Marine Radar on a Road Vehicle

[FluidicDigital]

Hi there everyone. Was looking for answers on the Internet and found nothing. Google highly recommends this forum when searching for "marine radar".

I've always wondered, to the point of actually doing it, with installing marine radar on a vehicle. Would it work? Would it show other cars out there on the highway or would it be a big mess? Im interested in trying because no one else has tried.

Thanks very much

Fluidic

[Chief Engineer]

Sure it will work

[FluidicDigital]

Excellent.

I've never done this before. What do you recommend? I'm not too fussed on price. I'm not looking for overkill. I'm looking for the most efficient and highest resolution possible. I will make sure I fully document this experiment. I am very excited.

Thank you chief

[Chief Engineer]

Buy a used radar on Ebay

[FluidicDigital]

Ok so is marine radar is all the same? Sorta like a CB radio? Hasn't changed in 40 years type deal? I was kind of hoping for specifics in what to look for. Like television, is there an SD or HD version of radar? I want the highest possible quality here...

[Jim Cate]

Say there FD,

Now that you have determined that it can be done, could you tell us just what you expect to see, and what you intend to do with the images that you develop?

In general, I think that the relatively poor horizontal resolution of the typical small marine radar coupled with its slow rotation rate would make interpreting real time road conditions pretty hard.

So I'm (as usual) curious!

Cheers,

Jim and Ann s/v Insatiable II lying Manly Qld Oz

[maxingout]

I'm wondering if the marine radar would disturb the police radar for detecting speeders? If it did, it might be illegal.

[JiffyLube]

Depending on where you'll be driving you may not be able to get a target of a car. Buildings, mountains, towers, and high trees will probably make it hard to discriminate a target like a car...but what do I know.

[FluidicDigital]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

Say there FD,

Now that you have determined that it can be done, could you tell us just what you expect to see, and what you intend to do with the images that you develop?

In general, I think that the relatively poor horizontal resolution of the typical small marine radar coupled with its slow rotation rate would make interpreting real time road conditions pretty hard.

So I'm (as usual) curious!

Cheers,

Jim and Ann s/v Insatiable II lying Manly Qld Oz

Hi Jim. I speak and work regularly with clients who need custom equipment designed and manufactured for a number of different reasons. That's really all I can say at this particular moment in time and space. You're absolutely right about the refresh rate. What's the fastest I can expect to see from non-military marine units? I was also wondering what would happen when trying to find a target. Cars are indeed a small profile. 18 wheelers more likely. This is something I need to test real-world.

FD

[FluidicDigital]

Originally Posted by maxingout

I'm wondering if the marine radar would disturb the police radar for detecting speeders? If it did, it might be illegal.

Most of today's radar guns operate at X, K, Ka, IR Band (infrared), and (in Europe) Ku bands. An alternative technology, LIDAR, uses pulsed laser light.

X band = 8.0 to 12.0 GHz
K band = 18 and 26.5 GHz
Ka band = 26.5 to 40 GHz
Ku band = 12 to 18 GHz

What frequency is used by marine radar (normally)

Thanks very much

FD

[Healer52]

In Antarctica they put marine radar (last I saw it was Garmin on a Bv-206 machine) on various snow-cats....when they're driving around in a white out the bamboo poles that line the ...ways?...(not roads, paths, I guess) show up on the radar at a couple hundred yards. The lead vehicle usually has a ground-penetrating radar on a long boom to check for crevasses.

[FluidicDigital]

Originally Posted by Healer52

In Antarctica they put marine radar (last I saw it was Garmin on a Bv-206 machine) on various snow-cats....when they're driving around in a white out the bamboo poles that line the ...ways?...(not roads, paths, I guess) show up on the radar at a couple hundred yards. The lead vehicle usually has a ground-penetrating radar on a long boom to check for crevasses.

Interesting. I hadn't thought of that. I can see what they would require such a tool. I wish there was more information about stuff like this. Gotta be a pioneer sometimes right?

Thanks very much

FD

[sww914]

Mount it up high so it doesn't turn your ears into chicharrones.

[FluidicDigital]

Originally Posted by sww914

Mount it up high so it doesn't turn your ears into chicharrones.

Ya? Is this something I really need to worry about? These things are FCC tested and safe right?

FD

[Pelagic]

Originally Posted by FluidicDigital

Most of today's radar guns operate at X, K, Ka, IR Band (infrared), and (in Europe) Ku bands. An alternative technology, LIDAR, uses pulsed laser light.

X band = 8.0 to 12.0 GHz
K band = 18 and 26.5 GHz
Ka band = 26.5 to 40 GHz
Ku band = 12 to 18 GHz

What frequency is used by marine radar (normally)

Thanks very much

FD

Commercial marine radars are either in X or S band (10 or 3cm)

Using it for road work seems impractical as the narrow approaches of targets would limit its discrimination unless you were able to mount it quite high

Speed is not an issue but range is limited to your antenna’s elevation