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Subject: TWL: Question about radar location
From: Meyer, Danny (DMeyer@XXX.XXX)
Date: Fri Nov 01 2002 - 09:29:04 EST
Those of you that run radar . . . and have masts of some sort or another . .
.
Recently was sailing and when the owner tacked, a strange gust caught an
extra bit of slack in the jib and the jib-sheet (that's the line that
controls the jib for you non-sailors) flew a bit up in the air, then the
tack finished and the jib went taught <snap>. That is truly a neat feeling
as a sailor . . . when those sails go taught. I love that noise <snap>.
An additional noise came rapidly afterward this time though . . . the radar
array got tangled in the jibsheet and got ripped clean off the mast, and
LAUNCHED. It actually whistled as it flew through the air. Then it went
splash. Being a dome array it floated just long enough for us to do a rapid
man-overboard drill. This was executed with remarkable rapidity and realism
by the owner. You would have thought all his kids were overboard. We got
within a foot or so of grabbing it before it went "blurb" and sank out of
sight.
The owner was crying. Seems this is not his first ur . . . casualty. I had
tears in my eyes . . . 'cause I was really straining myself not to laugh. I
did not want to walk the plank you see . . .
The moral to all this rambling is that I really do not want to install the
radar array on the main mast of my motorsailor. Thinking more along the
lines of a rear dedicated radar pole, or on the "toy tower" with the
antennas.
I know some of you trawler types have masts for stabilizors and such . . .
and some of you may have even <gasp> sailed before. So the question is what
problems does the mast shadow cause . . . and the sails for that matter?
Sails block radar yes? Is it worth the risk putting it on the mast? And
then, if it is high up there . . . it probably should be gimballed yes? Does
rolling and pitching screw up the radar for you trawler types?
Thanks . . . kind of in the design phase of a rear arch (antennas, engine
intakes and engine room vents).
CUAgain,
Daniel Meyer
http://cuagain.manilasites.com
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