The Best Marine Radar For Your Boat for 2021 and 2022

Question:  What is the best radar for my boat?  - Dale E.

 

Answer:  Radars are the greatest collision avoidance system made for recreational or commercial boaters. We know that there are so many options available that it can be confusing to understand which radar you need to provide safe navigation.

That's what we're here for. 

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Marine radars allow you to navigate through darkness, fog and choppy weather conditions. Today, radars are compact units that draw minimal electricity and fit boats as small as 18' in length. Radar can be a real life saver when paired with the best electronics package. Consider the following questions when browsing for a radar:

1. What are you using your radar for and how often you will use it? 

If you are new to Radar and will be casually using radar, not leaving the dock before dawn or staying overnight, the basic radar system is perfect for you. If you are a fair weather boater and get yourself caught in fog or unknown storms, then the entry level radar syatem will help you navigate through or find your way home in the dark. If you are the type of boater than is often out at night and don't mind going out in sticky weather situation you will want more features and capabilities from your radar system including doppler, bird mode, Chirp etc. 

 

 

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2. Are your electronics compatible with Radar? 

Compatibility is a key question when upgrading your chartplotter if you're also considering adding radar. Most multifunction displays can operate a radar system however there are combos, specifically for inland fishing, that cannot. A few models that do not support radar include Garmin echoMAP, Lowrance Elite TI, Raymarine Dragonfly, and Simrad Cruise.

 

 

 

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3. How far do you need to see?

Installing your radar using a lift mount increases the maximum range for seeing surface targets, but also limits what you can see around your boat. If your primary use is looking for groups of vessels or birds, you will wants a lot of range. If your main use in adding radar is to see close in pilings or rocks in fog you will want better short range performance. Radar range can vary from 36nm to Alot of people ask, "Why do I need a radar with a range of 48nm?", the reason for the longer range is to see weather in the approaching distance.

 

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4. Open Array vs. Dome Radar

 

Unlike display resolution, which measures the pixels in an LCD display, radar resolution is the ability to display radar targets which are close together. There are two contributing factors to understand radar resolution, bearing and range. Bearing resolution is the radar's ability to separate targets at the same range, close together, measured by the horizontal beamwidth. The wider the array, the narrower the horizontal beamwidth, the better the resolution. The horizontal beamwidth ranges from .75 to 5 degrees and the vertical beamwidth from 20-25 degrees. An open array has a much wider antenna than a dome which will make it always have a better radar image than a dome, no matter what technology it is. 

 

The second factor, range, measures the pulse length of the radar. A short pulse length gives better resolution than a long pulse length. You want to use short pulse length on short ranges and a longer pulse length for longer range detection.

 

 

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5. Traditional Radar with Magnatron vs Solid State vs Doppler 

 

Traditional Marine Radar uses a magnetron vacuum tube to generate and transmit short high power pulses. A solid state radar can't generate high power pulses so it makes the pulse longer to ratain comparable energy per pulse. This introduces pulse compression which deliveres a chirp-like pulse to the radar receiver, creating a short, strong echo on the screen. This leads you to doppler technology. Doppler technology measures the shift on returning echoes. These radars will tell you whether a target is approaching you (in red) or moving away from you (in green). An example of use would be picking out a boat under a fixed bridge, normally you cannot see a boat masked by a fixed object, with Doppler technology, you can.