvers long before we got close. In addition I could have sounded 5 blasts of my horn if we were close and on a collision course. He might have heard that over his engines. In addition I could have called him on the radio and identified him by location and speed and might have gotten through. None of that would have been possible with the CARD.
Don't get me wrong. If I could not have someone on watch while offshore I would have a CARD unit in addition to radar.
Matt
mcawthor@bellatlantic.net
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Larry M
Re: Radar at close range.
Matt,
What type of radar unit do you have? I have a Rayetheon and it will not see a sailboat anchored 100 feet away at times.
Larry
lmace@gt.com
What type of radar unit do you have? I have a Rayetheon and it will not see a sailboat anchored 100 feet away at times.
Larry
matt cawthorne wrote: Pat,
Until I finish upgrading my electrical pannel there is no permanent power supply to the radar. I have to patch it in temporarily when needed. I have not been using it much as a result. What I can tell you is this. I hooked it up and turned it on in a small creek when visibility was good. When a small fiberglass runabout came by I was not only able to see it on the radar, but I could also see his wake. He came relatively close and I could always see him, which way he was going and get a sense of his speed. The hatteras would have been a no-brainer. If I can see a boat moving fast in the fog, I would have taken evasive maneuvers long before we got close. In addition I could have sounded 5 blasts of my horn if we were close and on a collision course. He might have heard that over his engines. In addition I could have called him on the radio and identified him by location and speed and might have gotten through. None of that would have been possible with the CARD.
Don't get me wrong. If I could not have someone on watch while offshore I would have a CARD unit in addition to radar.
Matt
lmace@gt.com
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matt cawthorne
Re: Radar at close range.
Larry,
I have a JRC 1500 unit mounted just below the spreaders. It has the same 18 inch antenna as the Raytheon radar. Look at them closely. The are absolutely identical with the exception of the name painted on the side. The boat mentioned was more than 100 feet away at closest approach. In addition, I do not particularly care if I can not see something less than 100 feet away on radar. At that range in visibility conditions that were less than 100 feet one should be moving so slow that if he hit something it would do no damage.... with ones hand on the air horn. If the other person is moving fast it is too late to make a decision and respond when they are less than 100 feet away. In general the decsions should have been made when the person is much farther away.
Matt
mcawthor@bellatlantic.net
I have a JRC 1500 unit mounted just below the spreaders. It has the same 18 inch antenna as the Raytheon radar. Look at them closely. The are absolutely identical with the exception of the name painted on the side. The boat mentioned was more than 100 feet away at closest approach. In addition, I do not particularly care if I can not see something less than 100 feet away on radar. At that range in visibility conditions that were less than 100 feet one should be moving so slow that if he hit something it would do no damage.... with ones hand on the air horn. If the other person is moving fast it is too late to make a decision and respond when they are less than 100 feet away. In general the decsions should have been made when the person is much farther away.
Matt
mcawthor@bellatlantic.net
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Larry DeMers
Re: C.A.R.D. instead of Radar?
The frequencies used for shoreside traffic radar are quite a bit different than the long-wave radar used by ships at sea, with their range set at 25 miles or more. The detector will not give you a response unless it is actually seeing the right frequncies for which it was designed to receive. Most radar detectors (car type) have extensive circuitry to minimize detection of side frequencies, (multipath) and any but the intended frequency.
There is no substitute for radar visibiliity in fog and at night. Marry the GPS/chartplotter together with the radar as I did over the past three weeks of sailing..what a tool!
Larry DeMers
s/v DeLaMer
Cape Dory 30 Lake Superior
demers@sgi.com
There is no substitute for radar visibiliity in fog and at night. Marry the GPS/chartplotter together with the radar as I did over the past three weeks of sailing..what a tool!
Larry DeMers
s/v DeLaMer
Cape Dory 30 Lake Superior
Brian W. wrote: It's no substitute for actual radar, but when cruising, I usually bring my car's radar detector with me and plug it in if there's thick fog. It's not a perfect system, but I figure if it goes off far from land, extra care should be taken on watch. I suppose pointing it in a slow 360 and checking the signal strenght LED's would help determine the direction of the radar.
Defender sells a C.A.R.D unit for $449. Unlike the improvised setup above, it has a small (and simple) display that shows the direction of the radar in 45 degree incriments. But it may well be that this system is no better than a good quality car radar detector, which can be had for far less. not sure.
Regards,
Brian
CD33
demers@sgi.com