Marine Radar

I purchased the radar after my previous 29 year old Furuno was laid to rest. Wanting to have dual stations for my radar was my first priority. Second, was looking for something to run on the iOS platform, allowing me to access the radar without the expense of purchasing a monitor or two, and having the ability to have the clarity that my iPhone and iPad screen offers. After several voyages, I can honestly say they I would trust the images through pea soup fog or dead of night voyages. I highly recommend the radar and app. As for previous fears of not being able to see the screen in sunlight, I clearly read the I images even with my polarized sun glasses on!

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I have now used the DRS4W for a cruise from the Virgin Islands to Trinidad. As a trained radar operator I can state that this radar is useless for collision avoidance which is the primary purpose of radar. It has no usable EBL that one would normally use to track an approaching vessel. There is a great little curser that can be set by tapping the screen. This can be run out to a target to note bearing and distance. But this disappears in a few seconds. If this was to stay in place one could track the bearing of the approaching vessel. If the vessel continues down the line, that is a constant bearing situation with decreasing range. COLLISION! But sadly their curser (EBL and VRM combined) doesn’t stay on. Sadly his would be a simple software fix, but after contacting Furuno they are not interesting in making the change. Because this is an “inexpensive System”. Also, to make the radar easier to use Furuno has dialed back the gain on rain and sea clutter. It actually does a good job of eliminating all the clutter so large land masses are see able. But a large incoming squall at 6 miles is not even visible on the screen. Neither are small sailboats with radar reflectors at 2 miles. I also did a test with Sail Rock off St Thomas. A solid 128’ high rock and the DRS4W could not pick it up at 8 miles. I also could not see the island of St Bart’s when 8 miles out. Now if you could back off on the sea clutter a bit more you could probably see this target. Of course you would have some more screen noise, but the target would be also visible. The manual adjustment available does not go anywhere close to usable. So, collision avoidance and weather, two primary uses for radar are basically none existent on this unit. Plus more than a few miles out you can’t even pick up an island. I do not recommend the radar or the app.