Radar - Request for Information

[Brian D]

Not having found a larger boat where I live, I've decided to do some upgrades. One of the upgrades is to add radar. So, from this fine group of sailors, I ask who has a small boat, ~27 ft, that has radar, and what do you have? How did you mount your scanner, mast or tower/pole?Enlighten me please.Just so you know, I am looking for a small radar, 12nm range with a light weight scanner.

 

[Rick D]

Furuno

I had a 1600 series on my Vision 32 and replaced a CRT unit on my 40.5 with a 1700 series. I have also used Raymarine, and they also are good units. I am partial to Furuno since I like the user interface better than the Raymarine. Both are good units. JRC is one I would recommend, but I don't know whom if anyone is distributing them anymore in the US. Anyhow, for your use, a small 16 NM unit would be plenty. The stuff that concerns you will show up fine. I have mounted all of mine on stern poles (see Garhauer) for ease of installation and service. The buyer of my Dad's Lancer 29 Powersailor put a Furuno on a stern mount too. I suspect if your marina is like ours, it's about 50/50 stern and mast mounts. Since you will not be keeping your boat forever, I would install what you get a great buy on and with the least amount of DYI hassle. IMHO, of course. Rick D.

 

[Jadedcrew]

Radar Mount

Here is the link to Garhauer Marine.

 

[Brian D]

Danny...

I'd be interested in seeing your plans. Thanks

 

[DannyS]

building a tower

I bought a 2 ½” x 1/8” x 8 ft aluminum tube for the tower. As I said before, I have access to fabrication shop and a CNC router at a local sign shop so on the computer, I drew up the plans for the mounting platform disk on top with the corresponding hole pattern for mounting the dome and had the router do the cutting for me. I used 3/16” aluminum plate for this. This is not a necessary step. A square of aluminum with corresponding holes carefully drilled in place would work just fine. The hinge mechanism and transom mounting bracket started as a 3” x 3” x ¼” wall square aluminum tube. For the hinge under the mounting platform, I cut a 3” section from the tube. I cut out one section of the wall to create a “U” shape. I then drilled a 3/8” hole through the two uprights of the U and drilled a corresponding hole 1” in from the end of the tube. Slide the U over the end of the tube, run a shoulder bolt through the holes and you have the basis for the leveling device. I welded the U to the underside of the mounting platform making sure to keep it in line with the mounting holes.I fashioned the two tabs for the turnbuckle out of ½” aluminum plate. I used ½” because the turnbuckle I bought was a jaw, jaw style, ½” thread with a 5/8” jaw opening from McMaster-Carr( www.mcmaster.com part #3001T56 ). It has a range of 19 ½” to 31 ½”. I welded the tabs in place 25 ½” apart (half of the turnbuckle’s range). One of the tabs was welded to the tube, the other to the underside of the mounting platform. Attach the turnbuckle, and with a few twists, you have a manually leveling platform. My installation will be on the transom behind the stern rail so I needed vertical mounting bracket. So, I again cut off a section of the square tube and with some creative cutting and drilling (better seen in the photos) I fashioned the bracket to attach to the transom. I also made a backer plate for this bracket out of 3/16” plate.Garhauer Marine makes struts and brackets for their radar towers that will work well for my application ( http://garhauermarine.com/catalog_process.cfm?cid=43 ). The transom strut is not in their online catalog but I called them and they do make them on request, $27.00 plus $10 per foot of stainless tube. I plan to run one strut from the tower to the top of the transom approximately midship. This will support the tower laterally as the boat heels. I also plan to attach another strut to the stern rail for fore aft support.The whole tower with dome, minus the struts weighs in at 34 pounds.I plan to attach a clinometer to the underside of the mounting platform to see level when underway.I looked into having the whole thing anodized but that was going to run more than $200 so I’ll be painting the tower.Hope this is clear, the photos should help.

 

[tcbro]

Check the archives

Last month Tim R posted his homemade backstay radar mount. It looked great and saved him a fistful of $$$. It was a much cleaner installation than the stern pole, he did a real nice job.I'll try a link to the archive. If it doesn't work search "backstay radar mount"Toms/v Orion's ChildP.S. Danny, unusual last name, I know a Bonnie with the same spelling. Any relation?

