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I am repositioning my Radar scanner dome from the Davits to the Mizzen. I wanted to get the dome up higher so it had the more correct down looking attitude.

As i have to make a strut to mount the Radome on, I was wondering if it was worth myself biulding one of the self leveling mounts. So has anyone had experience with one? does it make a big difference having the dome level when the boat is heeling over?? Or is it just as affective to have the dome hard mounted.

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All depends on the vertical angle of the beam (or Vertical Beamwidth)

 

as an example a Furuno MODEL 1623 has a Vertical Beamwidth 25°.

You would need to do the figures regarding mast height, angle of heel, vertical beam width to determine if the hassle is worth it.

 

For example if you are under sail on port tack and heeling 10deg with a low scanner you may find that your radar may be practically useless for picking up low profile targets (small) on your port side, and you get a lot of sea clutter on the stbd side.

 

Different scanners have different angles so check the manual and make sure that your scanner is the one you have the manual for, often one model can have several different speced scanner for it.

 

As you are into tinkering you could test how the radar picks up targets at different angles of tilt by make an adjustable platform. Then find a nice open area on a calm day that has a variety of targets then do a series of tests to see if your scanner is giving you results that you would be happy with at diffenrent angles of tilt. Then you could either leave it fixed mount or build a self leveling mount.

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I have seen a nice setup that pivots but not freely. It had a locking pin and 3 positions each side of center. I think the issue of it swinging causes problems.

 

I made the mistake of ordering the factory mount for my radar with out asking the price first. It was 1/3 the cost of the dome :crazy:

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Ouch. Typical though.

One area of concern I have is the cable. I am a bit worried how much flexing it will take before fine wire inside gets stressed and breaks.

Hmmm, I dunno, the odd times I use a radar, I most likely will be under motor anyway. I am all for keeping it simple in this kind of thing. Maybe I should just make a solid mount.

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Yeah good question. No actually it doesn't. The signal and it's echo will actually "bend around" the main mast as if it wasn't there. I am not to sure though, just how far away a metal pole has to be before it goes from invisible to becoming a "target".

A very wet sail as when it rains, will reduce the signal and sometimes stop the return echo, but it depends on the power of the Radar of course.

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Yeah good question. No actually it doesn't. The signal and it's echo will actually "bend around" the main mast as if it wasn't there. I am not to sure though, just how far away a metal pole has to be before it goes from invisible to becoming a "target".

A very wet sail as when it rains, will reduce the signal and sometimes stop the return echo, but it depends on the power of the Radar of course.

I seem to remember inside 8-10 meters masts and such wont affect the performance.

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Recall seeing something about this recently...If your local library has YM (luckily ours does!), check out March 2010 issue....but main effects (given mount tested) can be seen on photos on link below...

 

http://www.yachtingmonthly.com/pictures/out-and-about/25888/3/3/self-levelling-radar-test.

 

Quick check of prices of proprietry mounts led us to quickly conclude we could live with existing fixed one, given frequency of use...but if you can knock up a gimballed one quickly I'd say go for it....if u can build in some damping as well as lock that's probably make sense too?

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Ouch. Typical though.

One area of concern I have is the cable. I am a bit worried how much flexing it will take before fine wire inside gets stressed and breaks.

Hmmm, I dunno, the odd times I use a radar, I most likely will be under motor anyway. I am all for keeping it simple in this kind of thing. Maybe I should just make a solid mount.

 

bang it up the rig on a pivot and trim with a bridle, reset if and when you tack, doesnt bobble about so fatique in cable shouldnt be a problem , worked 350000 odd miles on the starlight

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