12KW HD 4' Open Array Radar

[harbourvilla]

I have updated all the software on my dual TZTs and the radar about 18 most ago. I have Bird Mode but when I put the radar into bird mode it just shows a black screen where the radar signal rotates around the screen. Is the bird mode working properly? It seems like the gain is way too high on bird mode. I thought that auto bird mode should know how to back off the gain enough to just show the specks of birds and not the black screen. Someone suggested to me that maybe I had salt on the radar antenna. Need help. It seems that when I was out looking for birds on the ocean, it was easier to just manually adjust the radar to find birds.

 

[Flatline]

harbourvilla,
Thank you for your inquiry. if the background color of the radar screen is set to white when Bird Mode is activated on the radar the screen will now appear black as if its filled with noise/speckles. This is normal as this bird mode opens up the sensitivity of the radar.
Depending on the sea state conditions of the particular day it may sometimes work better to manually tune for birds. set the radar at a distance of NO MORE THAN 8nm, Increase the gain above normal levels, while at the same time decreasing the sea clutter and rain filter you have set.

 

[harbourvilla]

Thanks Flatline. Your response is comforting. My radar appears to be working just fine in normal mode. I used it about 2 mos ago to get to the inlet/ocean in the dark, and no problems. I have tried to change the sea state on auto bird mode, but that seems to decrease the radar's ability to find birds. I guess I'll just have to play around with it. Now I understand that the black is way to much gain. That's what I thought. I need to find a day when the sea is very calm and try the bird mode. I'll make sure I keep the distance below 8NM. Thanks a bunch.