Radar

[BruceB]

I ordered the Furuno 1623 as it was
a. small
b. self contained
c. cheap!
I haven't got it yet but cost delivered was £729 when it arrives.

[BruceB]

So it turns out the comparison between radar and FLIR is like someone coming and saying my little £850 MG is rubbish cos someone once gave them a shot of a Ferrari that they couldn't afford in a million years and it looks rubbish and goes really slow compared to it?
Would that be a fair comparison? :-)

and I do have the £850 MG, not just making it up........

[codprawn]

Originally Posted by Cookee

So your recommendation wasn't based on any personal knowledge of the type of unit you were recommending then? And you wonder why people have a go at you?

With the constant improvements in technology and the constant plummet in prices of modern electronics I think it's a fair assumption to make - backed up by video footage of them in use!!!

I hated Vista long before I had used it by listening to other people's comments. Now I have a brand new laptop with it installed I haven't changed my mind.

I also don't have to drive an old Trabant to know that it's crap!!!

[Chris]

Originally Posted by codprawn

With the constant improvements in technology and the constant plummet in prices of modern electronics I think it's a fair assumption to make - backed up by video footage of them in use!!!

I hated Vista long before I had used it by listening to other people's comments. Now I have a brand new laptop with it installed I haven't changed my mind.

I also don't have to drive an old Trabant to know that it's crap!!!

why can't you just admit you are wrong on this one Codders. most of what you have typed above makes no sense at all let alone goes anyway to justifying your advice to look at FLIR instead of RADAR.

[codprawn]

Originally Posted by Chris

why can't you just admit you are wrong on this one Codders. most of what you have typed above makes no sense at all let alone goes anyway to justifying your advice to look at FLIR instead of RADAR.

When I get my hands on a reasonably priced FLIR I will comment further.........

[BruceB]

Originally Posted by codprawn

With the constant improvements in technology and the constant plummet in prices of modern electronics I think it's a fair assumption to make - backed up by video footage of them in use!!!

I think it will be a long time before a £50k unit comes down enough to compare to a proven technology at £700.

Originally Posted by codprawn

I hated Vista long before I had used it by listening to other people's comments. Now I have a brand new laptop with it installed I haven't changed my mind.

No idea what this has to do with the original question?

Originally Posted by codprawn

I also don't have to drive an old Trabant to know that it's crap!!!

A Trabant is only crap compared to a modern car, it actually does what is was intended for well and I actually know someone who has one, do you? Any old car is poor compared to a modern one but it doesn't mean it was crap to start with or didn't fulfill its design criteria well at the time.

A lot of folk do seem to have a go at you, now I know why.............

[BruceB]

It has arrived and also the seperate NMEA cable to link it to my plotter. The first comment from my wife wasn't that it was expensive or necessary/unnecessary or anything else sensible.
It was that the radome looks silly in white and it was too silly looking to put on the boat as it would spoil the look, women!

[jwalker]

Out in the boat yesterday and took a few snaps just for interest sake.

I've got a pic of the view ahead and also a pic of the radar screen. The slightly misty conditions help identificaton.

What do you think you are seeing in this pic. There's no catch.

Radar screen to follow.

[Poly]

Jeff, I'll play along!

Looks to me like a collection of islands (at two different ranges) in the central third of the picture (there is a lighthouse or other building on top of the left most island). To the right of the picture there are headlands or islands but I can't resolve any detail.

Just to the left of the large island there may be a small boat? (or a big one far off?) or maybe its a large bouy? or a rock? or small island? or a dirty mark on your lens! But i only spotted that after staring at the image for a few minutes.

So what are we missing...?

[jwalker]

Originally Posted by Polwart

Jeff, I'll play along!...

So what are we missing...?

Nothing. It's not a trick question. No marks awarded, no critisism. Since we were discussing the usefulness of radar, I though it might be interesting to see whether folks eyeballs alone are as good as eyeballs + radar.

Don't be shy. No judgement.

[Poly]

Can anyone estimate how far away the land ahead is just from the picture? I have never been able to estimate distance (at sea or on land).

Obviously GPS/chartplotter helps with interpretation too.

[Poly]

Originally Posted by jwalker

Radar screen to follow.

...I am waiting with baited breath...

[jwalker]

Originally Posted by Polwart

...I am waiting with baited breath...

So am I but nobody but you had the courage to give it a go.

Pic to follow. It's a bit blurry cos the exposure is handheld and over 1 sec in a moving boat!

The immediate danger is that rock ½ mile ahead off the bow. By eye it could easily be mistaken for an extension of the headland. On the present course we're going to pass within a few metres of it so need to check on the chart for reefs.

The object you spied to the left of the island is a boat but it's not on the screen and therefore more that 3 miles away so not a concern. It's actually a large boat many miles away in the main channel.

.