Gps vs radar
 

Sorry fo my ignorance on the matter but what's the big difference between Gps and radar? Why would I need radar on a 23 openfish? Isn't a gps good enough? Just curious as I am setting up my seacraft

Re: Gps vs radar
 

Ugh, I'm speechless.....

Radar is for locating the clouds, birds and other vessels.
GPS is for where on the earth you are at!

I would stongly suggest either a Power Squadron or
Coast Gaurd class for a litte more boating safety.

See ya, NoBones

Re: Gps vs radar
 

These are 2 seperate things that do seperate tasks. GPS will tell you where you are while a Radar will tell you where other things are. (IE. land masses, buoys, birds, clouds) I will not go offshore without my GPS. If I do, I will not be able to take a very direct route home as easily. I run a GPS with a chart plotter so I can see where I am on a map as I am sure most do. I do not currently run Radar but have plans on adding it. I will use it more for seeing birds while chasing Tuna and other offshore fish than I will for navigation.

Hope that helps...

Re: Gps vs radar
 

Welcome to the forum.

GPS vs. Radar

Two entirely different animals.

GPS- It provides you location (lat/lon) and speed and bearing. Add a plotter function and it provides charts of what is shown on charts/maps along with a lot of navigational detail- channels, buoys, shoals, etc.,etc.

Radar- (the world of what is happening NOW!) At night, in fog, during blissfully clear days it scans the horizon and beyond for all things present at the moment- boats, buoys, rain clouds, shore lines, etc.,etc.
It does not neccessarily give you speed information though some will calculate relavant movements of other targets and determine if and how long until a likely collision unless avoidance maneuvers are taken.

Charts do not show current traffic, radar does. Radar does not show channels, shoals, reefs, etc.,etc., Chart plotters do.

You really need to do your homework and come to understand the value of both and which or both are needed for for your purposes.

Good luck. Check back with us and ask any questions you'd like.

Re: Gps vs radar
 

Hmmmmm....where to start...

Re: Gps vs radar
 

mr loki

wat U been smokin. i gots a questin fer U. look at me boat pic.
do u think i cood mount a rear view miror abov the moter or puts a radar on da hood? thanks fer u avise
ps: U lik my new rod holder
sam

http://momentoffame.com/photopost/da...e-immaboat.jpg

Re: Gps vs radar
 

Mr. Spidey,

Only you can come up with such pictures! Only YOU!



what the hell is that supposed to be, the first draft edition of the original "houseboat"?

Gotta love it!

Re: Gps vs radar
 

That must be a first generation Amphibian.
I think there are still some bugs to be worked out.

Re: Gps vs radar
 

Maybe the question was: do you need a separate radar and GSP? Or can you use a combo unit?

A separate radar and GPS means that if one blows up you still have the other.

Combined can give you overlay (GPS and Radar on same screen), and if your console space is limited, only having one screen is a plus. Also, combined is cheaper.

I will probably go with a combo unit, yankee parsimony and all. Offshore you need the radar to find tankers and other big ships. You should not need a GPS to get home...

Re: Gps vs radar
 

Spidey,Now that's some funny stuff right there.

Grneyedloki,
AS for the radar and GPS difference.everyone explained it pretty well.The first day you get locked into pea soup fog,you'll realize how valuable Radar is.
We got stuck in some nasty fog last year,so thick that visibility was virtually non existent.
I knew there were a lot of freighters lurking out there.That scares the hell out of me.I'm absolutely petrified of the fog

The GPS will tell you where to go,and and if it's a chartplotter it will show the landmass and your location,but it won't show that 800 foot ship bearing down on you.

My next purchase is Radar.

Re: Gps vs radar
 

A basic lesson I learned after more than 30 years of recreational boating is probably worth mentioning at this juncture.

A very good friend of mine and I were sailing his 35 foot boat from Block Island to Noank Connecticut one morning. The fog rolled in and we had about 150 feet visibility, no kidding! We started to use the air horn like many of us carry as part of our emergency gear; the little plastic horn with a can of compressed air.

Well, it quickly became evident that repeated blasts of the horn resulted in significant cooling of the can of compressed air, thus loss of air pressure rendering our "foghorn" virtually useless. We then resorted to using a bell that we had on board.

