DRS4D-NXT vs 3.5ft/4ft NXT Open Array

[nitsuj]

I’m going to do a full electronics refresh this winter and trying to figure out what direction to go with radar.

To preface this, I have a center console, do a lot of offshore fishing in the New England area, midshore to canyons. Today I only use the radar for running in the dark, but would like to start doing more with it.

Boat currently has Simrad 4G, I’m going to be moving to TZTXL MFDs. All the experience I have is with domes, never an open array, and it’s all been Simrad (from 3G to Halo20+) so really looking to get some opinions on what direction to go.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Quitsa]

My situation is pretty similar to yours except that I have a 37' inboard express with a tower. I have had center consoles in the past. If you can fit a 4 foot open array on your hard top, it would be the way to go versus a dome. It will do everything better -- showing poor targets such as small boats or even pot floats and debris (in calm conditions), finding birds out 4-6 miles, and showing thunderstorm cells at very long ranges. The hard question is whether to get a solid state or magnetron radar. The Furuno DRS12AX magnetron has excellent performance and is quite a bit cheaper than the high power solid state units such as the DRS25A-NXT that would give equivalent performance especially for birds. The DRS25A-NXT is a little better for navigation with the more sophisticated target tracking but the DRS12AX is also very good. The solid state units have other advantages that may be important to you such as near instant on and much lower radiation levels.

I have a DRS25A-NXT with a six foot array now. My old boat had a DRS12AX with a four foot array. The bird finding capabilities are very close -- which I don't think would be the case with the lower powered solid state units such as the DRS12A-NXT or DRS6A-NXT. The six foot array is also advantageous for small targets like birds so my experience is not exactly apples to apples. I would say this is a case of "go big or go home". If you want solid state, get at least a DRS12A-NXT or preferably the DRS25A-NXT. To save a few thousand bucks and get excellent all around performance, go with the old standby DRS12AX magnetron.

 

[nitsuj]

My situation is pretty similar to yours except that I have a 37' inboard express with a tower. I have had center consoles in the past. If you can fit a 4 foot open array on your hard top, it would be the way to go versus a dome. It will do everything better -- showing poor targets such as small boats or even pot floats and debris (in calm conditions), finding birds out 4-6 miles, and showing thunderstorm cells at very long ranges. The hard question is whether to get a solid state or magnetron radar. The Furuno DRS12AX magnetron has excellent performance and is quite a bit cheaper than the high power solid state units such as the DRS25A-NXT that would give equivalent performance especially for birds. The DRS25A-NXT is a little better for navigation with the more sophisticated target tracking but the DRS12AX is also very good. The solid state units have other advantages that may be important to you such as near instant on and much lower radiation levels.

I have a DRS25A-NXT with a six foot array now. My old boat had a DRS12AX with a four foot array. The bird finding capabilities are very close -- which I don't think would be the case with the lower powered solid state units such as the DRS12A-NXT or DRS6A-NXT. The six foot array is also advantageous for small targets like birds so my experience is not exactly apples to apples. I would say this is a case of "go big or go home". If you want solid state, get at least a DRS12A-NXT or preferably the DRS25A-NXT. To save a few thousand bucks and get excellent all around performance, go with the old standby DRS12AX magnetron.

That's what I was thinking, based on the design of my hardtop and everything that's already on it, I am likely to pedestal mount it higher and/or forward to clear my raft, outriggers, etc. I do want solid state, I figure whether I go dome or open array it will be a NXT, I just have to measure out everything on my hard top to make sure I can fit it as needed. I have heard from folks that the dome can almost negate the lower powered arrays, but to your point, if going open I would likely go with the DRS25A-NXT, or DRS12A-NT at bare minumum.

 

[jp498]

Dome versus open array is a matter of image details... Dome is like a sharpie marker marking targets, and the open array is a finer tipped sharpie market making targets. Either is fine for basic safety. For a neater clearer picture, bigger is better.

Besides no warmup, another benefit of the solid state is that they work the same at all ranges... No adjusting gain for harbor use versus bay use.

 

[nitsuj]

Dome versus open array is a matter of image details... Dome is like a sharpie marker marking targets, and the open array is a finer tipped sharpie market making targets. Either is fine for basic safety. For a neater clearer picture, bigger is better.

Besides no warmup, another benefit of the solid state is that they work the same at all ranges... No adjusting gain for harbor use versus bay use.

Makes total sense, I like the idea of solid state and I'm likely going to go that way