On the Cascadia mailing list there's a discussion about the merits of BR. Apaprently one of our local sales reps is poo pooing it a bit saying it doesn't peform well at distance.
I did a quick search and saw this:
http://powerandmotoryacht.com/electronics/broadband_radar/
by Ben Ellison (AKA Panbo)
"...BR [Broadband RADAR] is nothing special from about ten miles out to its 24-mile maximum range. But inside ten miles--and especially inside five miles--BR performance is "absolutely unmatched," he [Lowrance product manager Greg Konig] says, and he means that relative to the best 2- and 4-kW HD recreational radars available."
Ben is Greg saying that the Frequency Modulated/Continuous Wave (FM/CW) RADAR perform WORSE than magentron based RADAR or that at distance it performs NO BETTER than a magentron based system.
Also, has your testing yielded any additional information to that regard as well?
Thanks,
-patrick
Patrick, I don't think the BR24 performs as well as modern 18" radomes beyond about 6 miles. But note the word "modern"; the radomes I'm comparing it to are all 4kW except for the Furuno DRSD2, which is much tweaked in other ways. If you look through my radar testing series you'll see some evidence of this, and there will be more. I wrote the PMY piece before ever seeing the BR in action, which I think is clear in the article.
Of course you have to ask yourself how important long range performance really is to you these days. Lots of boaters don't much care about it, but like the superb close range resolution, instant on, etc.
I have an existing older RADAR that I'm guessing probably does not perform as well as the BR even beyond 6miles which I'm considering upgrading.
For Pacific offshore sailors we care just as much (more?) about being able to see what's coming as we do about close quarters manuevers. The Bay Area the Straits of Juan De Fuca are foggy at times but the S. Pacific not so much as your wicked pea soup fog up there in New England.
Thanks for the clarification and keep up the good work bolting stuff to Gizmo. ;-)
I think it's important to note that BR improves every manufacturer's new radar products; it raised the bar, and they are all scrambling to stay in the game!
Conversely, it made every older radar a little shabbier, stimulating the market, and putting a bunch of stuff on the used market, which may have been holding off buying their first radar!
All in all, its a wonderful eventual improvement in the level of boating safety in deteriorating weather.