 

[DannyS]

That is a great solution too

I read that post a while back with considerable interest since I was just begining my quest for a radar mount solution. I found that my topping lift was a little bit close for the backstay mount to work, something to keep in mind. I thought of modifying this design to go aft of the backstay, but I thought that might be quite a bit of torque to overcome for an amature engineer as I see the dome wanting to rotate forward of the stay. Then, since I made the decision to go with the tower, and since our home cruising ground is Lake Superior with its notorious fog and numerous shipping lanes, I thought it might be nice to have the option to level out the dome, I want all the advantage I cen get versus a 750 foot Laker not to mention all of the powerboats. I don't forsee using it all of the time but I like the idea of tweaking it when needed. Tom, I don't know of any relatives out east, but it's always interesting to hear of another Saathoff out there.

 

[WIndwalker]

Small Radar

I just added radar last year, & did the same research. I went with JRC after going through all the info. I bought the JRC 1000, but after my freind (following my advice) upgraded to the JRC 1500. The difference being a larger raydome, which gives better target resolution. and the price was only a couple hunderd more. You will find the price the most affordable of all the units (about half of Raymarine!). JRC mostly makes the huge commercial units, but as the small consumer, we for once are lucky enough to benefit from this. The user interface is about a intuative as radar can get. It intefaces well with NMEA 0183, I simply hooked a few wires to my GPS & voila, the GPS data shows on my JRC! No proprietary BS to deal with. The unit has been so reliable, that few upgrades have been made over the years. I looked into a pole mount & backstay mount too. With the hassle & expense, I opted for the mast mount. Am glad I did, works great & no issues with tacking the headsail. One last note, pay attention on the length of cable that comes with the unit when you order. I recall it was either 10 or 15 meters. I needed the longer cable for the run up my mast... I also added a link to a really nice mast mount I bought & am really satisfied with. Good luck!

 

[Brian D]

Thanks all...

For the input. I too was looking at the JRC1000 or Furuno 1623. It would be nice to have color but that takes the price up there. But I might change my mind and get a bigger unit.Mast mounting looks to be the better choice for my boat. I have a split backstay so that is out. Pole mount is still an option, but mast mounting looks like the best bang for the buck.Again, thanks for everyone's input.

 

[sailaway78]

JRC 1000

I have a JRC 1000 on an S2 28'. Mounted it on the mast, as this seemed the most viable option for me. One thing I learned is that you don't need to stick that puppy way up there. Matter of fact, that will diminish your ability to see things up real close, like channel markers. Keep in mind that you have a fairly narrow vertical beam width, and it you mount the antenna too high, you will loose the ability to see things on the 1/4 and 1/8 mile range. Mine is about 15' above the waterline, and works pretty darn good.

 

[Brian D]

Nice and Wind

What size is the power cable from the Human Machine Interface to the radome? I know it's length is 10 meters, but what is the diameter? Thanks

 

[sailaway78]

Radome Cable

Brian, the radome cable is approx. 1/4 or 5/16 diameter. The plug is a little larger than that, so that will determine the size hole you need. I had to get a longer cable for mine, think I ended up with a 15 meter cable. A little pricey, but I did sell the origional on ebay and got part of that back. I think that you can get an extension cable, but I really didn't want to do that. The resply about the 1500 vs the 1000 is correct. A little better resolution for the 1500, but for my needs the 1000 does the job. I can see channel markers, and rain approaching. Of course other boats in a fog. One thing that hasn't been mentioned here is to learn to use the machine, no matter which one you end up with. Get it set up properly, according to the book, and then learn to use it well. I think many people who don't like their units have never learned how to use it well. Leave it on all the time, and play with it when the weather and visibility is good. This will be a big help when you really need it. You can actually navigate with a radar, particularly when approaching a coast line from offshore. Just compare the radar image of the shoreline to the charts. The tech guy at JRC is named Pat, and he is a hell of a nice guy, and very helpful. I had a problem with mine, with the screen fogging up on the inside when I first got it. Called them, and they knew what the problem was. Seems like some units got out without the proper coating on the inside of the screen. Sent it to JRC and got it back about 10 days, later, along with some better directions. Has been flawless since. I will more than likely buy a 1500 for the new boat.