New radar mount

[Dmc57]

I replaced my old radar with a new Drs4d-nxt 24” radar dome. I seem to be having a problem seeing close targets. I mounted it in the same place the previous 24” radar dome was located.

There are of coarse many more settings on the new radar and I havnt spent much time with it. I was wondering if it’s that I don’t have it set up correctly, or do I need to mount it higher. I have removed the old gps antenna that’s in this pic, but everything else is the same.

This is the old radar. The new nxt is in the same place.

 

[Dmc57]

New

 

[Johnny Electron]

The lower beam angle of the radar is digging into the boat and the items mounted on the deck. I would recommend moving the dome forward near the from lip of the hard top. It would also solve the problem with the VHF being too close to the dome. 0400 standards call for at least 3 feet between the dome and any VHF or AIS antenna. I guess if you got a radar mount to raise it up higher would have a similar benefit with exception of fixing the VHF distance.

 

[Dmc57]

The VHF antenna can be moved back some, but would be a pain to move. I hate to be drilling more holes in my top, and running wires through it can be a pain also.

I think I’ll look at some mounts, I see I can get them leaning forward. If that doesn’t help I’ll get the drill out.

The old radar seemed to work fine, I was assuming the new would be the same.

Any suggestions on mount height?

Also on the VHF antenna. If the radio is turned off would that solve the 3’ problem?

 

[Johnny Electron]

Eventually the radio would want to be turned on and you might encounter noise on the VHF as well as when the radio transmits that close it is not ideal for the radar receiver either. While completely different freq, the power into a sensitive device picking on very small return signals does not benefit from that RF source being so close, regardless of frequency. Normally NMEA and others provide the installation standards for good reason. The radar seems to have a forward tilt on it to help when running, which is cool if not so far back, but the placement is not great especially with much of the signal blasting into the boat. Ideally you want that signal at the water/air. I do not know how your last radar really picked up like that. I guess with an older mag running manual settings you can power through some of that. If you keep it where it is, I think you would need a 12" or better mount under it, even then I wonder how much of your boat you will be hit rather than the water. I guess you would need to look at it once you mount it higher. You can always make a temp mount (like a good solid large cardboard box) and run it and see how the radar performs. With the boat reflections, I would recommend running in the new clutter in "Channel mode" when running the radar in Auto, just so it won't plug its ears so much.

 

[Dmc57]

Thanks, I was just looking for the easy way out. I’ve got plenty of cable, all I could get was the 15 meter so that’s not a problem. It’s mounted on a wedge that gives it the forward tilt, but the way the top is made it looks like I may not need that. The boat runs pretty flat.

I may also have to move my anchor light, but I guess that won’t hurt anything. I’ve seen mounts that incorporate that on the back.

I guess I’ll drop the electronics box and get the drill out.

If I mount it on the front do you think I could get away with a lower mount? I’d rather not have it sticking up any higher than need be. More like 4”-6”.

 

[Johnny Electron]

I would expect if it were at the front of the hardtop it could be flat on the top and work well as long at your boat hull doesn't pull up a ton when running (which it sounds like it doesn't).