Raymarine Radar 418D or 418HD?

[sailor1026]

I'm adding a Raymarine a75 MFD chart plotter to our sailing cat that has all Raymarine instruments. I'm interested in any experiences with the RD418D vs the RD418HD Raymarine radar. The HD version has more color that can better show returned signal strength. Is it worth the extra expense?

Thanks!

[jacob30]

Just installed a 418HD. I haven't used it yet except to test the install. Trying it out in the next couple of weeks. I'll let you know what I think then.

Is your setup on the mast? I have a 10 meter power data cable I can sell you at a discount if you want to save a little. I had to buy the 25 meter cable 😫


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[sailor1026]

Ours will also be up the mast, so the cable won't help me. Thanks for the offer. I was thinking about using the 10m cable to come down the mast and an extension to make it to the helm. That would provide a natural place to disconnect if we have to pull the mast.

I'm really curious how well the unit works for identifying targets on the water and for tracking storm cells. We're on the Chesapeake too and want to be able to see those storms over land to our west so we can take action. You should have an opportunity to check it out soon.

Thanks!

[monte]

The Raymarine HD works very well. I haven't tried the D. Picks up the smallest rain clouds easily as well as buoys, yachts. Here's ours tracking some squalls

Storms over land, I don't think so..

[svfinlandia]

Originally Posted by monte

The Raymarine HD works very well. I haven't tried the D. Picks up the smallest rain clouds easily as well as buoys, yachts. Here's ours tracking some squalls
Attachment 101518
Storms over land, I don't think so..

No experience with the D. But my experiences with the HD are the same. Very good piece of kit.

Al, S/V Finlandia

[monte]

It's funny remembering that screen shot. Supposedly in trade winds 500M east of Martinique, we had 5K SW, storm cells to the north, heading south, and to the south, heading north and us in the middle. Lightening show from hell. We got slightly zapped but others took direct hits and lost all electronics, VHF antenna etc. and yes the radar is great to have in those conditions to at least try pick a path through the cells. It turned out to be a trough to the North causing the disturbance.

[jhstacy]

I recently installed the HD. Works beautifully. Also ran the 10m cable down the mast and connect to the longer cable at the foot of mast. Makes pulling the mast much easier in the future.

[Redline452]

I have the the 424HD. Raymarine tech at the FLL show explained that the "D" was basically their previous analog radar with a digital interface, while the HD had the full digital signal processing, etc. I've no complaints about the HD, and it does image storms on land and water. The colour images of storms look remarkably like what you see on the Weather Channel on TV.
I also used the 10m cable to run down the mast, with an extension from the mast to nav station. It's really the only way to install if you ever plan to take down the stick. You don't want to even think about splicing that cable.