Used 1715 Installation

[Mariner84]

New to the board and the world of small boat radar....
I recently acquired a used 1715 unit; it was recommended by an experienced friend and when this unit became available (from an unknown seller), I bought it. I am in the process of "dock testing" before I permanently install the unit to make sure it is OK.
Question:
It powers and seems to operate fine. I ran the diagnostics as outlined in the manual and everything came up "OK". However, I cannot discriminate any targets - only some clutter. There is a 40' boat about 75' in front of me - I think I should have seen this, right? I set the dome up on a dock piling (about 5' high). No one was in the area and I was operating the set from the cockpit at about 5-6' below the dome.
I tried adjusting various settings; gain, sea state, etc.
The question is: is this operator error/inexperience or is it possible there is a subtle problem with the set. Or is the dome just too low. Should I elevate the dome some more? How far?
The cable appears to be in good condition; a little dirty but no splices.
Thank you in advance.

 

[C-Bass]

Good morning Mariner84,

Thank you for your inquiry. It is really hard to tell what is happening without seeing a photo of the radar display and without knowing what settings the radar has turned on or off.

With used equipment, especially from an unknown source it is hard to say how that person had the radar setup and tuned. Maybe it was not correct.

I would perform a factory default on the radar to start over from scratch, please refer to section 2.6 in the installation manual to perform a memory clear and then run the through the radar installation process again.

If you could provide a photo of what the radar display looked like and what percentage the radar filters where set to that would help as well.


Kind Regards,
C-Bass

 

[Mariner84]

C-Bass:
Thank you, I will try to capture some screen pics at the next run. In the meantime I discovered that when I attempted to adjust the gain, all of the clutter disappeared. This happened several times and was only resolved each time by shutting down the unit and removing/reinstalling the antenna cable plug. I did manage to adjust the sea clutter, gain, rain, etc. controls several times before all returns again disappeared.
I disconnected the cable and tested each lead. Using a Fluke digital meter, I measured end-to-end resistance through each wire at around 1 - 2 ohms each, with a maximum on one cable of 3 ohms. Assumed good (but I didn't check for shorts). Following the instruction manual procedure, I then verified magnetron heater voltage. It was 7.92, I adjusted to 8.01 (it was to be 8.0v +/- .1 v).
Next attempt, I will try to reset to the factory defaults.
Thank you; I'll report back.