radar sail guard

[mrbill]

How important is it to have a sail guard ring around a mast mounted radar?

I ordered a radar and a self leveling radar mast mount with sail guard ring. When all the pieces arrived I realized that the intended location does not have enough room to mount the sail guard.

My boat is cutter rigged, and the place with the most clearance to the sails is just above the inner stay. Any higher and the forestay interferes. BUT...the clearance isn't enough for the guard ring, and the guard ring has a brace that extends downward from the leading edge of the ring to the mast. The whole assembly would have to be forced about 2 feet higher on the mast.

Without the ring the jib will hit the radome on every tack...but not by much.

An alternative is to move the whole assembly lower on the mast but then the staysail definitely hits the radome.

MrBill

[Fortis]

It honestly sounds like you are mounting it in a less then ideal place.
Have you considered a transom mount on a stick? A spreader mount? they actually work wuite well just off centred on a spreader.

In regards the stainless gurad bar...Think of it this way, inside the ray dome is a relatively heavy, very precise thing that spins....ALL THE TIME. every impact to the dome gets absorbed by the bearings that allow that spin...so the more short sharp little biffs it recieves, the less time it will take to wear out the bearings. You will also likely get a pulse/glitch every time you tack (I know I certainly get one on board the coast guard boat every time a crew member phwacks a fender down on the roof next to the raydome. ) These do not do the internal electronics of the unit a whole heap of good...and sometimes they cause a restart/reset situation, whihc you may not want at times you do not feel you have five minutes or so to twiddle your thumbs in idle leisure.

I like the guards, though make sure you fit them at the level of the lip where the raydome and the base meet, and not right across the line of scan.

Sasha

[Auspicious]

My boat is a little bigger than a "small boat," but I would like to share that my transom-mounted radar pole was a good choice. Give it some thought.