GPS & Radar
Buy and sell marine GPS units and radars in Panama.
Motor into Guna Yala on a plotter alone and you can watch your track line cross a reef you are in fact steering around, because the surveys behind those charts are old and some positions are off. That is why owners here keep their eyes up, and on bigger boats fit a radar that paints the islands where they really sit. New units come boxed; pre-owned ones come off boats being refitted or sold, so the bracket and cable that travel with them count as much as the screen. Brand matters more than usual too: a radar scanner only talks to a display from its own family.
A chartplotter at the helm and a handheld GPS in the bag:
the plotter takes its position from a built-in GPS receiver and draws it on an electronic chart, on a screen bright enough to read in full sun. Most Garmin, Raymarine, Simrad and Lowrance plotters double as sonar screens once a transducer is fitted, and those combo units sit under fishfinders. A handheld such as a Garmin GPSMAP runs on batteries, shrugs off a dunking and is the backup when the boat’s power fails. An external GPS antenna, the small puck wired into the network, gives a plotter mounted below deck its fix. Radios and AIS sets are under marine electronics.
Charts that put Guna Yala reefs in the wrong place:
Navionics and C-MAP both chart Panama, yet along the Guna Yala coast boats regularly see their track drawn across reefs they never touched, because the soundings and positions there come from old surveys. Skippers who know those islands run with the satellite-photo layer on, keep a local cruising guide’s sketch charts by the helm and put someone on the bow in good light. So choose a plotter that can show a satellite overlay, with a chart card that covers Central America and not just the waters where the unit was first sold.
Dome radar or open array, magnetron or solid state:
a radome keeps its antenna inside a sealed dome on a T-top, radar arch or mast, and suits most boats running the coast. An open array spins in the open on a pedestal: it separates close targets far better and sees further, but it is heavier, catches wind and needs a bigger boat. Magnetron sets warm up before they transmit, and the magnetron wears with use. Solid-state radars such as Garmin Fantom, Raymarine Quantum or Simrad Halo come on at once and draw less power, which counts on a sailboat living off solar at anchor. Either way the scanner only runs on its own maker’s displays: a Garmin dome needs a Garmin screen, while a Halo works on Simrad, Lowrance or B&G.
Where the money goes on a plotter and a radome:
a 7-inch touchscreen plotter runs around $1,200 to $1,400 new in Panama, and a dome radar starts near $2,000 before the screen it needs. Second-hand, a radome only interests someone who already runs that brand, which narrows the market and pulls the price down; a tired magnetron takes it lower again, while solid-state domes, with nothing inside that wears the same way, hold their value better. A used plotter sells more easily with its chart card, because a regional card bought separately adds a few hundred dollars.
A used radome should still paint the breakwater:
switch it on at the dock and watch the moored boats and the shoreline appear where they belong too. On a magnetron set, open the diagnostics menu and read the transmit hours as well. Check the dome for a chalky, cracked or yellowed cover, water marks inside and corroded mounting bolts, and look at the connector where the cable enters. Take a plotter outside, let it find its position, drag the chart into every corner of the touchscreen and look for green on the card-slot contacts.
Handing over a radar with its full cable run:
radar cables are long, specific to the brand and often left threaded through the arch or mast when the dome comes down, so say plainly whether the cable goes with it. Photograph the diagnostics screen with the transmit hours, the dome from every side and the plotter switched on with a fix and its chart card showing, and list the displays the radar has run on. A skipper driving out to Linton Bay before heading into Guna Yala will want to see the radar paint the anchorage and the plotter take a fix before agreeing a price, so offer to power it all up aboard or from a battery at the marina.