Radar question

[bigeye2k]

I have seen some parker owners mount the radar dome at an downwards angle. Why is this and how much does it improve the radars functionality

 

[dcunniff]

Typed this once and didn't go through.

Radars mount angled forward so that when you are on plane the signal emits and returns horizontally.

Can buy flat mounts and add wedges, or mounts with a fixed angle.

Some sailboat mounts are available gimbal mounted.

Dana

 

[Megabyte]

Most of the wedges you will find are the the 4 degree range.

 

[Porkchunker]

Mine is mounted flat to the roof and does OK. The Raymarine manual states it has an operating range of 15 deg both up and down from the center of the beam. I've made some wedges and one of these days when I take a break from fishing, I'll install them.

 

[esfishdoc]

I don't have wedges in mine and I can't see where I need them. I can mark small boats and bouys when running up close.....

Richard

 

[Porkchunker]

I'm still going to add the wedges to split the difference between when at rest/drift and when under way.

 

[JimH]

Bigeye,
I recently added radar to my 2320...I used a 4 degree wedge along with a 5" Powermount...Both were purchased from BOE Marine. From the picture you can see the wedge keeps the center of the radar antenna horizontal to the surface...The radars vertical beam width is 15 degrees so I don't think the 4 degrees affects performance it just looks better when the radar antenna is horizontal to the surface when the boat is at rest. I added the 5 inch mount to raise the radar antenna above my GPS antenna to prevent interference and damage to the GPS receiver.

Jim

 

[JimH]

I had some issues posting the pictures on the 1st try...