Radar Mounting Options

Oct 2, 2012
4
Hunter 38 Barrington
Greetings,

I'm looking at replacing my C80 plotter with a newer model, and adding Radar to my 38' sailing vessel (Raymarine Quantum). From my discussions, there are two common options for mounting the Radome.
1.) Mount on the mast - this seems to be the most common solution. I have concerns here as my genoa seems to beat the snot out of my steaming light, and I fear it would do the same to the radome.
2.) Mount on a stern pole - There are several reasons I'm not keen on this idea, including the cost and real-estate.

There is a third option I would like to explore, mounting on the Dinghy Davits. I won't have the height, but I don't necessarily need to look out 75 miles either. Any advice out there? Any other Hunter owners dealing with genoa beating their radome or a davit mounted radome? Thanks in advance!

Rob
 

RoyS

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Jun 3, 2012
1,739
Hunter 33 Steamboat Wharf, Hull, MA
Mine is on the mast. I have an older raymarine radome and the manual stresses that eye damage may occur if your head is within the plane that the radome is operating. The davit mount is probably too low.
 
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May 20, 2016
3,014
Catalina 36 MK1 94 Everett, WA
Mine is on a stern pole (from PO). I've also seen them hung from the back stay. I would resist putting it on the davits unless you want to microwave yourself and the crew. Current generation of radar's are much lower output power than when I started boating (early 70's) but they still emit a fair amount of ionizing radiation. Original microwave ovens were also called radar ranges for a reason.
Les
 
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Feb 10, 2004
3,917
Hunter 40.5 Warwick, RI
When I installed my radar many years ago, I chose a back-stay mount that was self-leveling. The self-leveling characteristic is excellent but the back-stay mount was problematic. The constant movement caused wear of the mount at the base and was a constant maintenance issue. I didn't want a mast mount because I didn't want to drop the mast to attach and run the cable inside. My boat remains rigged year-round.
I have changed to a Kato stern pole and could not be happier. I adapted my self-leveling mechanism from my back-stay mount to the pole so I still have that important feature.
IMO the advantages of a stern pole mount is that it is easier to run the cable to the helm and if maintenance is ever required for the radome (mine did require a repair) it is easy to get to the unit. The only con is that the max radar range is about 4.5 nm instead of 9-10 nm. This range is to the water's surface; the range is longer to higher land or a large vessel. Since I use my radar on a 3 nm range most of the time I don't feel that the max range is an issue. BTW, I routinely use the radar on the 72nm range to look for thunderstorms- no problem with range here because the storm clouds are high.
2015_0505_181826.JPG 2015_0505_182210.JPG
 
Sep 8, 2014
2,551
Catalina 22 Swing Keel San Diego
Check out Scanstrut for both options. I believe the self leveling unit that Rich has pictured above is a Scanstrut model.
 
Feb 10, 2004
3,917
Hunter 40.5 Warwick, RI
Check out Scanstrut for both options. I believe the self leveling unit that Rich has pictured above is a Scanstrut model.
Actually the self-leveling unit was manufactured by Waltz in Washington state. They are still supplying an updated and beefed-up self leveler and back-stay and mast mounts. If you are unsure as to the advantage of keeping the radar level, there was an analysis done that was on the 'net and I might have in my archives. The only argument for not keeping the radar level is that most times when you are using radar in bad weather or at night you are likely to be motoring. Even so, I am sold on the advantages. And yes, CloudDiver is right, Scanstrut does manufacture back-stay mounts with automatic leveling feature.