[Public-List] Preparation for Summer 2011

[Michael]

about problem #3:

I'm not sure how you are rating precision; to me, that's pretty much a 
function of screen size-the bigger, the better. What you really want are 
infinitely adjustable brilliance, sea (clutter), rain, and gain 
controls-twist knobs for those, in other words. The click button push 
pads are really annoying, again, to me.
FWIW Furuno is really the industry leader in tugboat (they also require 
small units, although the main one I use is a 21"(screen size) monster 
with all the bells and whistles, ARPA, AIS overlay, etc.) radars. 
Excellent ergonomics. Si-Tex would be lowest on my list, because the 
electronics I have from them have really obscure adjustment controls 
(Hold down button #1 &#4, while pressing Button #3 etc.). Hopefully, 
they are changing that.
The one optional feature I would look for is tracking. Really, the most 
useful thing in radar plotting is calculating Closest Point of Approach, 
and tracking makes that a snap. That's if you are really going to use 
the thing for something besides finding channel entrances in fog, which, 
best as I can tell, is what most yacht types use it for.
There are probably few things in life as personal as the operator and 
his radar preferences, so all this goes with a grain of salt.

MichaelGrosh
#220



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