radar interfacing w/chartplotter

[Paul45c]

Hey, all. I'm hoping some of you have enough experience working with modern radars and chartplotters enough to shed some light on how they communicate. I've got a Garmin 3010c with chip that I'm quite pleased with, and I have a really old tube-style Furuno radar that's about to be replaced -- both the display and the open array antenna are really old and not worth playing with, IMO.

Sooo....as long as I'm looking at new, I'm interested in how to possibly overlay my radar image on the chartplotter display. Would my only option for that be a Garmin radar, or can you also get that level of integration with other brands (say, Furuno?)? I'd also like to have a separate screen for just radar the old-school way if it's possible to have both that as well as the radar image overlay on the 3010c.

Thanks for any help.

 

[Boatsb]

Check with the Garmen people. If it does multi screens you should be able to do it. Probably with 2 networked displays or a stand alone radar and a interface may do most of what you want.

 

[Mambeaux]

I have a Garmin 3210 and a 3010 with the GMR41 Radar. The 3010 gets the charts from the 3210. I can have full screen Radar on one and overlay Radar on the other chart. I also have the Garmin GSD22 sonar and XM weather. You can run two split screen setups.....sounder-chart, radar-weather etc.

 

[Bob Bradley]

Raymarine will do the overlay, but I'm none to happy with them overall. I bought their "state of the art" integrated system for about $10k 5 years ago, only to find that their next generation came out 2 years later and is not backwards compatable (translation, You're on your own buddy). Caveat emptor. When and if I replace it, it will probably be Simrad. At least they have decent customer support.

 

[BUSTER]

I had bought all new Raymarine in 2003,so now I updated with the C-120,but kept my radar display separate with the option to overlay if I want and kept my 525 chartplotter as a repeater and also to run the Robertson.I just don't want to trust one screen to do everything.

In reply to the original post,I would recommend going all Garmin if that is what you have now,mixing and matching brands is a pain that I have tried before. Tony

 

[dougl33]

I could be wrong, but I think you can only do overlay if the manufacturer of the plotter and radar are the same. I have a Garmin 182c and I also have a Rayamarine C120 with Navionics gold chart chip, the Raymarine GPS antenna, and Raymarines 2KW Raydome. I have the Garmin connected to the C120 so I can see my routes (the Garmin is much easier to use) on the C120. I can overlay the radar on the c120 chart display, but not on the Garmin. While its kind of cool, I don't really use it as much as I thought. While the Raymarine plotter is not as intuitive as the Garmin, I do love the way the chart looks on the 12 inch screen.

 

[BUSTER]

I could be wrong, but I think you can only do overlay if the manufacturer of the plotter and radar are the same. I have a Garmin 182c and I also have a Rayamarine C120 with Navionics gold chart chip, the Raymarine GPS antenna, and Raymarines 2KW Raydome. I have the Garmin connected to the C120 so I can see my routes (the Garmin is much easier to use) on the C120. I can overlay the radar on the c120 chart display, but not on the Garmin. While its kind of cool, I don't really use it as much as I thought. While the Raymarine plotter is not as intuitive as the Garmin, I do love the way the chart looks on the 12 inch screen.

The C120 is a great system,but like you say it isn't very intuitive.My older Raymarine525 is much quicker and easier to navigate through.I often wonder why Raymarine didn't stay with the older easier menu,especially "find ship" I miss that. On the C120 it is much slower and the chart re-draws are slower as well,but the screen is incredible.

 

[Bob Bradley]

They eliminated the "find ship" function? That doesn't seem too well thought out. Doing that manually will require taking a few steps, and looking at the screen while you should be looking where you're going.

I don't think I'll be buying any more Raymarine products.

 

[dougl33]

Find ship is there. It shows up as a hot button at the bottom of the screen. This is my first RM unit, so I don't know where it was before.

Don't get me wrong, its not that I dislike the C120, its just that the 182C is much easier to use. I got that unit when they first came out back in 2002. I never even had to look at the directions to build a route or use the machine in general. I have to re-familiarize myself (i.e. get out the manual) with the C120 every year.

