Drilling a mast for a radar cable

[purplerobbie]

I need to fit a radar to the mast and then i need to run the cable down the mast.
The cable comes straight out of the back of the scanner so could i just drill a hole in the front of the mast or would it weaken it that side hole in the front? Or should i go around the side with it?

I have seen some masts with conduit put on the outside and it run down that. would that be a better idea?
Rob

 

[dsw]

i have used cable ties and it looks neat and easy to remove if need be.

 

[KenMcCulloch]

[ QUOTE ]
i have used cable ties and it looks neat and easy to remove if need be.

[/ QUOTE ]
I think for a lot of boats putting cable ties round the mast would make setting sail quite difficult.

 

[SAWDOC]

How big of a hole do you need?

 

[AIDY]

I drilled a 10mm ish hole in the front of our mast and put the cable through using a grommit to stop chaffing all seems okay !

 

[homa]

How about a pedestal aft?

If you are worried about weakening the mast and weight aloft, why not mount the scanner on a pedestal aft?

I have just made a pedestal out of an old Laser mast (bottom) section with some lengths of SS tube for bracing. Made the platform out of marine ply.
So far it has cost me nowt as I had all the bits already.

Advantages are less weight aloft. Easy access to scanner, and less work at beginning/end of season (my mast comes down every winter when the boat is laid up). Less sea clutter due to lower scanner height.

Only down side for me is that there will be a small blind spot forward, but I'm told that is not a real problem with boat yawing about. if I'm not happy with the scanner location I can always put the scanner on the mast at a later date.

It was not just the hole for the scanner that made me uncomfortable but also the 12 mounting holes for the bracket! Having said that, an awful lot of boats have their radars aloft and I have yet to hear of a mast breaking because of the radar installation. Another factor for me was that my mast must be 30 years old with a few additional holes from previous fittings and lights - so not entirely happy with drilling even more holes in it.

 

[MarkJohnson12345]

We used a conduit outside of the mast.

Easy to take down the radome when it needs to be fixed every year!

MJ

 

[Sans Bateau]

I got a rigger to put the platform up. He just drilled a hole in the mast and fed the cable through, there is no grommet, but having inspected the mast when it was down this past winter there is no sign of any chaffing. In fact you cant move the cable so it cant chaff.