Radar is a go

[Linesider82]

Originally Posted by wdmso

I did read a Hard top could possibly cause problems? I have a soft top

seeing I have never had radar i'll need to run it all the time in every trim and sea condition to be Sure it is seeing what I am seeing before I see it

I think you'll be fine as long as it's mounted level to the waterline. I noticed most of the radar shims for sale are 4 degrees, maybe most boat decks are 2% at rest to drain water and the extra 2% helps balance out the radar while under power??? I checked tilting the radar back 4 degrees on my sketch and it adds 16' to where the radar intersects the water in the front of the boat which would be 50' instead of 34'... at 8 degrees it adds another 45 feet (95' instead of 34'). The most significant loss when tilting the radar down occurs in the range where we might not see birds well but the radar can. I.e. at 1000' with the radar set parallel to the waterline it can "see" a height of 229' above the water, tilting the radar down 4 degrees at the same range the radar would only read to 157'. My primary reason for the addition of radar is for safety, so my goal of mounting will be some blend being able to see close to the boat first, and secondarily seeing something cool like working birds.

Originally Posted by Guppy

Awesome work.....
I’m planning an 18” dome come spring... last winter I had a couple alum plates welded into the soft top t top at the same
local you show yours..
I’m not sure I’ll be concerned about the beam towards the aft....

Will you use bushings at each bolt to raise the unit?

Great info LS,,, thanks

Hurry Wayne, only 3 months left.... :-)

I want to see the water all the way around my boat within reason in case fog rolls in and someone approaches from the aft, or in a night situation during the time I am using the radar to head out or head in and am being overtaken by someone else I can see their approach.

I will use some sort of marine star-board for a mount and marine sealant for weather proofing the hole in my hardtop for the power and data cables.

Before I mount any type of shim, I will check the slope of my hardtop at rest in the water with a 6' level and figure out what shim will get me parallel to the waterline.

I'm glad wdmso posted about this, it's been a good exercise!