Radar Mounting: On Mast or Stern Pole ?

[Rorzech]

I would get the new 3G or 4G radar that uses less power than a cell phone. They don't have that 200 meter radius exclusion zone either. Mount it on a pole with a manual sideways tilt with three settings straight up , Tilted right, Tilted left for when your healed over either side. You can get a two inch SS pole for a buck a pound at any scrapyard.
That's what I did.

[lifeofreilly57]

I've had both types, mast mounted and pole mounted.
If you use a pole it needs to be tall enough to get the radome well above your head, they emit pretty strong signals and for safety sake you don't want to be cooking your brains, it's too late for me, mines cooked, but there's still hope for you. Hmmm....wasn't the microwave oven an outgrowth of radar technology?
If I had my druthers I'd use a backstay mounted gimbal mount, I had one long ago and found it solved multiple issues.
If your going to a new radar system the new solid state radomes don't weigh as much as older traditional units so weight is not as much an issue.
Unfortunately my current boat has an insulated backstay for the SSB, so a backstay mount is out of the question.
Another benefit of the backstay mount? usually they mount to the backstay on a slide mount, with a lightweight pole to keep them suspended at the proper height. To service the radome (clean off bird poop, etc, etc) all you have to do is remove the retaining bolt on the pole base and let the radome slide down to deck height, it's a really handy feature. Just sayin.

[markpierce]

Mounting on the mast will give one better range compared to a pole near the stern. The mast avoids the expense of a pole. Also, a pole will probably radiate close to the deck. Didn't the inventor of the microwave oven get inspiration from a melting candy bar while standing in front of a radar unit?

[AndyEss]

My boat came with 2 radar sets - one on the mast, one on a stern pole. The mast unit, an old Furuno with a CRT screen at the nav station is still operational, while the stern pole mount was DOA on purchase. I replaced the stern pole radar with a 4G solid state, but was tempted to just put it at the mast (for more range) ending up just with one radar. My sail guy convinced me that putting the new unit on the stern pole had the advantage that if you lose the mast (far more likely than losing a stern pole) you still have all the gear that was mounted on the stern pole. I have two VHF radios, one with an antenna on the mast, one antenna on a stern pole. If i lost the mast, I'd lose the Ssb backstay antenna, but with sat phones this isn't as important as it once was. The stern poles attach and stiffen my bimini, which allowed me to add semi-flexible solar panels to the bimini top easily. One on the stern poles has a hoist for my dinghy outboard - the other pole has the wind gen plus lighting.
It's a breeze to get to any equipment on the stern poles for maintenance in almost any weather. While my Monitor precludes having davits, dual stern poles allow davits.
For long term flexibility and expansion capability, I'd go with a stern pole radar mount

[PassePort III]

Hi.
Mine is just above the spreaders, 18' from the deck, works just fine.

[Mainebristol]

I've got the cheapest Furuno mounted on my mizzen, maybe twelve feet up or so. I live in Maine, and can see lobster pot buoys with it when the seas are calm and I have it tuned right. Not really useful, though.

Anything that small, it's best to use the mark 1 eyeball. We have thick fog up here, but I mean, come on. Mounting it lower on a pole is not going to give me anymore info on stuff close in. I agree with all the other pros for mounting on a pole, however. It's just that I have a mizzen.

[stormalong]

Mine is mounted on the mast, just above the lower spreaders and about 25 feet above the water line. I installed it there 26 years ago. I am now on my second radar system but still using the same mount.

I prefer the mast mount for two reasons. 1) Greater height means greater range and 2) Mast mount is completely out of the way.

The mast mount is stronger, less structurally complex and is one less thing bolted to the deck to get in the way. It is also less expensive.

Some posters have commented about leveling mounts. IMO totally unnecessary. It has been a seldom event that heel or roll has affected the radar. The few times that it has been an issue carefully watching the display still provided good information.

[takeabow40]

As radar waves go in a straight line mounted on the stern behind the mast you will have a blind spot from the mast the closer to the back of the mast the bigger the blind spot simple mathematics

[bobmcd625]

I went through the same decision process and opted for the stern pole.
Garhauer (https://www.garhauerstore.com/transo...cessories.html) make very reasonable radar masts with all necessary supporting hardware. Theirs is not gimbaled, but is adjustable which is more stable. Good luck.

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by takeabow40

As radar waves go in a straight line mounted on the stern behind the mast you will have a blind spot from the mast the closer to the back of the mast the bigger the blind spot simple mathematics

Given the relatively wide horizontal resolution of small radars this really isn't a problem.

[Rorzech]

New 3G and 4G radars advertise showing a child wrapping his arms around the radar dome expressing the fact that you can mount it anywhere you want because it has no harmful radiation.

[Tayana42]

Originally Posted by bobmcd625

I went through the same decision process and opted for the stern pole.

Garhauer (https://www.garhauerstore.com/transo...cessories.html) make very reasonable radar masts with all necessary supporting hardware. Theirs is not gimbaled, but is adjustable which is more stable. Good luck.

The backstay pole with self leveling mount by Questus is still available and Questus is now owned by Garhauer.

http://www.questusmarine.com/self-le...mounts-13.html

[TreblePlink]

Originally Posted by takeabow40

As radar waves go in a straight line mounted on the stern behind the mast you will have a blind spot from the mast the closer to the back of the mast the bigger the blind spot simple mathematics

Except that the Radar antenna aperture (think initial beam width) is 18-24 inches, and the mast is 5. So the blockage is minimal.

[frozenhawaiian]

well first of all lobster pots aren't going to show up unless the lobster pots in question are high flyers with radar reflectors on them, regardless of where the radar is mounted. older radars don't weigh very much, certainly not enough to be a stability concern. if it's mounted on the mast currently I'd just leave it be.

[fatherchronica]

So far I have had pretty good? luck using my propellor to find crab pots.