Radar Mounting

[circle hook]

Any ideas on how to mount a radar dome on a 24 foot Grady White with out a hard top or arch, I found a farely new but used Furno unit and due to budgeting I will have to wait till next year to get a hard top. Any ideas to get me buy would be a great help. Oh I do have a bimmi top pretty strong has about 50 LBS of ice & snow on top right now. Thanks Bob

 

[Neverhome]

Re: Radar Mounting

There are a couple of people at my marina who have gotten around the problem of mounting radar without a hard top by mounting a pole with a flat surface on the top. One placed it at the stern and one used a pole with a 90 degree bend attached to the side of the cockpit. Just be sure you have about 4' of clearance above anyones head for safety purposes.

Good luck with the mounting. I put radar on my boat three years ago and will never be without it again. Here in Maine the fog can roll in within a few minutes and it has gotten me home safely a couple of times.


Neverhome

 

[circle hook]

Re: Radar Mounting

can it be like 3inch PVC 4 foot should not have that much bend & with the rocking of the boat would it matter any way, I think I may go with PVC this year then next year I will have a hard top. Thanks Bob

 

[thurps]

Re: Radar Mounting

It's tough to make sudgestions when one dosen't know the exact structure of your boat. I would think a stroll around the marina would give you a world of ideas. Besides you might catch someone down there that would love to show you their solutions.

 

[dingbat]

Re: Radar Mounting

The dome weighs roughly #25 lbs so whatever you use make sure that it can support the weigh and don't forget to factor in the inertia of stuffing a wave at 12 mph with #25 lbs sitting on a piece of plastic pipe.

I know a guy who mounted one on a pole in a CC but he used aluminum tubing and has guide wires to brace the top of the bracket to the floor. He also doesn?t like to run with it up in rough conditions.

Personally, if I got a good deal on it I?d pick it up but not install it until you get your hard top next year.

 

[circle hook]

Re: Radar Mounting

yea I have many of thoughts one is I am going to buy the unit, two the idea of a 2inch galvanized pipe looks like the mast on a sail boat, the only thing that worrys me is if you get caught in lighting are you a better target with a 6 foot steel pole on your boat. or do they ground the mast in some way, shape or form. radar must be the way to go at night, I run in the NY lower harbor and around sandy hook & those 1/4 mile long ships just sneek up on you so quietly again thanks for all the feed back and Happy Holidays to all

FISH ON & TIGHT LINES BOB

 

[m&m252]

Re: Radar Mounting

customs,border patrol,dep,local law officers have the pole mounted version on all their vessels ,lot of these boats dont have tops either...not pretty but it works...

 

[Neverhome]

Re: Radar Mounting

I personally would be leary about PVC for the mounting pole. Dingbat made a good sugestion about buying it now and waiting for the hardtop. I don't know about the lightning issue but there are tons of sailboats out there with masts higher than 6' and I know they are all not grounded. I would think about it before you make holes in the boat for this year and then have to fill them when you get your hardtop. If you don't have one, I would also recommend a good chart plotter/gps unit. It won't tell you when other boats are bearing down on you but it is invaluable at night or in fog when you are trying to find the inlet. It is an excellent compliment to radar.

Neverhome

 

[circle hook]

Re: Radar Mounting

yea I have (2) GPS/CHART PLOTERS & DEPTH FINDERS on board my boat garmin & Lowarance, and I have bought the radar unit and I though I will temperly mount the dome on a 2x4 just to play with it, clamped to the boat no holes drilled and next year I will mount it on the hard top and then also know how to use it. Thanks for all feed back and a safe and happy holiday season to all. Bob

 

[JMRuth72]

Re: Radar Mounting

If you are in to big a hurry to get it mounted you might get yourself or someone else hurt or loose the radar over the side. PVC is not an answer, it is not strong enough at that length to support a dynamic load of 25#s. Clamping a 2x4 is also a bad idea as the clamps could come loose or the part of the boat that it is clamped to could break. I would recommend a healthy mast made out of metal securely mounted on a braced section of deck, wait until you can get the hard top or if you have access to a decent pipe bender you could make a arch. Bend it similar to a bimini top with two cross bars and bolt a piece of sheet metal between them in the top middle then mount the radar to that. Might take some time to get the bends in the right places, but it you make each cross piece a two piece so that you have a left and a right you can just measure and cut the length so that they meet in the middle. Then take a piece of smaller tube that just fits the inside and bolt it all together. Of course this is the simplified version, it would take some design work to get the height, width and rigidity for the job. It is however and idea. Good luck and let us know.