But in each case a few seconds after my call my radar alarm sounded, indicating that the watch officer had just pressed the transmit button, taking the radar out of standby. On three occasions I called the ships in question on VHF and asked them if their radar was on. Over the course of seven days I saw at least half a dozen large ships that did not trigger my detector. At the time Morgan’s Cloud was fitted with a radar detector. Having said all that, I strongly believe that we in small boats should assume at all times, even if our boats are equipped with both radar and AIS transponders, that ships have not seen us.įor example: Some years ago I did a single handed passage from the Virgin Islands to Bermuda. Of course, both radar and AIS transponders would be nice if you have a big budget and lots of time for electronic installations. Also, you will get an invaluable AIS receiver in with the price. Just about everyone out there that has radar probably at least receives AIS too and it will tell them a lot more about you and what you are doing than an active reflector. I would not bother with an active radar reflector (transponder) but rather install an AIS transponder. To that end, here are two reports that will help: Having said that, I still think it’s a good idea to install the best radar reflector available. I have to confess that after we got reasonably priced AIS transponders I lost interest in the radar reflector issue and so have not put any more research into it since the above was written. In fact, I have just added replacing our Blipper with an Echomax to our never-ending/ever-growing boat project list. However, I think that the Echomax passive is a better reflector and probably a good idea for your boat. We’re also considering mounting a passive reflector, Echomax 230 or 305, in case of electrical failure.Īnswer: We have an old Firdell Blipper mounted just above the top of the staysail stay on the mast. The Echomax Active-XS-Dual Band reflector seems very good, though at a high price. Question : We have been upgrading the safety equipment on board our boat and are thinking of installing radar reflectors to amplify and enhance the radar signal we create to alerting oncoming vessels of our position during offshore sailing in bad weather and heavy seas.
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