We were using a GPS System and thus following the ideal track between Block Island and Noank, Connecticut. The problem was so, was everyone else! Just imagine boats coming out of the fog at a distance of about 150 feet closing at the rate of 40 to 50 feet per second. Not a good situation. What we ended up doing was moving off the line about 150 feet and running parallel to the GPS designated course. The rest of the boating traffic was staying close to the GPS line. After about 2 1/2 hours of doing this, our nerves were shot.

The lesson learned was that our horn should be of a type that can continue to be blasted at intervals for an extended period of time. I hope this little bit of information is helpful to those of us who may not be aware of this.

Had we had radar, the entire experience would have been much more pleasant and manageable. I think this points up the critical difference between GPS and radar!
Take care and good luck. Just my 2¢.

Re: Gps vs radar
 

Hey Sam, What's really neat is the guy who built this contraption has another blue van just waiting to be mounted (I need to be careful with that word) on another hull. Man can you imagine how great the classicvanboat.com gatherings are!!!!!! I'm thinking they would put ours to shame!

Re: Gps vs radar
 

there used to be an old Greyhound bus on pontoons here. Had trip small mercs where the diesel used to be and the capt. steered from the drivers seat with the original wheel. Too funny.
Wish I had a 4 kw open for birds. We rarely get fog. I can`t imagine coming into tight cuts in Me. with the soup.

gofastsadman

Re: Gps vs radar
 

Pretty Good there Sam...ROTFLMAO

The birth of a new Hull "SpiderCraft"

I think we all need to help Sam out and redo this piece of work....you know Outriggers, Half Tower, Hood Ornament etc. etc. etc. You guys that are good at Photoshop need to start the ball rolling :eek: :cool:

Re: Gps vs radar
 

When I said I use GPS to get home, I was not saying I need it to get home, but from 40 miles offshore it helps you take a straight line course without any effort plotting or winding up slightly off course so that you end up a few miles from your destination. I agree that no one should rely so heavily on thier GPS as to get lost at sea if it fails, but as a tool for navigation it sure does make life easier.

Re: Gps vs radar
 

Hey just laugh about it and dont feel Ignorant. Youll learn, Pm me with your info if your not to far from boynton and want to travel up to jupiter with me.

I will personally show you all the wrong things to do to get home safe. Get a hand held gps and save some money unless your loaded with cash, I only use radar at night if Im out by myself had to many close calls or if Im fishing in an unknown area and looking for birds. The guys up north in the block island areas hats off to them and how they get in safe without radar in no visibility. I would not even try it in florida with all the unsafe boaters. But I would take alot of that info above and weed out the funny stuff alot of it is true.. Do your research and figure out what you really need vs what you want....
Chris

Re: Gps vs radar
 

Man, I could have used some radar last Sunday. I experienced the worst squall line in my boating career(Unforecasted by the way. Coast Gaurd had a hectic day for sure); total white out and unbelievable wind. I was in a very familiar, relatively protected area less than 2 miles from the ramp. It was so bad I couldn't even see my gps screen clearly. I chose to anchor up and sit there for 3 hours!! Luckily I was only in 4' of water. Radar would have done nothing for me in that circumstance as there was nothing to see. No markers but lots of bars. Sometimes you just gotta sit it out [img]/forum/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

Re: Gps vs radar
 

that boat is awesome!!!!
on a side note, ive been hearing good things about the new gps/chartplotters that have sirius/xm weather capabilities.

Re: Gps vs radar
 

I would consider radar a luxury item on a 23' boat in south florida, while I would say a gps is a necessity. I just got a garmin gpsmap 441s for my 18, which should suit my needs.

Re: Gps vs radar
 

You were very fortunate to be in tight. I hate lightning.
Thanks for the t stat o ring tip. No more drip on the ql77jc4 plugs. Monty Racing gave me a tip to try these and she idles pretty well for a Rude now. I`m thinking of pulling the reeds and changing them as well. They are 16 yrs old now and I don`t want to munch a finger.

Cheers,
GFS

Re: Gps vs radar
 

Yes I was. There were a couple of boats capsized but everyone made it. Coast Guard was on sight of the first distress call in less than 5 minutes. Hell of a job!

It was unbelievable how wrong the forecast was. 10 kts, seas 2-3 with a slight chance of showers!

Anyone have any tips to keeping their electronics' screens readable? I would think rain-x would damage the plastic.

Re: Gps vs radar
 

There is one more benefit of having radar no one has mentioned.
While conducting SAR and Drug Interdiction training with the Civil Air Patrol a couple of years ago, I got to spend a day on a US Navy patrol vessel. Here's what I learned.

