Jet Boat with Radar?

[Murf'n'surf]

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.

I have pretty extensive experience with Flir fixed thermal and marine mounted thermals but not the handheld ones.

In fact, I am learning their new augmented reality thermal overlay this week. It overlays markers, navigation data on the camera image or thermal image. Pretty cool stuff.

 

[Murf'n'surf]

It is a Raymarine system but we have a Flir in the systems well.

LightHouse 3.7 | Raymarine - A Brand by FLIR

www.raymarine.com

 

[Julian]

It is interesting to read about these Radar safe operating distances



At what I assume is the higher power level setting 10W/m2, a Garmin radar would be unusable in MANY of the sorts of boats I've seen these things installed on! On all these center consoles you see them all the time:


No way the captain's head is 7.19 feet from this radar! So is this just CYA from the manufacturer, or are lots of people getting cooked out there?

 

[Murf'n'surf]

It is interesting to read about these Radar safe operating distances

View attachment 117309

At what I assume is the higher power level setting 10W/m2, a Garmin radar would be unusable in MANY of the sorts of boats I've seen these things installed on! On all these center consoles you see them all the time:
View attachment 117310

No way the captain's head is 7.19 feet from this radar! So is this just CYA from the manufacturer, or are lots of people getting cooked out there?

View attachment 117312

Yes! I get so annoyed with people who turn these units on and run around all day in perfectly clear weather. Its just crazy but they like that screen with the radar image to be active!

 

[anmut]

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.

Heat sensing a non heat producing object such as a buoy in the water probably won't be that great. You'd be better off with a cheap NVG maybe?

 

[Murf'n'surf]

We have a pair of night vision binocs similar to the ones in the link for running at night. They are absolutely amazing. When you look up at the sky, you see millions of stars that you never knew were there.

TNV/DTNVG Dual Tube Night Vision Goggle – Tactical Night Vision Company

Lightweight Binocular NVG ***ALL TNV NIGHT VISION SYSTEMS ARE SEMI-CUSTOM UNITS BUILT TO ORDER--CURRENT LEAD TIME ON TNV/DTNVGS IS APPROXIMATELY 20-24 WEEKS*** Recommended Accessories: Wilcox L4 G24 Mount - BUY HERE

tnvc.com

 

[wahoowah]

Heat sensing a non heat producing object such as a buoy in the water probably won't be that great. You'd be better off with a cheap NVG maybe?

I actually have a lot of experience with IR and night vision for other applications. Metal and water will put off different temperatures and be distinguishable from each other, dependent on the sensitivity of the sensor and the resolution of the screen. I just don't know the details of the particular sensor from the original post. With any product, there's what the company says and what the widget actual does when in actual use!

 

[wahoowah]

It is a Raymarine system but we have a Flir in the systems well.

LightHouse 3.7 | Raymarine - A Brand by FLIR

www.raymarine.com

Cool, thanks for the info! I found an app called boat beacon from a UK company that uses the flir one for a similar purpose as well. Unfortunately, it looks like only the iPhone version of the app integrates IR at this time, so us Android folks are out of luck for now.

 

[gthh]

@wahoowah look into the seek ir camera it's compact, works with iOS or android (order one or the other)

I used it once when coming in late.

works well and cost under $300 I've had mine over 3 years without a problem.

I don’t have photos of that night but here are some I took outside at a building with a large smoke stack.

 

[marcham]

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

Nope, not yet, but I have come close! Figured I'd give it 1 summer and then see how much time we spend in fresh vs salt water.

 

[tdonoughue]

It is interesting to read about these Radar safe operating distances

I believe those are horizontal distances. Vertical distances should be ~2 feet. The radar waves are not being directed up/down, but out to the sides.

 

[Nexus]

How about something like this? It's not available yet but looks promising.

 

[Julian]

How about something like this? It's not available yet but looks promising.

Looks cool.

I would love radar, but for seeing storms blowing up as well as other vessels. You can get weather via satellite, but the fees arent cheap.

 

[Nexus]

Looks cool.

I would love radar, but for seeing storms blowing up as well as other vessels. You can get weather via satellite, but the fees arent cheap.

I guess I was thinking more for @wahoowah 's situation: Mostly as a backup to get you out/in before/after dawn/dusk.

 

[wahoowah]

I guess I was thinking more for @wahoowah 's situation: Mostly as a backup to get you out/in before/after dawn/dusk.

Yeah, that does look pretty cool and not too expensive either. Nice that'll it'll connect with wifi too, less cables to run. When it actuality comes out of course.

 

[Nexus]

Yeah, that does look pretty cool and not too expensive either. Nice that'll it'll connect with wifi too, less cables to run. When it actuality comes out of course.

I actually first saw them at the Chicago Motorcycle Show last winter ('19). They had working demos, so I can't imagine it's too far off. I was kind of luke-warm to install it on my bike (I can't remember exactly why but I think it was because it used wifi and that would interfere with my use of my phone as a waze GPS, unless I mounted a second screen), but I'm starting to warm up on the idea of using it for the boat. Especially since I plan on using a tablet with Navionics as a poor man's fishfinder this summer. Since the maps are pre-loaded, no need for connectivity.

If you're seriously thinking about it, you might want to consider pre-ordering. Sounds like you'll save about $200 on the final price.

*Note: I just noticed on the site that they were supposed to start shipping in April 2020, so it's certainly not far from being ready to go. COVID-19 likely slowed things up.

 

[wahoowah]

I actually first saw them at the Chicago Motorcycle Show last winter ('19). They had working demos, so I can't imagine it's too far off. I was kind of luke-warm to install it on my bike (I can't remember exactly why but I think it was because it used wifi and that would interfere with my use of my phone as a waze GPS, unless I mounted a second screen), but I'm starting to warm up on the idea of using it for the boat. Especially since I plan on using a tablet with Navionics as a poor man's fishfinder this summer. Since the maps are pre-loaded, no need for connectivity.

If you're seriously thinking about it, you might want to consider pre-ordering. Sounds like you'll save about $200 on the final price.

*Note: I just noticed on the site that they were supposed to start shipping in April 2020, so it's certainly not far from being ready to go. COVID-19 likely slowed things up.

Yeah, for a $1 deposit with no commitment, the $200 off ain't bad.