Best place for Radar..

[Patrick Turner]

I'm starting to think about adding Radar to my CD36 and so I thought I
'd put it out there.....what is the current wizdom on Radar placement; mast, pole, backstay? Or is it one of those...."no right answere...just whatever appeals to you". Some of you have been through this I know so I'm asking you..if you could do it again would you change where you placed your radar dome, or are you absolutly satisfied with where you did place it?

Any and all comments would be appreciated.

Pat



patrick.t@home.com

[Matt Cawthorne]

Pat,
Just put one on the mast of My '36. I have not actually hooked up the electric to see if it works. The big problem with the mast is running the wires. In my case I also ran new wires for the whole mast , repainted the mast and ran internal halyards so it was a huge job. With all the wires in the mast you need to control them to keep them from slapping. The stock mast had two internal sail tracks. You can hook sail slides to the wires and run them up as a bundle. The problem is that the original wiring took both tracks. For that reason I cleaned the mast completely and ran new harnesses.

Aesthetically I like the mast better. I also like to be as far away from the radar unit as possible. I did not get a self leveling mount and this is the point that worries me the most. We shall see. The mount that I did get has a guard to protect the radar. Another CD-36 in my marina also has the radar on the mast, but a foot or two higher. You will need to move the foredeck light as it will be blocked by the radar unit.

The pole mount should be much easier, but a tad uglier and will add weight in the stern, where the boat is already riding low.

Matt



mcawthor@bellatlantic.net

[Larry Mace]

I'm starting to think about adding Radar to my CD36 and so I thought I
'd put it out there.....what is the current wizdom on Radar placement; mast, pole, backstay? Or is it one of those...."no right answere...just whatever appeals to you". Some of you have been through this I know so I'm asking you..if you could do it again would you change where you placed your radar dome, or are you absolutly satisfied with where you did place it?

Any and all comments would be appreciated.

Pat

Pat,
I also went with the mast mount on my 33. We were able to wire by first dropping a messenger down the mast and exiting the mast below the headliner and routing aft to the nav station through the headliner with a custom teak cover over the wire where it exited the headliner down the cabin side to the nav station. This was not that difficult given my headline is removable board.
To stop the the slapping we tied the largest electical ties aroung the wire every foot as well as attaching closed cell foam to wire every foot or so and squeezing thru the hole in the mast. The job is a bit labor intensive but alot cheaper than removing the mast. We also added a panel at the mast so that if we needed to remove the mast we could just remove the wires there.
I agree with Matt that the stern mount would be easier but it does add weight and the looks do not appeal to me. I priced all options with my rigger and ended up paying him to do the mast install which was about the same as a pole or backstay mount as the hardware for those is pricey.
Larry



lmace@gt.com

[Rob Roy]

Patrick,
I installed 24 inch radar on a self leveling backstay mount facing aft on my 36. It was one of the original Questus mounts; it's an aluminum tube with the backstay running through it. It is a bit of a pain to raise and lower every season, but it isn't heavy, and I actually like the aesthetics. A bit pricey at the time, but over the last 10 years, have not had any problems.
Rob Roy



rr354@hotmail.com

[John R.]

Pat,
Just put one on the mast of My '36. I have not actually hooked up the electric to see if it works. The big problem with the mast is running the wires. In my case I also ran new wires for the whole mast , repainted the mast and ran internal halyards so it was a huge job. With all the wires in the mast you need to control them to keep them from slapping. The stock mast had two internal sail tracks. You can hook sail slides to the wires and run them up as a bundle. The problem is that the original wiring took both tracks. For that reason I cleaned the mast completely and ran new harnesses.

Aesthetically I like the mast better. I also like to be as far away from the radar unit as possible. I did not get a self leveling mount and this is the point that worries me the most. We shall see. The mount that I did get has a guard to protect the radar. Another CD-36 in my marina also has the radar on the mast, but a foot or two higher. You will need to move the foredeck light as it will be blocked by the radar unit.

