Radar 'Heads Up' Off by 45º

[benjiwoodboat]

Anyone ever experience this issue? It's like the scanner is mounted 45º off angle on the my mast.... but how could that be - screw holes wouldn't allow for that... So until I sort it out, I use an EBL at 45º as my TRACK. I'm getting used to it, but would love to figure this one out.

This is a Raythen RL9 unit.

[donradcliffe]

Did you ever do the bearing alignment procedure??

[Hudson Force]

I had to resort to reading the manual to make the adjustment aligning the radar heading with my vessel heading. It's a simple fix. 'take care and joy, Aythya crew

[rodney_k]

The RL9 manual is here: http://www.raymarine.com/SubmittedFi.../radar/RL9.pdf

The relative bearing adjustment procedure is on page 5-12. I have an ST50 radar (same as RL9) & had to do this procedure when I bought boat in 2002. I don't know how the previous owner used the radar with the bearing off so far.

[senormechanico]

I used to have an Autohelm unit which was the same radar.
The bearing adjustment would revert to a similar angle if it hadn't been used for awhile.
There's a small disc shaped battery inside the unit which was weak. It was supposed to keep the volatile memory alive during non use.

Steve B.

[barnakiel]

If linked with the compass sensor then once it is gone it may set everything off (also your heading on the chart plotter by a set value. Seen this too many times. Old Ray issue.

b.

[benjiwoodboat]

thanks all for the ideas and info. I checked out the manual again and tried the bearing adjustment, but it didnt do anything for me. And from what I understood reading it a few times, that was to get the EBLs relative bearings aligned properly, not the ships heading. My RL9 is not connected to any other electronics, or compasses, so that shouldn't be an issue.

In my manual it says that the SHIPS HEADING alignement is to be performed by a Raytheon technician... ho hum...

[David M]

You don't need to hire a professional to do this. They are just covering their you know whats. The instructions for installing my Furuno unit described how the user can do this for himself.

You may want to call their tech support number.

[benjiwoodboat]

Yeah the manual tells you how on 5-12.
Thanks for the tid bit about the weak battery, must be the problem, becuase I have to reset often. Anyone know where that battery is and how to change it?

Thanks

[Lodesman]

Battery change is described in the manual 5.2.6. I don't know this particular model but have a pretty good understanding of how radars work - the bearing alignment procedure should have worked IMO. If the battery change doesn't help, you might want to try a master reset (also described in the manual), and as a last resort you may need to open up the radome and realign the magnet and SHM switch (#6 and 21 in the blow-up diagram) - get a pro if you're not really handy.