Radar Help

[jason norris]

Furuno 1623 2.2 kw Radar
Includes: 6" Display, 2.2kw 15" Radome, 10 Meter signal cable, mounting bracket, power cable, face cover, and manuals.
FU1623 $1,049.00

I don't know anything about radars. Does anybody think this is decent radar for the bay? it say's that it can see 16 miles down to an 1/8 mile. looking for some good advice. You can see this at the gps store.com Thanks

[27 sailfish]

It's fine for the bay.You'll find you use the 1/8-1/4 mile and 1 mile the most.The 16 mile range will only be for really tall things-like the bay bridge.Radar "sees" like we do-the horizin limits what it will pick up.

You're more concerned what is close to you then far away.In fog-we often switch settings to get an idea what is around us-then zoom back in for close up detail.

Furuno makes good units.Not a bad price for this one. Skip

[jason norris]

Thanks skip, I was hoping this woud be a good unit. the price is hard to beat . will a unit like this pick up birds working you think?

[27 sailfish]

It will pick up alot of birds close to you-about the same as binoculars.

It takes a 6KW color unit to spot birds far away-ones tough to see with binoculars.

Pratice with it on clear days-so you can see and learn how boats/ships/tugs/markers/etc look on the screen.

My 4KW dome will pick up single birds close(1/4 mile) and big flocks out about 2 miles.Unless it's a true bee hive (hundreds of Gannets)- that's about it's limit. Skip

[get the net]

boaters world has the 1623 for 999.99, and the severna park location had one in stock.

[N3NFX]

That is the one I have... Use the extended ranges for summer storm checks. Not quite good enough for "bird shows" though.

[TerpHeels]

The NEW Raymarine 4kw dome will find birds at 6 miles mated to a color display. I've seen it myself and wish I had the coin. Like Skip said a 6kw open swinger will sterilize them at 6 no problem... :)

[Reel Draggin Tackle]

I had the 1623 on my last boat. It was a great radar both in the bay and offshore. I had no complaints at all, it never failed. I was also very impressed with the small objects it was able to pick up on a clam day, like crab pots and other small buoys. I purchased it specifically so I could safely run in the dark or fog and get an idea of storm strength and direction... It met all of my requirements.

[StepChild]

As others have said... ya cant go wrong with it. I had the 1715 installed on mine this year. still learnin' , but it does everything I need it to do for the bay & ocean...just can't see the birds. I knew that before I bought....to see the birds, ya need to drop another $2K +/-.

[justkiddin]

I have the 4kw Raymarine open array and I can pull birds in from about 5-7 miles- the dome will not pick them up any further than 2-4 miles