The pole mount should be much easier, but a tad uglier and will add weight in the stern, where the boat is already riding low.

Matt

I agree with Matt that the mast mount is more aesthetically pleasing. That of course depends on if a transmitter dome is aesthetic in the first place. I also agree with being as far away from the dome as possible. I have a fixed mount dome above the spreaders. The original deck light was removed and I installed a Aqua Signal in between the radar mount legs which protects it, my hailer horn is also mounted there. The drawback is the local feathered friends like to make a nice snug home there about once a year or so. Our 30 has external halyards and so running any wiring inside the mast was always rather easy, including the radar cable. Just use a quality fish tape and it goes pretty quick. Matt is concerned about not getting a gimballing mount but I take a different view. Gimballed mounts are hard on radar cables. The cable is prone to failure due to the constant flexing plus the mounts are ridiculously priced.

[Ken Cave]

Can't agree with you on this subject!! Have had a radar on my backstay with a leveling system for the past three years with no problems with wiring!!

A little pricey, but away from lines, sails, etc. etc. etc.-and it works with sailing on a 20 degree angle!!

Ken Cave
Cape Dory 28 #227



bcave@whidbey.net

[Mike Greenberg]

Mine's on the mizzen mast. After all, the word "mizzen" has its roots in the 17th century Dutch word "mizzen goot", meaning "good place to put the radar".




mikegre1@bellatlantic.net

[Jim Hojlo]

I'm starting to think about adding Radar to my CD36 and so I thought I
'd put it out there.....what is the current wizdom on Radar placement; mast, pole, backstay? Or is it one of those...."no right answere...just whatever appeals to you". Some of you have been through this I know so I'm asking you..if you could do it again would you change where you placed your radar dome, or are you absolutly satisfied with where you did place it?

Any and all comments would be appreciated.

Pat

As I'm sure you know the more height,to a degree the more distance,but the more height the more distortion ie;heel. Mast mount is usually better because most people don't sail with full sail in a fog or storm which is usually when it's needed most,the answer then would be a mast mounted self-leveler.I've had two on sailboats one platform and one mast, I liked the mast better.



jhojlo@ultrablend.com

[Warren Stringer]

We mounted on the mast on our CD 36. Vertical beam divergence will allow you 12-15 degrees heeling before none of the beam is horizontal. So heeling is less a problem, maybe not a problem, except when you are beating to windward. I decided that if this became a problem (so far it's not) I might explore the possibility of converting the fixed mast mount into an electrically leveled mount to compensate for average angle of heeling, controlled from the steering pedestal. Tack the boat, tack the radar. Anyway, its a thought.

Warren



wstringer@aristotle.net

[Jay Ankers]

Patrick:

I installed a Raytheon SL-72 with 18" dome on our CD-30 Cutter on the backstay mount with the dome on the back of the stay....and I am VERY pleased with the performance.

We just sailed from Maryland to Maine and it performed flawlessly in both the ocean swells and Buzzards Bay chop. We had great sailing weather and the swivel mount is worth the money without a doubt.

We were told that at the lower height on the backstay that the radar would not be much good past 8 nautical miles. At 16 miles it picks up fishing boat and at 24 it picks up even low land masses.

I have seen lesser radars get "feedback" from the boats own rigging but the Ratheon tunes it out. However, it still picks up marks less than one boat length away from the bow.

One important note to Cape Dory Owners....Our backstays are not as steep as the support tubes are intended to be mounted to. I had an aluminum wedge made by a local machine shop that allowed the radome to be perfectly level fore/aft with the horizon.

When I installed the wedge...one other great feature was evident....the radar support just hinges forward when you connect the Main Halyard to it and disconnect the backstay. I could work on the dome or wiring if I was sitting at anchor in some distant harbor..No mast crane or bosun's chair required.

Jay Ankers
s/v Per Diem
CD-30 #344



jankers@pii-cgmp.com