On Thu, 18 Dec 2003 17:40:10 -0800, "Lloyd Sumpter"
wrote:

Hi,

Considering buying a radar, so I have a few questions:

1. On a sailboat, where do you put the display? I rarely steer from behind the
wheel, mainly by sitting on one of the gunwales beside the wheel, or sometimes
by Otto while hiding from the rain under the dodger (hence the name... ).

You need it where you can see it when you will actually be using it. I
have it mounted over the wheel. If you expect to use it while steering
from the side, you might consider making it turnable.

2. Realistically, how far do you set the max range? I'm seeing that unless I
mount the antenna up the mast, I'm not gonna get more than maybe 10 miles range
no matter what unit I buy. Then again, if I see a freighter steaming at 30
knots, 10 miles away, I still have 20 minutes to do something. Is a 20-mile
range worth getting?

I usually switch between 3 and 6 miles. I occasionally go to 12 or 24
momentarily to see land or large ships.

The default settings of my radar make it show rain on 6 mi and filter
it out on 3, a handy combination.

3. Do you trust yours enough to use it instead of a "watch" (ie watch the radar
screen instead of where you're going)? Trying to decide if getting a radar will
increase my cruising time significantly (ie more confidence in running at night)

I use it when I can't see anything in dense fog. At night, I can see
the radar and look ahead as well, although the radar impairs night
vision. My biggest beef with my Raytheon SR72 is the coarse steps in
the illumination. The dimmest setting that lights at all is far too
bright for dark nights.


6. Is it worth while to mount the antenna up the mast, or should I use a
"dedicated" mast at the transom?

I put it on a stern mast, because it added less to the pitching moment
and I could mount it lower than I could on the mast without
interfering with spinnaker gear. I didn't want it higher because it
was more vulnerable to sea clutter.

The sea clutter consideration applied to my original radar, a Furuno
1720. It may be that the Raytheon has good enough filtering so this
wouldn't be as big a problem, but I still have it on a mast. I don't
want the genoas hitting it during tacks anyway.



Rodney Myrvaagnes J36 Gjo/a


"In this house we _obey_ the laws of thermodynamics." --Homer Simpson