Getting acquainted with Quantum

[Chuck - Raymarine - Moderator]

Welcome to the Raymarine Forum Dove,

Q1. I have the Quantum powered through a manual 12 volt on-off rocker switch. Can I turn the radar off by using the power switch instead of going through the MFD’s stand-by, then power-off sequence? Or would shutting the power off manually be disruptive to the software or hardware of the radar or MFD?
A1. While Raymarine's radar transducers featuring a magnetron should be shut down by commanding the radome or open array pedestal into to standby mode before switching off power, no such recommendation applies to the the solid state design of Quantum radomes.

Q2. The manual (p. 263) indicates that I can adjust the transmit frequency of the Quantum (high, normal, or low.) I believe I was once able to do so, but now that control is greyed out for me, regardless of other settings or the radar’s status. The difference possibly occurred after I did a factory reset of the MFD to clear all settings. I have software versions 17.45 for the MFD and 1.46 for radar. (I know there are later versions, but they appear to only address wifi connectivity issues.) Any idea why a can’t change frequency anymore?
A2. The feature which you have described had been intended to be used if one had been experiencing interference on the Radar picture. The Transmit Frequency
setting would be used to change the transmission frequency range of the Radar. On the 1/2NM range and all ranges below 1/2 NM the Radar application always use the nominal Transmit Frequency. At such ranges, the TRANSMIT FREQ menu option will be greyed out. The TRANSMIT FREQ menu option should be available on 0.75NM range and above.

Q3. The radar is fantastic for nearby targets, but are there any tricks or adjustments for extending its maximum usable range for smaller targets? My unit is mounted 8 feet up and level to the water with an unobstructed view. On a calm sea and clear day, I have a hard time picking up small 20-30 ft center console boats in plain sight visually when more than about 1.5 miles away. Same for 30-40 foot sportfisher boats more than 2.5 miles away, and yacht sized vessels more than 3.5 miles away. I’ve already tried turning up gain, reducing the sea clutter filter, using target “expansion,” and turning on “trails” so that I can identify small targets that don’t show on every sweep. Is there anything else to try, and is this performance about typical?
A3. This is quite atypical performance. Have you changed the Mode (MENU->MODE) to Coastal or Offshore? Have tried adjusting the range to something which is closer to the distance to targets observed?