Radar reflectors

[studgies]

we have an echomax and stuggled to fit it, we have a similar sized boat (F33). We ended up getting a custom made brcket made up, actualy cost less that the ones made specificaly for the reflector and looks much nicer...no pic though sorry! Will try and take one.

 

[blampied]

Hi Dalex
How about using the TriLense Radar reflector. They usualy come out near or on top whenever anyone does a test.

But the best part is the mounting, they have a stainless steel tube through the centre of the reflector. The tube is threaded the same as a standard VHF ariel mount. As long as you are using a robust metal rather than plastic ariel mount fit the TriLense to the mount and screw your VHF ariel on top.

Neat solution

Regards
Cafe Noir

 

[whisper]

We've got one of those - chosen after a couple of reviews in boating mags.
Must work a treat as we've not been run down yet /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[JamesTT]

Cafe noir, I can only find mast mount tri lex, where did you find the vhf mount?

 

[jfm]

Emporer\'s new clothes

You only need one (supposedly) becuase the boat is plastic and will not reflect radar, hence you're invisible. In which case put the radar reflector inside a GRP part of the boat. Ours is mounted inside the GRP flybridge lockers and we are MCA coded and the surveyor is happy. Looks much better this way!

You should of course have it at a decent height and on some boats that might be a reason to put it on the roof or something. My point is just that it doesn't need to be outside

I also think the whole thing is a bit of a wind up really. Boats are full of metal - handrails, anchor & winches, sodding great lump of chain, engines, rubbing strake, electronic boxes on dash, window frames, TV sets, dishwashers, fridges. What difference is a saucepan-sized bit of ali gonna make, really?

Doesn't it look dumb to you when a sailboat has a radar reflector smaller than a rugby ball fastened to a mast that's 30m tall and made of sodding aluminium?

On our radar we see the teeneist little canoes, birds, everything, so spotting a boat without a radar reflector is easy peasy. Still, no harm in a reflector I suppose, but it is all a bit emporer's new clothes

 

[Elza_Skip]

I had the same problem with my S23- just not enough space for an echomax and the tubular ones kept falling to bits and are not very effective.

I have now fitted a Tri-Lens. This is about £100, but got a good write up in a boat mag last year or so and is compact and easy to fit

 

[dalex]

First, thanks to you all for the brilliant and interesting replies.
I like the looks of the basemount device, and will probably go with that one fitted to a spare bit on the end of the radar arch.
Incidentally, how far from your radome is your reflector? Is it in line of site of the array? Having it so closely in the same plain as the array worries me if I get my own energy back so quickly, will I have a blind spot and worse, swamp the receiver with so much energy reflected at close range?

 

[pheran]

Re: Emporer\'s new clothes

I thought that the reason for apparently odd-shaped reflectors was to bounce the signal back in a controlled and coherent way. On a small plastic boat, the minor bits of metal such as handrails are likely to scatter the rebound in all directions and could therefore be missed. Big slab-sided ships are a different matter of course

 

[jfm]

Re: Emporer\'s new clothes

Agree, that's the stated reason. But it's a zero sum game and there is a trade off between strength and beam width of the reflected signal, so there might be less probability of catching the return signal, the stronger it is?

But honestly, applying common sense, it's all a bit bollox innit? Say you had a typical mobo 40 foot or summink, a few miles off. Has engines, anchor chain, fridges, engines, outboard on tender, aluminium box section/girder structure to support the flybridge and overhang, aluminium lintel above the patio door, handrails, grill pan in oven, ali fuel tanks, etc etc. And say you had a poxy rugby ball size radar reflector just dingling on its own in the sky, a few metres above sea level. If your boat was say 4 miles away, which dya reckon will show up better on your radar screen if you had to bet a hundred quid?

Reflectors might be sensible in wooden or small boats with little metal, but they are emporers new clothes for 15m mobos (the point at which they become compulsory!)

I do have one by the way, but I think it does sod all!