New Radar Mount - With a Surprise!

[djpeewee]

After nearly ripping the radome off the boat earlier this summer, we decided find something lower profile since our Albin is trailered often. There's not much commercially available that is low profile, so we had a couple of welders fabricate something from a sketch we drew. We have 3 or so aluminum boat building companies in town, so finding a competent aluminum welder wasn't too difficult. After powder coating the mount and drilling and epoxying some holes in the hard top, here is the result:

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Up2.jpg

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The coolest part though, is that it folds down, making it more than a foot lower than the factory radar arch. The whole mount is only 5 inches taller than the roof when in "tow" mode. Now, if the radome gets ripped off the boat while towing, we have a much bigger problem to deal with.

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[RobS]

Fancy & nicely done. What Garmin display do you have ?

[djpeewee]

We recently installed a 7612xsv with a pair of GT51M transducers.

[RobS]

We recently installed a 7612xsv with a pair of GT51M transducers.

Very cool, I installed the 7612xsv with the ducer pair as well. How do you like it? I'm lovin' it. Except my non-touchscreen unit next to it has a lot of fingerprints on the screen now!

Here's some recent screenshots cruising over some wrecks and a shot of AIS targets at a dock full of megayachts. AIS is via an Icom M506 vhf over the N2K network. I also have her interfaced with the Simrad AP24 over N2K and they communicate perfectly. N2K is such a great improvement over being restricted by proprietary networks and working with NMEA183 connections.

[djpeewee]

Rob, so far we love the Garmin. We've had a few problems with the auto pilot, but mostly just calibration issues. We haven't really done anything serious with the Sonar, but are very happy so far. I can't wait to take it fishing! It's going to get a good workout.

[whwells]

DJ: That a fine looking piece of art. Well, done in every way. Thanks for sharing.
whwells "Howard"

[Pitou]

Well done. I like it.

[Jforesta]

DJ
Looks great, How did you cover the area after you removed the radar arch?

[djpeewee]

To cover the mounting and cable access holes from the factory arch, I made some blanking plates out of 3/8" white starboard. The plates are essentially the same foot print as the mounting plates on the old arch. I then Sikaflexed the plates and put 3 screws in each one. You don't even notice them now, and they are completely water proof.

[Jforesta]

Great job DJ. Thanks for the info. I am also thinking about removing the arch and rocket launcher to clean things up.
Yours look great.
I have been looking at some tapered radar masts eg scanstrut. Can use off the shelf if I can find one with low profile, less than 26". If you have seen any in your quest, please post. Thanks, joe

[djpeewee]

I looked quite a bit, but was mainly looking for something folding since our Albin is trailered most of the time. Scanstrut has a folding bracket, but it only accommodates their smaller masts I believe. Plus, it didn't look like it folded a complete 180 degrees. When ours is folded down, it is about 12 - 18" lower than the factory arch, and only 5" above the roof. When it is upright it is about 34" from the roof deck to the top of the mast light.

I may have gone with something tapered, as they are not as "chunky" as the one we ended up with, but we had to stick with something the local guys fabricate. I'm sure they wouldn't mind building another!

[zeke46]

Very nice radar tower.