Sandy
Well-known member
Brilliant... there are a lot of people who are not and their way of problem solving is very different.Lots of us are "engineers".
Brilliant... there are a lot of people who are not and their way of problem solving is very different.Lots of us are "engineers".
They may well have been referring to the associated and rather secret RX12874 Passive detection system (PD) see http://www.radarpages.co.uk/mob/linesman/pd.htm
This is the central issue.I'm tempted to simply say that if you feel the need for radar then you should probably get it as something is clearly nagging at the back of your mind and nothing is guaranteed to spoil your sailing experience more than a feeling of vulnerability. Having said that overconfidence can be just as dangerous as ignorance so if by having radar you are likely to get yourself into situations that you would otherwise have avoided is it really enhancing safety on your vessel?
This is the central issue.
I suspect the OP's achilles heel is the fear of setting off due to imagined dangers, the radar is just another excuse to spend another season in a boatyard or within the Solent.
If you do go for radar, my logic (at the time I fitted mine) was why spend a pot of money on kit that only works properly if one is upright most of the time (ship or motorboat), rather than pointing down to the depths and up to sky (as a fixed radome would spend a lot of time doing on a yacht's mast)?!
So I bought the Scanstrut gimbal unit designed to fit the front of a mast, but as I wanted it on a stern-pole I got a local fabricator to run me up a simple, inexpensive custom s/s pole which clamps to the top pushpit rail and has a flange that bolts to the aft cockpit seat. The diameter of the top bit is wider than the rest of the pole to simulate a mast section so the 'claw' bolts on correctly (from memory 3" diameter to pole's 2"). All much cheaper than Scanstrut's pole or backstay offerings. My guy even welded on 'eyes' so I could brace the pole if necessary, but this has so far proved unnecessary even in rough seas.
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It looks that that is going to be shining right at the crew when the boat is well heeled to starboard.
So what? It's totally harmless.
Better watch out for that uppity "sea-lawyer" who passed GCSE PhysicsThat's what we tell the 'other ranks'.
That's what we tell the 'other ranks'.
yes, looks a decently high pole and on a small boat (no offence intended!) with a short cockpit the angles look good. And as you imply, best to shut down when people are forward.The photo is deceptive, the pole is high enough. Even at extreme angles of heel (which my Vancouver 27 simply refuses to do), the death-rays will only ever strike a crew hanging about on top of the coach-roof, which he/she/it has no business doing while we're in 'radar conditions'. Down in the cockpit or even standing up in the companionway its well clear.
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Don’t bother, he is not going to be told. If he wants to loose even more brain cells let him be.
Better watch out for that uppity "sea-lawyer" who passed GCSE Physics
that’s what they told us rankers "what might happen".Look on the bright side, it may have stopped him breeding already.
Look on the bright side, it may have stopped him breeding already.
Keeping an effective radar watch without another person on watch is really quite hard. Having the display below decks doesn't help, but having it on deck is not great in rain and weather either. There are times when a yacht with a pilot house suddenly seems like the obvious answer you've been missing.
We each have different ways of managing our sailing, and different boats lend themselves to different approaches, so there is little point in trying to lay down the law for operating procedures.I can only agree about the need for display to be visible to the helm if at all possible. For instance I am appalled that some boats seem to have depth gauges and chart platters below deck. Do they only ever navigate in close quarters with an extra crew member on watch permanently at the navigation station below deck? I have built a semi-pilothouse and so can readily mount more displays there, but most marine kit is weatherproof enough to be mounted under the sprayhood at least, and swingout mountings by the washboards are also possible if a bit intrusive when going between cabin and cockpit.
We each have different ways of managing our sailing, and different boats lend themselves to different approaches, so there is little point in trying to lay down the law for operating procedures.