radar on the mast

artboas · Jan 19, 2014

Yes & no

jwieneck said:
I am trying to finally put radar on the boat. I have never had radar before. So I decide after looking at the pole vs the mast to go for the mast. Now the installer is telling me I need to unstep to get the cable down the mast. I have a 376 Hunter with a Z spar mast traditional main. Has anyone done this? Do you need to pull the mast? Thoughts.

Installing a radar with the stick up is a lot of work.
Everything from mounting the bracket, to fishing the cabling takes 3 times as long then if you pull the rig. You will have a better install with the rig down as well, as fishing the cable will be more predictable.
If there was absolutely no way to pull the rig, it could be done. But, it will cost you more, (assuming reasonable labor rates) to do it with the rig up
I actually swapped my radome & cable on my 49 with rig up.
Huge job, and the bracket, etc was already installed

Good luck

Rich Stidger · Jan 19, 2014

Just my opinion but I think a pole mount offers a number of advantages and no practical disadvantage.

In addition to not having to pull the mast, the cabling to the steering console is more direct and much easier to accomplish, and any future radome maintenance will be easier. There is no chance of sail chafe on the radome when on a pole, and you can easily mount the radar with a self-leveling mount.

Additionally, the pole could provide mounting for an outboard hoist, other antennas, cockpit lights, etc.

The only downside is that the maximum range to the water surface will be about 2nm less than on the mast- on my boat my pole provides a range of 4.3nm and if it were on the mast the range would be about 6.3nm. Do the math to see for yourself and then consider that the radar will probably be used on a range that is 3nm or less most of the time. Any time you are looking for a target that is over 6nm, that target will be physically high, not at sea level- land, large ship, lighthouse, etc., and the range of a radar is dependent upon the height of your radar and the height of the target so the height of your radome will not be a limiting factor.

But as always, your boat, your choice.

Don12364 · Jan 20, 2014

My approach to the same problem.

This was my approach.
Just a simple 11' length of 1" diameter SS tube and 4 jubilee clips - plus a friendly metal worker capable of making a 6" radius 90° bend.
Yes it is not too wobbly and over the years it has withstood some pretty ferocious weather.
And yes, before you all ask, is it strong enough? Well, coincidentally it was subjected to the ultimate test last year. Autumn Legend lives on a mooring between piles on the strongly tidal Hamble River. A passing??? sailing school yacht managed to lay its boom against the radar 'U' arch shape whilst travelling toward my bow. This resulted in his mainsheet hooking over my radar arch which then brought his yacht up all standing about from six knots. My arch was bent over the cockpit at nearly at 90° - yet the sides of my pushpit withstood this excess loading.
i.e. In extremis the 1" tube of the arch is strong enough to support the small radar yet not so stiff as to allow the pushpit to get damaged - fortuitously!
Some .jpg pictures and a .pdf drawing for your amusement - your width across the pushpit uprights may be different, otherwise much else will be same.

Stargazer3 · Jan 20, 2014

I also did not want to step the mast that year mainly because of the complexity of the B & R rig. We dropped a weighted line down from a hole drilled a foot above the steaming light and had no troubled running the cable. I guess we were lucky - but the installation was straightforward. I did NOT want the stern of the boat cluttered up with a stern pole. Bill on STARGAZER

Maine Sail · Jan 20, 2014

Ideally a good or well executed installation will be done with the mast down so you can be sure the wire gets in the chase or to ensure that it is not entangled in the halyards or putting undue strain on other mast wiring....

I was involved in a repair two summers ago where the spar had to be dropped mid season $$$$$$$. Customer was heading to Newfoundland where radar can be critical safety equipment. Original installer had dropped the cable with spar up and cable went behind a halyard. It also took two guys nearly 7 billable each hours just to run that cable. After a couple of seasons the halyard rubbed the radar wire open and killed it. The dome was also shorted as was the video board inside the plotter.. Because the mast mount was installed from a bosuns chair it too was installed poorly and was actually crooked.... It cost the owner a few grand to fix what should have been done correctly to begin with...

Me, I personally will not install a radar with the spar up, if it is going on the spar..

We currently have a radar on a stern pole, and would go back to a mast mount in a heart beat. For coastal a pole is fine but in deep seas, in the trough of large swells, you tend to lose targets as your new dome height now becomes a lot lower we found this happened with our Questus and with our current stern pole.

We had self leveling on our Catalina 36 and I found no real quantifiable performance difference. In theory it sounded great but in reality it was very tough to see any performance gains. We use radar a lot, being in foggy Maine, so it is not as if I fired it up once a year and did not notice a difference. I always run radar with no fog to set up and tune....

Jimmy P · Jan 20, 2014

jwieneck said:
I am trying to finally put radar on the boat. I have never had radar before. So I decide after looking at the pole vs the mast to go for the mast. Now the installer is telling me I need to unstep to get the cable down the mast. I have a 376 Hunter with a Z spar mast traditional main. Has anyone done this? Do you need to pull the mast? Thoughts.

I just went through this with with my recent upgrade to a digital scanner. The mast (up position) is your easiest and most inexpensive option once you hang your mounting plate. There is plenty of room to snake your scanner cable down your mast, from a bosun's chair, and through your headliner. Mounting the plate/scanner to the mast and running the cable to the pedestal cost me about $150.00. Much cheaper than adding a post and/or dropping the mast. Good luck!

stephen Penny · Jan 20, 2014

My radar was installed on the mast on a mounting bracket while the mast was up. Also installed a Glomex antenna at the same time just above the radar. Relatively fast installation time and low cost.

Sailvayu · Jan 20, 2014

It easier to do with the mast down but can be done with it up as well. Will you get a better job with it down? that like, most things on boats, depends. If your rig has not been down in a few years you may want to go ahead and take it down for a good inspection while doing the install.
As with most things that transmit and receive the more height the better (to point) so the mast install will give you better results at least for long distance, closer in say a couple of miles it may not make a big difference.

Here is a Video I did on installing a radar with the mast up.
http://youtu.be/5VyzXoPv0KQ

Hello Below · Jan 20, 2014

Panbo.com published this report awhile back. Although dated, the info is still relevant, in particular the table showing minimum safe distance. http://www.panbo.com/Pulse_Radar_Safety_courtesy_Navico.pdf

radar on the mast

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