The Pros and Cons of Marine Radars

Navigating a boat can be very difficult, especially if you have no idea where all the other boats on the water are. Long ago, there would be a member of the crew devoted to watching the waters for anything that the watercraft could run into. These days, however, most people use radars to monitor the waters in every direction. Though these instruments have some greatly beneficent qualities, they aren’t without their faults.

The great benefits and downfalls of the radar stem from the same thing: how it works. You see, a radar unit sends out radio waves in all directions. When the radio waves bump into something (i.e. another boat or land) then the waves are bounced back to the radar receiver. The waves that are received back determine how big the object is and the time it takes for the ping to get back determines how far away the object is.

The positive aspects of this should be obvious. The constant pinging of the radar will be able to tell you where almost all possible collision dangers are. This benefit isn’t just there when it is sunny out, but even when it is overcast, raining, foggy, and dark out. This gives you the advantage of seeing a boat coming before you can actually see it with your naked eye. Of course, it is never wise to simply rely on the radar to do all your viewing for you.

The downside to how the radar works is that it only reads the objects that bounce back information. Anything on the other side of that object won’t be seen by the radar. However, there are some more recent models that are able to overcome this handicap. Though these models are more expensive, you might find that they are well worth the extra money.

Another downside to the radar is that it primarily reads where objects are on and slightly above the water and not what is below the water as well. This is why you shouldn’t just rely on your radar to do all of your viewing for you. You could sink your ship if you were to run into a reef or sudden bank. There is a way to remedy this problem though. If you use a good chartplotter and an underwater radar (a feature common to fish finders) then you can avoid any underwater obstacles that normal radar wouldn’t detect.

Modern radars are much better than their predecessors thanks to advances in technology. Even so though, they have their own negative qualities that they still need to overcome. However, this doesn’t mean that you should do without a radar unit since you can overcome these downfalls with other instruments. Now, by knowing how radars work, their strengths, and their weaknesses, you can determine what to expect and what instruments you should get to counterbalance your radar’s weak points.