- Joined
- Mar 8, 2004
- RO Number
- 12942
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If I have my own radar do I still have to subscribed to a service?
thanks
art
thanks
art
radar
- Thread starter greenstreak
- Start date
Radar a toy? No, no no. Sea Doo’s RXP, the 2-seater with the 215 HP supercharged 4-stroke 3 cylinder engine capable of 70 MPH is a toy. Radar is a valuable safety tool that aids in navigation in circumstances of poor or limited visibility. If they miss a sailboat, then they're not properly tuned. WHen used correctly a radar scanner can detect boats, PWC's, wake, bouys, rainclouds and land masses.
GPS receivers and plotters aren’t toys either – they too are valuable safety tools that aid in navigation.
One doesn’t “navigate” with a compass and chart: that’s called dead-reckoning with paper. In order to truly navigate without technology, a host of other tools are required. When I was growing up, my Dad kept a kit that looked like a 7th-grade geometry teacher’s nightmare at his disposal at all times. Most boaters would’ve even recognize those devices today, let alone be able to effectively and safely use them. When was the last time you saw a sextant, a circle compass, an RDF, parallels and a pencil at a helm station? I bet it was a long time ago, and if it wasn’t, then THOSE are toys, and hopefully their owners are hobbyists, not boaters too intimidated by technology to make use of even basic TOOLS.
GPS receivers and plotters aren’t toys either – they too are valuable safety tools that aid in navigation.
One doesn’t “navigate” with a compass and chart: that’s called dead-reckoning with paper. In order to truly navigate without technology, a host of other tools are required. When I was growing up, my Dad kept a kit that looked like a 7th-grade geometry teacher’s nightmare at his disposal at all times. Most boaters would’ve even recognize those devices today, let alone be able to effectively and safely use them. When was the last time you saw a sextant, a circle compass, an RDF, parallels and a pencil at a helm station? I bet it was a long time ago, and if it wasn’t, then THOSE are toys, and hopefully their owners are hobbyists, not boaters too intimidated by technology to make use of even basic TOOLS.
- Joined
- Jan 1, 2000
- RO Number
- 824
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- 2,406
SLW - VERY well said.
The thing that many boaters fail to grasp is that a chartplotter ONLY shows you what is on the chart, not what is actually around you. Only St. Raytheon can show you an actual depiction of what's around you and what they're doing. Use your range rings, VRMs, and EBLs! (or do the newest LCD units even have them? Can't tune those things like the old 'green screens' and PPI displays...all this 'auto tune' crap that doesn't tune the set as well as a capable human, nor can you be assured that the set is tuned exactly as you want it, and hence expect it to be.) Don't need 256 colors, just 2 - green and black.
The thing that many boaters fail to grasp is that a chartplotter ONLY shows you what is on the chart, not what is actually around you. Only St. Raytheon can show you an actual depiction of what's around you and what they're doing. Use your range rings, VRMs, and EBLs! (or do the newest LCD units even have them? Can't tune those things like the old 'green screens' and PPI displays...all this 'auto tune' crap that doesn't tune the set as well as a capable human, nor can you be assured that the set is tuned exactly as you want it, and hence expect it to be.) Don't need 256 colors, just 2 - green and black.
- Joined
- Jan 1, 2000
- RO Number
- 3238
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- 4,831
My choice of the use of the word "toys" was a poor one. My apologies!
However, those tools when used without having read the manual might as well be toys. I have and do rely on electronic instruments, but for all that they improve safety and ease passagemaking, they are all extensions of basic skills.
I lost my "chart kit" ( both the pack of charts as well as the geometry tools ) when the house and boat washed away, but it will be replaced ( and used ). Software has become a useful substitute for it in many situations...
For many years "double dash" on the RDF equaled HOME. Knowledge of the sextant is a hole in my war chest, though I have rarely been boating in a situation where one would be effective or useful.
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Back on topic: Having a subscription weather service aboard is a useful safety item. But, other than perhaps sharing a display device, it is unrelated to navigational radar.
However, those tools when used without having read the manual might as well be toys. I have and do rely on electronic instruments, but for all that they improve safety and ease passagemaking, they are all extensions of basic skills.
I lost my "chart kit" ( both the pack of charts as well as the geometry tools ) when the house and boat washed away, but it will be replaced ( and used ). Software has become a useful substitute for it in many situations...
For many years "double dash" on the RDF equaled HOME. Knowledge of the sextant is a hole in my war chest, though I have rarely been boating in a situation where one would be effective or useful.
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Back on topic: Having a subscription weather service aboard is a useful safety item. But, other than perhaps sharing a display device, it is unrelated to navigational radar.