Radar...can you read it or not??

[Lyndon670]

Best advice (as Rick said) is to go out in daylight and work the dials until you are painting targets that you can see with your eyes. Once you get that set, you will be pretty bang on - unless you get into heavy seas and start painting waves. Its just finessing beyond that.

[bud37]

Thanks Lyndon.....I have tried that, really I have, but just don't think have had enough time with it yet..so you are saying to run it on manual as opposed to leaving it on auto??....hopefully when the 10' of snow melts ( snowing again) we can boat , Yahoo........

[Viper]

The 1622 has a pretty good manual. Reading a radar signature in general is an art and takes practice to become familiar with. The best advice I can give is to go out with your manual in hand, start at the beginning of the manual and go through each item, trying to simulate that particular topic/condition so you can see what it actually looks like on the screen in real life, and how to deal with it so that you get the best information from the screen as possible. For example, to become familiar with the sea clutter suppression, you'll need to get out there on a choppy day so you can see what sea clutter actually looks like on the screen, what the screen looks like when you suppress it, and the real targets you may lose as a result. You may want to know what rain looks like off in the distance, a fog rolling in, how to tell if a target is simply an echo, or if strange lines on your screen is a problem with your radar or radar interference from another ship using the same frequency (if you don't know any better here, you'd think there was something wrong with your unit). You should practice taking bearings and setting up guard zones/alarms. The best way is to experience it in real life, and have the manual there so you can adjust accordingly.

Remember that some of the adjustments simply increase or decrease sensitivity but sometimes that comes at the expense; too sensitive and some items will not be discernible from others, not sensitive enough may result in missed targets. It's a learning curve for sure but once you learn how to read what's on the screen, basic theory, and features common to all brands, you'll be able to ready just about any recreational radar signature. When you go boating, turn it on and keep it on while underway, and look at it as surrounding and conditions change. Practice, practice, practice.

[SanJuanDreamer]

If the question is in regards to using the radar, I reading "The Radar Book Effective Navigation and Collision Avoidance".
explains how to use EBL, VRM and how to use the device. Great features to know.

[bud37]

Thanks guys. SJD , I will check out that book,written by a Canuck as well..... just what I am looking for to supplement the manual.......

[bud37]

SJD....Well I got , "The Radar Book " and a great read so far, has already cleared up some things, thanks again for the suggestion.......

[hardchines]

One more opinion, I have the same unit (1621) , I have been using marine radar for more years then I can remember (I have CRS), typically you are using radar because you can not see, fog/dark , looking 16 miles out on a 7 inch screen is usually a waste, you use it to avoid hitting or being hit by what is NOT on your GPS chart , charts tell you what should be there, radar tells you what is there! Most of the time I keep my radar at 1 mile or less, in most situations the area around your boat is important, what is happening 2- 5 miles away is usually meaningless, and it makes it very difficult to see close to your boat. As others say practice during the day, remember coast / inlets never look like a chart when viewed on radar, keep you gain and clutter turned down so you see smaller sharp dots not giant splotches, steel buoys will be impossible not to see, but even a small dingy will paint fine when on a low scale, 1/2 mile 1/4 mile etc. Last year in very dense fog on the Hudson River south of Albany NY I was north bound for over a hour glued to my radar screen, out of no ware a 300 foot cruise ship came out of the fog almost abreast of me south bound, I could not see his hull just saw his super structure towering above the fog. My radar made him look like part of the west shore of the river, plenty of room between us but a change in shorts was still required! radar is a tool, with experience using it, can be a great tool.