Radar and Satellite

[twistedtree]

I think it's worth investing the time to make some good scale drawings. I went through at least a half dozen variations before settling on the one I built. Get the installation manuals for all your electronics and read what they say about placement. It's often impossible to meet all requirements, but you will have to optimize based on what's most important to you. The Sat dome vendors spell out the "view" of the sky that they need for unobstructed reception, and the radar vendors spec the beam angle above and below a level horizon. You can draw in all those lines and see what's interfering with what, and be confident of what you will get when you are done.

[Vyndance]

I have a KVH M3 on a 6in Scanstrut and the radar dome on a 12. The tops are almost even for a clean look. There is no interference.

[Hkalan]

Hello,

I am most comfortable if the radar magnatron sweep stays away from the Satellite LNB.

Just looking at the images from the shipbuilders website, I was able to roughly sketch how I need to do some detailed planning for this....

Alan

[Hkalan]

Hello Everyone,

After close review, and using the fantastic input from everyone here... I realize the radar will need to be a minimum of 25.1 inches above the stern flybridge hardtop to have the radar fully functional when driving the vessel.

The Intellian Satellite Dome is 28.3 inches, so the Satellite Domes will be fastened directly to the hardtop stern corners (with a wedge to level the dish's). See the attached image dimensions.

Now I need to find someone to build me a strong and yet attractive radar mast !

Thanks everyone !

Alan

[Katiusha]

Quick question: in this design will your radar sweep (+/- vertical 10 degrees) include the helmsman?

[Hkalan]

Hello Katiusha,

I hope I am reading this correctly. By definition of "Helmsmen", are you speaking of the +/- vertical 10 degrees crossing "me" when driving the vessel ?

Having the Raymarine radome above the stern flybridge hardtop by 28 inches, the path of the radar signal will remain above my head at all times.

Following the Raymarine instructions (see the image below), and the additional hight of the mast it will be attached. By my calculations it would be clearly above my head and still above the bow but on a horizontal plain at anchor and while driving.

Thanks,

Alan

[Katiusha]

That's good then. Just make sure that people don't stay in the path of the radar when it's operating. Radar fries brains as easily as sensitive electronics.

Also, looks like Raymarine radar has a vertical +/- 12.5 degrees instead of Furuno's +/- 10. Make sure that your sat dome is still outside of the radar beam with Raymarine's measurements.

[Hkalan]

Hello,

Thanks so much for all the great feedback !

The +/-12.5 degrees is actually a good thing in this situation (my opinion) with the height of the mast I need to make.

I have the actual ship builder assisting me with heights and angles of wedges, as well as proper placement of the satellite domes so it is perfectly placed for absolute best operations !

Alan

[LexLocal]

-Radar Mount--

High enough for correct plane of radar radiation-

Versus

The dreaded Shadow… on the solar panels-

Many thanks to Alan and fellow Cruisers for taking on a complex challenge-
Scanner location and correct plane of radiation for all Motor Vessel speeds-

Same issue for my Raymarine RL 70 C—Radar …18 inch Scanner-arch mounted on a 5 inch pedestal –After install of the 4 Kyocera 315 Solar Panels were mounted…(hard Kyocera bimini has the same footprint as the soft bimini-132 inches long by 102 inches wide)-

……...Post solar install…. a fuzzy return on the radar display—

Hkalan’s drawings and illustrations directly apply to my issue of –
1. How High to elevate the Scanner antenna to radiate beyond the metal of the Solar Panels-
2. How to minimize the shadow of the Radar Mount on the panels-

(1) Calculations and stretching a lanyard from the forward bow rail..to the forward edge of the panels…..to a point above the current location –indicate 41 inches for the new base of scanner-

The Raymarine manual indicates the higher the better—BUT considering pitch and roll-not to high—any ideas???
(2) How bout cutting the 5 inch Aluminum radar antenna mount in two equal pieces- three Aluminum Pipes-1 only 5 inch diameter 13 inches long……one only 4 inch pipe 13 long and one only 3 inch-
(3) Nest the three together-weld the radar mount top to the 3 inch-
Weld the Mount Base to the 5 inch pipe-Coil the flexible radar cable in the Radar Arch with enough length -41 inches-Raise and pin the legs as needed-

--TAAAADaaaaahhhhha

Any Help appreciated-

Lex

[LexLocal]

Thanks to Katiusha and this Post for the warning about Radar exposure-

THIS POST SHOULD BE REQUIRED READING FOR ANY VESSEL WITH RADAR!

Though PROFESSIONALLY installed-

My head was in the radiation plane when standing-(I’m six feet)-And.....{Overheated teeth ……required many cool drinks}…

Lex

[sailorgal]

LexLocal -- sounds like you want some type of radar mount that can be raised and lowered to avoid shadow on the solar panels when not underway? Have you looked into some of the RV satellite mounts?