I agree that it is a “what’s important to you” issue, but for me the weight aloft isn’t a real concern. The antenna weighs 10-15 pounds and up near the second spreader would be 35 feet off the deck. I don’t see that as all that significant because I don’t race any more.
For me the tradeoff is maximum range (having the antenna high gets you out over the horizon so you can get 16, 24, or more miles of range) vs the ability to see things close by (like channel markers less than ¼ mile away) when entering a harbor or negotiating a fog bank. The high mounted antenna looks over the top of the smaller targets that are close in. The low mount antenna sees the close in targets better, but at the expense of limiting the range at which you see shorter targets like small boats or low lying shores. I have a 16 mile radar, with the antenna mounted on a pole supported by a radar arch, and the antenna is about 14 feet above the water. From that height the horizon is only about 4.5 NM, and I can see a medium sized fishing boat at about 7 or 8 miles. A freighter is taller so I can pick it up farther away. But more important for me, I can see channel markers inside of ¼ mile away. If the antenna were 30 or 35 feet above the water, I’d probably pick up the fishing boat at near 16 miles, but the radar beam would just pass over the top of the channel markers and not return an echo. Rick Brass Washington, NC From: CnC-List [mailto:cnc-list-boun...@cnc-list.com] On Behalf Of Edd Schillay via CnC-List Sent: Tuesday, December 29, 2015 2:29 PM To: cnc-list@cnc-list.com Cc: Edd Schillay <e...@schillay.com> Subject: Re: Stus-List Stus List - Raymarine Combo on sale again Mike, As I understand it, that’s one of those “what’s more important to you” choices. The radar will “see” more at the top of the mast, but having that much weight aloft will affect sailing performance. Personally, I’d go with the stern pole. That way, if you need to fix anything, it doesn’t involve a mast climb. Going to the NY show as well on the Sunday. Hope to run into you and other C&C’ers. All the best, Edd Edd M. Schillay Starship Enterprise C&C 37+ | Sail No: NCC-1701-B City Island, NY Starship Enterprise's Captain's Log <http://enterpriseb.blogspot.com/> On Dec 29, 2015, at 2:23 PM, Headgorilla via CnC-List <cnc-list@cnc-list.com <mailto:cnc-list@cnc-list.com> > wrote: Thanks for discussing the Raymarine equipment, I am going into the NY boat show next week to see my electronics people and probably but a package due to all the rebates and discounts they offer, so I appreciate your experience on this subject....I am listening. One Question: where the best spot to mount the Radar antenna, on the Mast? or off a pole on the stern? Mike Dolan 1979 34' C&C "Skywalker" Southold, NY
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