Three radar questions

[denmanislander]

Just bought a 36' sundeck cruiser and would like to mount a new radar on the front of the flybridge, where the searchlight is curently located. Three questions:
Will this fry private parts of those in the flybridge ,
Will it give good coverage behind the boat through all the propane tanks etc. stored above and,
Since I have an older came-with-the-boat Garmin chartplotter (182C), is there a radar I should buy that will connect to newer chartplotter/integrated packages that I might buy when the shock of the boat purchase goes away?
(I tried to search for a similar thread but no joy - sorry if this repeats..)

[Chief Engineer]

Personally I don't like the idea of mounting a radar in front of a flybridge.

There will be many on this board that will say it won't hurt you.

The key is unobstructed "view" for the radar.

Also you have to figure in what the angle the boat will be at under speed.

If it is bow up, you will be looking at the sky in the front and into the water on the stern. (exaggeration)

Remember that radar is a line of sight operation

[Ziggy]

Exposing yourself (or your crew) to rf radiation is not a good idea over the long run. I would install it somewhere above head height. This will also avoid the propane tanks or other metal objects interfering with the line of sight.

As far as I know, radar scanners only integrate with same brand chartplotters, specifically designed for radar integration. Raymarine, Furuno, and Garmin all sell radar/chartplotter combos.

[Bill Burgette]

I don't know for a fact but it may make your "parts" glow in the dark like a lightning bug and you will be of no further use to your spouse except your paycheck and boat.

Way back in 1940, two scientists, Sir John Randall and Dr. H. A. Boot, invented a device called a magnetron to produce microwaves in their lab at England's Birmingham University.
What did they want the magnetron for?
Real simple - to cook the Nazi's goose.
The magnetron is a key component to the radar (radio detecting and ranging) which bounced microwaves off the enemy's war machines to detect their presence.
Cooking food was not exactly part of their vision.
After the war, in 1946, a Raytheon Company engineer named Dr. Percy Spencer was about to make history.
Doc Spencer was performing tests on a magnetron tube when he got strong cravings for the chocolate bar that was in his pocket.
He reached into his pocket only to be surprised by a nice gooey mess. (Some claim that the chocolate was on his desk and not in his pocket.) Doc Spencer was well aware of the fact that the magnetron produced heat, but he did not sense any. He suspected that the magnetron had melted the chocolate, not his body heat.
(Now, I don't know about you, but if I noticed that all the food products brought near this thing were being quickly cooked, I would assume that the machine was doing the same to me. I really doubt that a new type of oven would be my first thought...)
He needed to test his theory that the magnetron was cooking his food.
He had to use... (drum roll please)... Science!
He sent out for a bag of popcorn and placed it in front of the magnetron tube.
Guess what? The popcorn popped all over the floor.
The next morning he tried cooking up some eggs. In a very famous incident, one of his fellow colleagues was very curious and happened to get a bit too close - the egg blew up in his face (Is this where we get the expression egg on his face?).
Raytheon set out to make the first microwave oven. Since the magnetrons were used to make radars, they gave it the name Radar Range.

[GordMay]

See also “RADAR in the marina”
cruisersforum.com/forums/f13/radar-in-the-marina-7309.html
http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...rina-7309.html

[denmanislander]

Thanks all! Will, I think, get a SS mast for aft of the flybridge and put the dome up there out of the way and higher up.

[David M]

Check the vertical beam angle. You may still be getting EMF even if your head is below line of sight of the antenna.

I wonder....

Why not just read your radar installation manual? It has all of the details in there about clearances from crew and such details... The primary body parts affected are corneas, not reproductive parts. High intensity microwave RF most certainly does cause cataracts. All other bodily impacts are speculative at best. Blindness however does most certainly suck...

[Jesse]

In 1962 I was serving on a Nike Ajax missile site. One of my crew mates was worried that the radiation might make him sterile and he voiced his concern to the Inspector General. About 7mo. later he received an answer telling him not to worry, tests had confirmed that it took 3 times as much to sterilize you than it would to kill you, or words to that effect. We all took great comfort in that and were no longer concerned that all the camera flashbulbs in the barracks would pop unless they were in a steel locker every time the target acquisition radar was fired up. Apparently we weren't harmed by it and my grandson doesn't glow in the dark, but there is just something about it that makes me uneasy about being that close to the transmitter.

Jesse

[David M]

There are four factors that make a trememendous difference in your health. Distance, power, frequency and exposure time all make a difference.

[Sunspot Baby]

Beyond the health risk, mounting it higher will give it a greater horizon distance.

I don't think your old chart plotter supports radar display.

George

[fairbank56]

Originally Posted by Bill Burgette

I don't know for a fact but it may make your "parts" glow in the dark like a lightning bug and you will be of no further use to your spouse except your paycheck and boat.

The magnetron in a microwave oven is operated at 100% duty cycle when your on the high power setting. In the typical small boat pulsed radar system, it's less than 1% with an average output of less than 2 watts. Your not going to cook anything with that. The only danger with these low power radars is to the eyes at very close range (less than 3 feet). It is prudent and recommended to mount the scanner above head height. You don't have to worry about the vertical beam angle except within 3 feet of the antenna.

Eric

[amytom]

About the health concerns:

I worked on missile guidance systems (Mk74 Mod14; MUCH more powerful than anything Raymarine or Foruno ever put out) in the Navy. My first son was concieved after my first tour in the gulf war and he is autistic. When I tried to have my second child nothing happenned for quite some time. After being tested I was told something about reduced mobility. My ship went into the yards and voila out comes my daughter, perfectly healthy (except for being a teenager now).
My now ex-wife has had two more kids and one of them is also autistic (nothing to do with radar).
Of course, I don't worry about any of that now (snip snip). Besides, it was time to stop after 6 kids.

[amytom]

Just realized (after a few more cups of coffee) my last post went well into the TMI zone. Oh well, we're all friends right?

[CaptHead]

What about the numerous speed cops that set their working radar guns on their lap? They ended up sterile, or worse with cancer and lost the boys down under.

I was an X-Ray tech and believe me, radar is dangerous long term.