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Is radar worth the investment for recreational anglers?


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I've never had radar fitted to any of my boats. As a recreational angler I have only been caught out by fog once and I was able to follow my track back home safely.

Given that I'm only able to get out perhaps 2-3 times per month at best, what do the Outlaws think about the return on investment for radar on a recreational angling boat? It seems a lot of money for something that may not get used much at all. Thoughts?

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Radar is a waste of money until you need it.  An example is, we were fishing on a glorious day some 30 miles from home and 20 miles offshore.  Vis in the morning was brilliant come pm it was not very good at all with an estimated vis of about 10 metres.  Coming home in pea souper without radar is not nice we would have been steaming at 5 or 6 knots taking us 6 hours maybe less if it cleared closer inshore.  Being that far offshore there is very little chance of coming across small craft so radar we were able to cruise at 15+ knots without any worry.  As we got closer in I knew there maybe some dive boats on a particular wreck and being able to see them on the screen and able to give them a wide berth was great.  To be truthful we probably only use it in anger in fog, after dark or when trying to pinch marks (very useful for that lol).

Whether its worth it I would say depends on the type of boating you do, how far you go offshore and how geeky you are but for me its worth it

Hope that helps........a little

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7 minutes ago, Andy135 said:

You know me too well Neil. My inner geek is already writing the cheque but my sceptical side is weighing up the pros and cons.

Pros,

you have new shiny kit, you can travel safer when needed, you get to play with a new toy. 

cons,

you have to write the cheque
 

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If you are serious about going offshore then yes it’s very useful... but only if you use it and know how to use it.

First of all get a good radar reflector. Echo max are the best. There is no point in looking if others can’t see you. 
 

I would consider AIS if you don’t want to go the full Radar route, but not everyone uses it.

It was foggy in the haven yesterday, with AIS and Radar I was happy to run at 18knots in the haven and 20+ once on open coast.

 

Without Radar I’d be 8-10knots. 
 

It’s a tool, but make sure you can use it before you get waste money on a toy...

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It’s also important that as part of the col regs you should use all available means of collision avoidance. 
 

If you have radar you’re expected to know to use it abs have it running.....

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10 minutes ago, Odyssey said:

This is an AIS transponder....

As it happens Luke that brings me onto another question. Is there much point only having an AIS receiver? Surely it must be smarter to have a transponder so we can be seen as well as see?

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11 minutes ago, Andy135 said:

As it happens Luke that brings me onto another question. Is there much point only having an AIS receiver? Surely it must be smarter to have a transponder so we can be seen as well as see?

I opted for ais instead of radar. Purely because I don’t go “offshore” enough to warrant it. Ais was a good compromise in my opinion. Transmit and receive of course. 

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53 minutes ago, Andy135 said:

As it happens Luke that brings me onto another question. Is there much point only having an AIS receiver? Surely it must be smarter to have a transponder so we can be seen as well as see?

Transponder is useful but not everyone has one.

Radar you pick up a lot of boats and obstacles. 
 

id prefer radar but AIS is useful too.... depends on budget and where you fish. I do a lot of miles anf a lot of offshore work too

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1 hour ago, Saintly Fish said:

I opted for ais instead of radar. Purely because I don’t go “offshore” enough to warrant it. Ais was a good compromise in my opinion. Transmit and receive of course. 

In my view that's the wrong choice. 

Inshore a minority of boats have ais offshore the majority of boats/ships have ais (ships by law have ais) so if you're inshore in fog ais is not much help but every boat no matter what size is a target for Radar.  Inshore ais is just a toy as its not a lot of help in the fog, that said I had ais and radar on my old boat and it is a useful plaything

Edited by Maverick
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4 minutes ago, Maverick said:

In my view that's the wrong choice. 

Inshore a minority of boats have ais offshore the majority of boats/ships have ais (ships by law have ais) so if you're inshore in fog ais is not much help but every boat no matter what size is a target for Radar.  Inshore ais is just a toy as its not a lot of help in the fog, that said I had ais and radar on my old boat and it is a useful plaything

If I get caught in fog thick enough to not be able to see 100yards in front then I’d just drop anchor and wait it out. 
rather be late than crash. 

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1 minute ago, JonC said:

I haven’t got a reflector, something I will buy soon. There is the bracket for one of the thin tube type ones on my arch but how would I mount a decent one? I think it would obstruct my radar . 

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Get an echomax mini and mount it just above the outlaws sticker. 

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