radar dome location

[wallypog]

Stern mount or mast mount on a 29' sloop? What are the pros and cons, eg. mast shadow etc. Intended use use is motoring up fog prone channels and fiords on cruise to Alaska. Probably not much use for a gimbled mount. - wallypog

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[Talbot]

will depend on weight of the radar scanner and your boats tenderness to weight up high. If a JRC1000 no problems at all, if a 24" scanner on a 4Kw radar, probably best on strut (probably placed on the boat behind carrying the generator to power the beast! /forums/images/icons/smile.gif

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[wpsalm]

Hi John , used to cruise that part of the world myself...I had my old radar on a pole aft. about 8 ft. off the deck...no problem with mast shadow, the radar will see pretty much what you would see if you were standing there yourself. the one thing I did notice though was that where the radar is seeing through the sails the return echo is noticably weaker. My new radar is a lightweight 16 mile and had thought about a mast mount but in the end decided to stay with the pole mount aft. the advantages of mounting it on the mast are so slight as to be hardly worth the trouble...Regards Brock

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[wallypog]

Thanks Brock. Sounds like the stern location will be the way to go. I envy you being in the sunny Caribbean as this is our rainy season. - John

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[wallypog]

We'll probably be going with the Furuno 1623. As our boat is quite tender I would like to mount the dome on a strut as low as possible. A six mile range would be good enough. What height would you suggest? - John

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[charles_reed]

Mast mount

Pros - greater range
Cons - poor close range definition, lack of ability to gimbal (unimportantant on powerboat), raising c of g, possibility of mast pumping and fatiguing, difficulty of access if you need to carry out servicing.

I'd definitely go for a pole or gallows mount, most offshore racing boats do.

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[tjc]

My JRC 1000 is on pole at the stern. Deliberated for weeks where to put it and went for the S/S pole on the stbd qtr about 8 feet above the deck. Works well on all ranges and don't even know it is there.

Something else to hang ont also.

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