Most newer commercial radar systems use a broad spectrum receiver; that is, while they recognize and process their own transmitted signal on bounce/reflection, they are also designed to recognize and plot other radar emitters and their time codes. So if you're emitting x-band or s-band with your little sport radar, it's like having a bright beacon show up on other commercial vessel's radars - they definitely know you're there. It's like hanging a 50 foot diameter radar reflector over your boat.

Please note, however, that most small vessel radar systems do NOT have this capability, nor do any commercial systems over 12 years old. But to most commercial shipping, having radar on your boat turned on at night or in the fog is a "Keep Away" sign.

Re: Gps vs radar
 

Fr. Frank,

That is a very interesting point, and I had never heard of it.

One of the boats we did see on our little "adventure" was a commercial high speed ferry that was running about 15-20+ knots through the fog that morning. He knew where we were and all the other boats, so he felt comfortable, be we and the other boats without radar had the @#%* scared out of us as he appeared and vanished in no time flat. Not a cool feeling!

PS. That winter he had a Raymarine C-80 installed with auto-pilot. We have a lot more confidence now, but we use it as an assist and not as a 'fool-proof" asset. It has exhibited a number of quirky behaviors.

Re: Gps vs radar
 

The one thing that can be a nightmare on the Great Lakes in the fog is the constant stream of freighters and ore carriers.
Some days it seems like they never stop.On the western end of lake Ontario where I keep the boat they're Usually coming from the welland canal and heading east.

Unfortunately,we often fish for Steelhead in the same area the ships are using,anywhere from 5-15 miles offshore.When the fog rolls in thick,as it often does in the summer,I'm always worried about being that statistic.You know,the one that gets run over by a ship.

My buddies are always busting me saying " oooh! lookout John,here comes a big scary ship".
They say don't worry these ships can see us on their radar.Oh yeah!? well, the Exxon Valdeze had sophisticated equipment on board,but they still managed to run aground.
I don't buy the premise that someone on these ships is constantly watching the Radar in thick fog.Humans frequently make fatal errors.

This is one of the smaller ones we have to deal with all the time.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y7/easy2/IMG_1135.jpg

Re: Gps vs radar
 

I've seen some of those ore carriers exiting the St. Clair river into Lake Huron, and they look bigger than a supertanker. They'd run you down and never feel the bump...

Re: Gps vs radar
 

personally I would take a radar and a compass over just a gps any day
so much more you can do and alot safer
once you get a good quality radar, you wonder how you did without one
chartplotter is nice, but not a necessity
radar I feel is a necessity on a boat,
the lower end units by JRC and furuno do a really good job
middle of the road furuno is a great tool to have.

Re: Gps vs radar
 

But how many people know how to plot and follow a course using Dead Reckoning, chart, dividers, pencil and compass anymore? I had to learn it when I was 10, 'cuz my Navy officer grandfather taught me to do so to cross the Stream.

How many of you can?

gss036
 

You should navigate the San Juan and Canadian Gulf islands, then you really need radar with all of our ship traffic for the refineries and Vancouver B.C. traffic. I have 2 GPS units but no radar. I run very slow in the heavy fog, really don't go out in much anymore since I turned into a fair weather fisherman. My old fishing buddy had a Raytheon(?) on his 20 footer and we could navigate through the crab pot buoys. It takes 2 people to use one, one to drive and one to stare at the small screen. :(

Re: Gps vs radar
 

ignorance is no excuse, trust a gps or any machine and it will let you down sooner or later.
used to run and fish 80 miles back in the late 70's and early 80's with a compass and paper machine.
funny story, two years ago, I was running home from an offshore trip in my big boat, wind came up other than forcast so I beat feet. hit the inlet around 1 am. there is a sportfish boat just outside the inlet big boat 60ft +, he is on the radio with the coast guard channel 16
his gps quit working, he had the gaul. to hail the coast guard on 16 and ask them what the compass heading to the hudson canyon was. he had no clue, yet was about to run 80 miles in the dark to reach a fishing destination and did not know the compass heading to take. should be common sense information but he did not know
then last year the state made it mandatory that any boater running in salt water had to take a boater test and class, do you know that on the test there is no reference to a compass, heading, buoy colors nothing, just info about no wakes and jetski's , absolutly nothing about how to read a chart, call for help, plot a course nothing.