I was on Timmy's 41 a few years ago and he had some brand new RM gear (plotter and radar). I'm not sure what the model was, but it was a couple of years before the C series came out. I'm guessing it was 2002. As usual he was heading out on a wing and prayer heading from Newburyport to Long Island Sound. I was trying to get the course/route set up but for the life of me could not figure out how to do it. Even with the manual in hand it was still difficult.

 

[BUSTER]

It takes some getting used to...but it is still easier than that Sitex stuff I had way back in the day! You really needed the manual if you didn't use it at least once a month.

I can't complain though,I've had 4 Raytheon radars,a couple of their GPS's,a couple of radios and a Loran,all have been good,especially the radars.Although I like their stuff,only a Robertson will do as an autopilot for me.

 

[SeaEric]

I have the Garmin set up on my boat with the color screen chart, radar, sounder and XM weather. To add another screen, just plug and play to the network. The stuff works good and I did the install myself. It's not as easy as they say, but I took my time and it worked out fine. Purchased all of it on the net from VIT Electronics. Ordered one day and it was there 2nd day. Best price I could find too.

 

[REBrueckner]

Overlaying radar on chartplotter SOUNDS great, but just wait untilsomething goes wrong when you are in fog. Go see one in operation and get the pros and cons from someone whoe USES the feature, not someone who likes toys but hasn't relied on it. If you existing radar works, likely you don't need another. Yet new toys are fun....
If you are a frequent user and practice a lot in clear weather and have a NEED to overlay maybe it's worthwhile; I've only seen one overlay in operation: waypoints at buoy points on a passenger ferry off the Coats of Maine. There the boat ran the same route, made the same turns, had the same destination, two ways, day after day after day. THAT made sense:The waypoints marked buoy locations and the radar confirmed those waypoint locations by nearly coincident images.
I opted for exactly the opposite: standalone electronics so if one display fails I still have other navigation tools up and running. Once you experience a problem in fog you'll realize you DO NOT have time to fix it unless you have a trusted helmsperson availble...you either keep going or drop anchor, drifting in congested waters, narrow channels with currents isn't a realistic option to depend upon.

 

[BUSTER]

That is precisely why I don't use the overlay on my system.I like to keep the radar seperate,but alongside the chartplotter.A quick glance reveals the same picture and I don't need to depend on 1 screen. I run in the fog often,I've even run from the Narrows to Hellsgate in heavy fog,but always with a paper chart on the table to compare LL's to nav,aids versus ships anchored or moving.

 

[DeeRow]

...I have a really old tube-style Furuno radar that's about to be replaced -- both the display and the open array antenna are really old and not worth playing with, IMO....

Paul,
Do you know the model number on the radar? I had an old Furuno 1751 (crt, green screen). I discovered that the antenna would connect to a new 7" Furuno NavNet unit. It works great. I can overlay radar and charts. Targets show trails. I can set waypoints on the radar screen. I'd like to get a more powerful antenna. If your going to retire you unit, I might be interested your antenna.

Since you have both Garmin and Furuno, you could choose to build on either system.

You could possibly add a new Furuno NavNet unit with your existing radar antenna. Depending on you radar antenna, you'll need either a 10" or a 7" display. You'll also have to buy another chart chip. Furuno NavNet systems are either setup for C-Map or Navionics. The Furuno NavNet interface is not as intuitive as the Garmin 3xxx but IMHO it is better than the Garmin 4xxx and 5xxx. Using boatfix prices, a Furuno NavNet GP1920C/NT vx2 is $2700 and C-Map chip is $200. Assuming you have a autopilot that will output heading data and your existing radar antenna will plug into the 1920, you could have radar with chart overlay for $2900.

Alternatively, you could expand the Garmin system to be like Mambeaux's. Add another 3010, a GMR 404 Radar (+ Pedestal) and a network switch. Again, using Boatfix prices, a GMR 404 Radar (+ Pedestal) $3600, a 3210 $1750 (they don't have 3010's!?!?) and a Garmin GMS 10 network Port Expander $250. The Garmin set-up will be $5600.

There are a lot of assumptions here, but this gives you an idea of some options.

How long will your old Furuno antenna last? Who knows. The 1920 has an option for MARPA which I didn't include.

The Garmin system will be all new. Garmin includes MARPA However, I haven't seen many Garmin radars on big fishing boats, not sure why.

Mark