Radar advice

[bigdogg1]

I am looking for some advice/website/source of information on radar domes and needs. I realize that there is much more than I know about this part of the game. I have a Lowrance HDS Gen 3 that I want to connect to a dome for radar. 90% of my fishing is inside but I want to be safe on the 10% of the times when it is needed. I had thought that the Lowrance 3G would suffice but I simply do not know what I do not know so am looking for a place to start. I have been on the Lowrance pages but was looking for a Radar for Dummies place to start. As always, your suggestions are appreciated.

 

[macro]

3G, 4G, HD? I know right? Does more money equal better, or just better range? I'd love to see some screenshots from members here to get an idea of what to expect. I think the LRA-1800 can interface with the HDS as well, but not totallys sure..

 

[bigbruce]

I had the same issues - only my base unit was Garmin. I picked up a Garmin 18HD dome - pretty basic - and it works just fine. Saved my bacon a couple of times this past season when the fog rolled in off Malcolm Island and during our annual Barkley Sound trip in August - when we were "inside". The Lowrance 3G would do you just fine.

 

[fishin solo]

 

[fishin solo]

That’s a Furuno. Don’t know why it posted sideways and don’t know how to fix it

 

[casper5280]

Power Squadron had a Advanced Radar course that I took years ago that was very helpful still have the course books somewhere around. I've had a JRC, Furuno, and now a Lowrance Gen1. All are good realistically in a sport boat 5-10 mile range even that may be stretching it. Have to remember the higher up it is the better it works, even then on a narrow beam the side to side motion doesn't help. I usually set up a guard when anchored or under way at 5-8 miles. Best advice I could give is fool around with it as much as possible then the weather is nice.

 

[bigdogg1]

I had the same issues - only my base unit was Garmin. I picked up a Garmin 18HD dome - pretty basic - and it works just fine. Saved my bacon a couple of times this past season when the fog rolled in off Malcolm Island and during our annual Barkley Sound trip in August - when we were "inside". The Lowrance 3G would do you just fine.

Thanks BB! Hopefully I get us much use out of the new-to-me Striper that you do.

 

[bigbruce]

Thanks BB! Hopefully I get us much use out of the new-to-me Striper that you do.

I should add that it really helps to have a second chart plotter, even a tablet (iPad/android) so you can have both the radar and your chart running full screen. I have an older Garmin 720 for charts and a new Garmin 742xs running the radar.

 

[bigdogg1]

I should add that it really helps to have a second chart plotter, even a tablet (iPad/android) so you can have both the radar and your chart running full screen. I have an older Garmin 720 for charts and a new Garmin 742xs running the radar.

Again, one of the reasons I negotiated the deal for this boat is that aside from the surveys that turned out great, it came w/ 2 Lowrance Gen 3 units...now I just have to redo the console as they are presently taking up a great deal of viewing space...+ I need to create a better cable management system...and figure out how they work together...etc. Could be a good winter project!

 

[casper5280]

If your doing that look in to getting over lay for your radar

 

[Rayvon]

x2 on the overlay.

 

[bpsuls]

X3 on overlay. Get the 3G. i was in your spot a couple years ago. I have a Lowrance Gen 3 and a Gen 1 at the rear helm. they both can talk to the 3G great. it is a great radar, low power consumption, wont fry your brain and it is absolutely amazing what i can see in the water (it will spot my A3 scotsman 300 hundred feet away when i pull up my anchor). I'm sure the 4G is even better but its unecessary and wont keep you from crashing into things that the 3G couldnt see. Plus its an extra 1000+$, which you should put towards a Point 1 antenna to get the overlay!

 

[bigdogg1]

This is why I find this forum so useful! Collective wisdom for sure. Here is a picture of the 2 antennae on top of the roof (pic is not mine, just from an image search). I have pored through the Lowrance website for support but could not tell if these facilitated the overlay? Yes/No?

 

[macro]

X3 on overlay. Get the 3G. i was in your spot a couple years ago. I have a Lowrance Gen 3 and a Gen 1 at the rear helm. they both can talk to the 3G great. it is a great radar, low power consumption, wont fry your brain and it is absolutely amazing what i can see in the water (it will spot my A3 scotsman 300 hundred feet away when i pull up my anchor). I'm sure the 4G is even better but its unecessary and wont keep you from crashing into things that the 3G couldnt see. Plus its an extra 1000+$, which you should put towards a Point 1 antenna to get the overlay!

Can you take some screenshots next time you are out on the water? Also - thanks for contributing to the thread!

 

[casper5280]

All you need for over lay is a heading sensor or if Lowrance there new antenna and your good to go

 

[bigdogg1]

All you need for over lay is a heading sensor or if Lowrance there new antenna and your good to go

Thanks!

 

[bpsuls]

This is why I find this forum so useful! Collective wisdom for sure. Here is a picture of the 2 antennae on top of the roof (pic is not mine, just from an image search). I have pored through the Lowrance website for support but could not tell if these facilitated the overlay? Yes/No?

There are two types of antennas that Lowrance makes that look very similar, the Point-1 and the LGC series. The LGC is only a GPS antenna, the point 1 has the built in compass with the gps, the built in compass is actually what you are after. It is the one that figures out where your radar is pointing in relation to your true bearing since your radar has no clue where north is.

I believe that an easy way to differentiate them is that the Point 1 has a arrow marker on the top, i dont think the LGC does. The arrow must be pointed towards the front of the boat, that is very important for the overlay to function properly.

When you get the radar, if you have a NMEA 183 connection to a DSC radio into your plotter, you may run into a overlay problem that i had in the spring when i bought mine. you have to deactivate certain types of messages from the NMEA 0183 (the ones that have to do with compass bearing) otherwise it will mess up the signal from the NMEA2K antenna and cause a fault. It took me a month to figure it out even Lowrance couldn't solve it. Ended up going through two antennas thinking they were faulty, it was a simple adjustment on the Gen3 and bang, everything worked. Trial and error!

 

[bigdogg1]

Thanks bpsuls. I think I read about your issues when I first started trying to make sense of this whole radar game. I really appreciate the heads up. This is my first boat in awhile that is without radar so I have never had to install it from scratch - quite the learning curve!

 

[Paul Sadler]

I often operate my boat on the west coast of Vancouver Island and occasionally run into fog. I have a Lowrance 3G radar and Point-1 Heading sensor feeding two Gen 3 chart plotters (cabin and cockpit steering stations) and after playing around with the configuration software, work very well. My DSC VHF radio is connected to the network via NMEA0183. I've not encountered issues, perhaps because my radio isn't outputting to the network. I find the radar overlay feature on the chart plotter greatly simplifies the interpretation of what is on the water around you. I can't see the need for more range than what the 3G radar offers. My only complaint is that I have had several problems with Lowrance cable connectors over the years, and occasionally I need to wiggle the connections to revive the radar input.

 

[bigdogg1]

Thanks everyone - looks like I am going with the 3G and a Point-1. They appear to fit my needs perfectly. I appreciate everyone's time and input!