Article by Capt. Steve Katz
Modern marine radar
The beginning of this summer’s fishing season was full of heavy morning fog, making a simple early morning outing nerve-wracking for many captains.
Fog, rain, low light and any limited visibility condition is the perfect conditions to use your marine radar. The type of radar you have and your ability to make use of all the functions will determine the clarity of the images and of course your confidence in relying on it for safe navigation.
Uses of Marine Radar:
Collision avoidance is the number one feature of marine radar. An educated radar user can use the displayed radar image to avoid a collision with land, other fixed objects and other vessels at sea.
This use of radar is not just for nighttime use, it can be used anytime and can help locate and identify targets.
Regulatory compliance. The international COLREGS and the USCG Navigation rules (small white book) both require the use of “all available means” –including radar if equipped– to determine if a risk of collision exists.
Radar can be used for passenger safety to help identify threats or uninvited vessels approaching or traveling nearby.
Radar can be used to locate distant storms and help provide the captain with information necessary to safely navigate through or around a storm.
Radar can help measure distances to other objects such as land masses, aids to navigation, other ships, and storms. Radar can also confirm the ship’s location against a chart plotter display.
Ship’s radar can signal a radar beacon (racon). When triggered, a racon transmits information back to the ship’s radar display about the racon feature. Often this information can be used as a navigation aid to identify a landmark or buoy.
Radar can activate SART (Search And Rescue Transponder). SART devices are used to locate a survival craft or distressed vessel by displaying a series of dots on a rescuing ship’s radar display.
Most importantly for anglers, radar can help find birds - We are looking for birds since birds may congregate near the same baitfish that are part of the gamefish diet.
What’s is the best modern radar? That depends on your needs!
Traditional Magnetron Style Radar
The most common type of radar is the magnetron, referred to by the key component inside the radar. A magnetron is the part that generates the microwave pulses (radar energy) that are sent out from the marine radar antenna. The design and technology behind the magnetron radar dates back to the 1940s military use. It wasn’t until the 1980s that radar became affordable for pleasure boats. Available in an open array or enclosed dome, the operation principal is the same. While Magnetron radars may be older technology, they have advanced dramatically since their “inventions in the 1940’s, with many automatic features allowing the captain to concentrate on the other tasks instead of fiddling with the radar controls.
The Latest in Radar Technology
Recently, a new radar design has been made available to pleasure boats. Often called Solid State, Doppler, CHIRP, pulse compression or FMCW radar these new radars do not operate with magnetrons. Each of the major manufactures has their own name for the solid-state technology radar—names include the Furuno NXT, Garmin Fathom, Navico Halo and Navico broadband 3G/4G and Raymarine Quantum. Most manufacturers offer this technology in both open array and dome styles.
The new solid-state radar systems offer some advantages, these include:
From a maintenance and service issue – there is no magnetron to replace and no performance decrease as the radar operational hour’s increase.
Great short-range performance – some of these systems can show fine details such as finger piers inside a busy marina.
The radar is instant on, no warm up time before transmission.
Low RF (radio frequency) emissions, safer for humans in the transmission beam.
Solid state radar systems can indicate whether a target (and often storms) are moving toward or away from your vessel using Doppler interpretation - such as Furuno’s “Target Analyzer” and Garmin’s “MotionScope.”
There are a few drawbacks to modern radars compared to magnetron radar, such as:
Long range performance may not be as good as with a magnetron.
Solid State systems are not as good at finding and tracking birds as magnetron style radar.
No matter the type of radar you have, it is best to learn about the features and functions during clear daytime operation, by doing this you will become familiar and confident with the operation on those days when radar is needed in the dark, rain or fog.
