Jet Boat with Radar?

[Charles]

Has anybody installed Radar on their Jetboat? Thinking of adding it to my 242... Garmin 18" Dome.

 

[Bruce]

I assume you would install at the towers tow point?

Would you use it to detect possible collisions or for storm avoidance?

I am concerned that the 4KW of radio wave transmission could be dangerous for occupants of your boat. The bow area likely has the greatest risk but anyone standing up in the boat will be exposed if the unit is on. Radar is more harmful to our eyes than other parts of our bodies and our heads are our most likely to be exposed part while standing up.

Here are relevant posts from other forums

Radar Safety and Microwave Exposure - SailNet Community

Radar - Is There Radiation Danger? - Cruiser Log World Cruising ...
Radar Beam Exposure [Archive] - The Hull Truth - Boating ...

 

[Charles]

Collision Avoidance, as I appear to love Night boating! Hmmm....I see your point about 4Kw. Didn't know about 3G/4G though, which appears to be the safer route. Thanks for the links.

 

[Bruce]

The manual states

It is highly recommended that the device is mounted out of range of personnel, with the horizontal beam width above head height.

IEC 60936-1, clause 3-27.1, states maximum distances from the antenna at which radio frequency (RF) levels can be expected:

◦ 18 xHD

• 100 W/m squared = 91 cm (36 in.)
• 10 W/m squared = 289 cm (114 in.)

I believe that 10 W/m squared is considered to be the maximum level for safe exposure. With that level at 9.5 feet it would make most of your boat technically unsafe.

 

[Bruce]

The Lowrance 3G radar has 165mW output power. That is about 1/3rd of the output of a handheld cellphone

 

[Charles]

Going with 3G means replacing the Garmin with a Simrad/lowrance. Sucks, the Garmin is only 2 weeks old. Need to do some thinking....this might just push the custom dash to the top of the list.

 

[Bruce]

Going with 3G means replacing the Garmin with a Simrad/lowrance. Sucks, the Garmin is only 2 weeks old. Need to do some thinking....this might just push the custom dash to the top of the list.

That does suck, but not as bad as cooking your family

 

[Murf'n'surf]

I run several boats up to 75' and swore by radar until we got a nice pair of ITT night vision goggles! You can run 70 mph in pitch black and see like its high noon, you can't do this with radar. You might want to look into night vision. A nice pair will run you around 2k or less.

 

[Gym]

The good thing about the 4kw unit is you can cook your hot dogs really fast and the kids will really like cookin their smores.

 

[SGMPhil]

I installed a Lowrance 4G radar on my AR240 - works great and won't cook the kids or fry your brain. Lowrance claims that these broadband radar units emit less energy than a cell phone. So far I am very pleased with the performance.

 

[DieselCamel]

I installed a Lowrance 4G radar on my AR240 - works great and won't cook the kids or fry your brain. Lowrance claims that these broadband radar units emit less energy than a cell phone. So far I am very pleased with the performance.

Any pictures of how it's mounted?

 

[SGMPhil]

I will take some pictures and post later. It is a home brew, but does look okay and did not cost much - a few pieces and parts from the hardware store. I have had it in rough water and it has held tight so far. I now need to mod the Bimini though, going to try to get that done soon.

 

[DieselCamel]

Awesome thanks look forward to seeing them. Really would like to mount radar on my tower just haven't seen anyway to make work..

 

[DBamaC]

In one of the One Tree Island party pics there is a 24' Yamaha with a radar dome. From the Facebook group...

 

[subysti]

I've wanted to do this also but I haven't figured out the mounting issue. The dome needs to go up top but the Bimini also goes over the top so I put it on hold. I guess you would have to modify the Bimini with a larger zippered opening but then it would still be a pain to get the whole front mounting bar over the radar.

 

[Glen]

Had Garmin radar and chartplotter on my last boat. Loved it!
Great for navigation confirmation, weather detection and collision avoidance.
All necessary for off shore and 24 hour passages-

Were I in your current circumstance, I would look seriously at adding FLIR (Forward Looking Infra Red). Believe it gives you most of what you need for safe night movement, for our Yamahas-

http://www.flir.com/uploadedFiles/C...-Integration-with-Garmin-Application-Note.pdf

Could do this for under $250 with a smart phone as well.
http://www.amazon.com/FLIR-ONE-Ther...=UTF8&qid=1463155875&sr=8-1&keywords=flir+one

 

[SGMPhil]

Here are a couple of pics...

Lowrance 4G Radar Mount (homebrew)

• SGMPhil
• May 13, 2016

Lowrance 4G Radar

• SGMPhil
• May 13, 2016

 

[DieselCamel]

Thanks for sharing..

 

[wahoowah]

Had Garmin radar and chartplotter on my last boat. Loved it!
Great for navigation confirmation, weather detection and collision avoidance.
All necessary for off shore and 24 hour passages-

Were I in your current circumstance, I would look seriously at adding FLIR (Forward Looking Infra Red). Believe it gives you most of what you need for safe night movement, for our Yamahas-

http://www.flir.com/uploadedFiles/C...-Integration-with-Garmin-Application-Note.pdf

Could do this for under $250 with a smart phone as well.
Amazon.com: FLIR ONE Thermal Imager for iOS: Camera & Photo

Old post I know, but do you or anyone else reading have any experience with the FLIR One or similar smartphone units? Looking for an inexpensive backup for early morning hours, not primary navigation. I've seen pictures of the units picking up animals in the woods, but can they pick up a bouey or boat on the water? I move a lot for work and so don't know how long I'll have my current boat and don't want to spring for an entire FLIR marine setup.

 

[Glen]

Old post I know, but do you or anyone else reading have any experience with the FLIR One or similar smartphone units? Looking for an inexpensive backup for early morning hours, not primary navigation. I've seen pictures of the units picking up animals in the woods, but can they pick up a bouey or boat on the water? I move a lot for work and so don't know how long I'll have my current boat and don't want to spring for an entire FLIR marine setup.

sorry, none here-