Old Radar for weather detection (squalls, thunderstorms, etc)

[ilenart]

Hi everyone,

I have a approx 20 year old FURUNO Plotter / Radar 24NM Model 1723C with a 2.2 kw, 18” radardome mounted 2/3 up the mast. On a recent trip when I was surrounded by thunderstorms / squalls all I could detect was basically clutter around the whole boat, irrespective of the range / gain / sea clutter / rain adjustment. I could either make all the clutter disappear, or the clutter was surrounding the boat. Pretty sure there was a thunderstorm within 5-10 nautical miles however I could not detect this as a separate target.

Earlier in the trip in calm conditions we were able to detect small powerboats (4-7m / 18’-25’) fairly clearly, particularly when using Echo Trail. Therefore I know the radar is working.

Anyone had experiience with a similar radar in detecting storms / squalls? Or is this radar too old technology and / or the magnetron is getting worn out?

If I was to replace what brand / type of radar would use suggest that is good for detecting storms / weather? On my yacht I am using OpenCPN on a computer at the nav station, I have a new Raymarine Element 9S chartplotter at the helm (Quantum Only), plus a B&G T12 Zeus Touch charplotter in the cockpit (which I understand is compatible with 3G / 4G but not the latest halo radars).

Or should I persist with the existing Furuno 1723C?

Any comments appreciated.

Ilenart

[C420sailor]

I have a Garmin Fantom 24. If I go into bird mode, it functions beautifully as a weather radar. I can break out individual storm cells 50 miles out.

[tkeithlu]

This rather surprises me, because I've had two Furuno 1715s that were easy to adjust to isolate rain, while my "modern" Furuno wireless radar, which I otherwise like is nowhere near as adjustable. That 1723 is from the manual adjustment era.

The radar appears to be operating well, and I (without being an electronics whiz) would expect the display tube to go before the antenna. I think that if it were mine I'd set it back to "nominal" for all the adjustments, and then try again adjusting one dimension at a time. Simple gain adjustment should bounce or not bounce raindrops, and should let you track pelicans in flight.

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by ilenart

Hi everyone,

I have a approx 20 year old FURUNO Plotter / Radar 24NM Model 1723C with a 2.2 kw, 18” radardome mounted 2/3 up the mast. On a recent trip when I was surrounded by thunderstorms / squalls all I could detect was basically clutter around the whole boat, irrespective of the range / gain / sea clutter / rain adjustment. I could either make all the clutter disappear, or the clutter was surrounding the boat. Pretty sure there was a thunderstorm within 5-10 nautical miles however I could not detect this as a separate target.

Earlier in the trip in calm conditions we were able to detect small powerboats (4-7m / 18’-25’) fairly clearly, particularly when using Echo Trail. Therefore I know the radar is working.

Anyone had experiience with a similar radar in detecting storms / squalls? Or is this radar too old technology and / or the magnetron is getting worn out?

If I was to replace what brand / type of radar would use suggest that is good for detecting storms / weather? On my yacht I am using OpenCPN on a computer at the nav station, I have a new Raymarine Element 9S chartplotter at the helm (Quantum Only), plus a B&G T12 Zeus Touch charplotter in the cockpit (which I understand is compatible with 3G / 4G but not the latest halo radars).

Or should I persist with the existing Furuno 1723C?

Any comments appreciated.

Ilenart

I have used old school radar, Foruno and Raynav, to see thunderstorms and even windspouts. Worked very well for that and could see a very long ways. Thunderheads would show up 50 miles away. Sounds like you have an issue or need to adjust a different way...?

[C420sailor]

Btw, my 2001 Furuno went out in 2019. Magnetron failed. Display and everything still worked great, but it couldn’t see anything outside the occasional contact within 1/4nm.

[Marathon1150]

We have a Furuno 1724 on one of our boats. It did a good job of detecting squalls 20 to 30 minutes out when we were crossing the ITCZ.

Once we were in a squall that we could not easily dodge, the radar didn't tell us much about what was coming up.

[ilenart]

Thanks for the comments, sounds like I need to spend more time and effort on the Furuno 1723C. I’ve worked out how to identify how many hours the radar has been in operation. I’ve read that more than 3,000 hours could mean the magnetron is going, so will check this out.

This weekend we have a short trip where lots of rain is forecast. Plenty of chances to try different settings. Any comments on different range / gain / sea clutter / rain adjustment settings? (thanks tkeithlu, I’ll try the adjustments you suggested).

Ilenart