I just went thru a similiar situation.
I fabricated a stern pole and the platform was angled up.
We solved it by gentlely heating the Questus tubes and removing some of the
bend. Dead level now. Fab'd a antenna array for the top and a engine lift
on the side. Polished it up and you could never tell. Photos avail. if
anyones interested.
Jay

--

Jay A. Howell, CFP
Registered Representative
Financial Network Investment Corporation, Member SIPC
4950 Westgrove Drive, Suite 130
Dallas, TX 75248
(817) 265-3513 personal office
(817) 265-2813 fax
wrote in message
ups.com...
I'm down in Guatamala installing a Questus hydraulically damped
self-leveling radar mount for a new RayMarine radar. Not that it
matters, but this was a back-stay mount version for which I made an
adapter to mount it on a radar mast. That part works fine. For an
idea as to how the radar is mounted, see:
http://www.questusmarine.com/2kwradars18diameter10.html

When I mounted the 2 KW radome, I found that it was tilted about 5
degrees. When I placed a 2 lb dive weight on the outer edge of the
higher side, it leveled out. It appears that the weight of the radome
isn't equally distributed.

I really don't want to place anymore weight on the mount, so I was
thinking about bolting the radar platform so that it was level. The
arm will be at a 5 degree angle, but I'm not worried about aesthetics.
However, I am wondering if the dome will remain level at all degrees of
heel. My physics are pretty rusty.

So, all your people who remember your physics, how about engaging that
portion of your brain for me!

Thanks in advance, Geoff

wrote:
... Not that it
matters, but this was a back-stay mount version for which I made an
adapter to mount it on a radar mast ...

I'm not certain about this. I have a Questus 400 backstay mount that's
always worked well with a small Furuno radome. I think there might be a
problem in modifying the 400, since Questus does provide a similar rig
purpose-designed for pole mounting.

You might contact Questus about this, but frankly, although I really like
the product, I have never had _fully_ satisfactory relations with the
supplier. If you Google a bit you might find a series of posts about my own
installation (and travails) on this subject.

--
Good luck and good sailing.
s/v Kerry Deare of Barnegat
http://kerrydeare.home.comcast.net/

In article ,
wrote:

Turn the radar unit 90 degrees so that it is balanced side to side.

BB

That is a stupid comment and idea. If the guy did that, then his Heading
flash would be 90 degrees off. All the fancy electronic Bearing Lines
would be 90 degrees off as well......... Not a real bright Idea.....



Me

"Me" wrote in message
...
In article ,
wrote:

Turn the radar unit 90 degrees so that it is balanced side to
side.

BB

That is a stupid comment and idea. If the guy did that, then his
Heading
flash would be 90 degrees off. All the fancy electronic Bearing
Lines
would be 90 degrees off as well......... Not a real bright
Idea.....

Consider the source.

Jack Erbes wrote:

Is the tilt front to back (fore and aft) with the front higher? If so
you may have the perfectly designed mount.

A typical mounting wants the radar higher in the front so that lower
edge of the the cone shaped radiation pattern is placed a little more
out in front of the boat. Check the Raymarine manual for more specifics
on this and don't forget, you want to mount a little nose high for the
typical or average underway waterline level, not the level that you get
dead in the water.


I think you have that backwards - if anything you want the radar to tilt
slightly down. By tipping up, most of your forward signal is radiated
upwards where is serves little purpose. Since you already have a fairly
large upward radiation (half of you signal if level), tipping upwards
just reduces your close in signal.

The Raymarine instructions recommend level for sailboats, and tipped
slightly downward for power boats that squat (or raise the bow) at
speed. Since most sailboats also squat at speed, I'd go with the dipped
slightly down for all boats, but increase the downward tilt if you like
to power at high speed in the fog!

Jeff Morris wrote:
snip
I think you have that backwards - if anything...

Thanks Jeff! I recalled having read about the mounting angle in the
manual numerous times, I just relied on memory to recall what it said
and failed.

The recommended installation is for it to rotate parallel to the
waterline at cruising speed.

I hate it when I have a fifty-fifty chance of being right and get it
wrong, you can't hide behind the difficulty or the numbers. :)

Jack

--
Jack Erbes in Ellsworth, Maine, USA - jackerbes at adelphia dot net
(also receiving email at jacker at midmaine.com)

In article ,
wrote:

On Tue, 18 Jan 2005 18:19:44 -0500, "Scott Vernon"
wrote:


"Me" wrote in message
...
In article ,
wrote:

Turn the radar unit 90 degrees so that it is balanced side to
side.

BB

That is a stupid comment and idea. If the guy did that, then his
Heading
flash would be 90 degrees off. All the fancy electronic Bearing
Lines
would be 90 degrees off as well......... Not a real bright
Idea.....


Read the instructions. Most modern RADAR units can be electronically
calibrated
this way.

BB


Really, and would you care to NAME these units that allow the Heading
Flash to be "Calibrated" more than 45 degrees away from Designed Head?


Me who knows better, since I ve been installing them for 20 years

wrote in
ups.com:

RayMarine radar.

Best of luck on the 2KW Raymarine, Geoff. We just got our THIRD 2KW radome
out of Raymarine, the other two eaten by the internal condensation rusting
the magnetron and corroding the hell out of that pot metal box the
electronics is mounted in. It was all loaded up with fresh water and it
hasn't rained much in Charleston SC this year dome 2 has been up so it must
be condensation, same as in an empty gas tank.

I'm considering producing a truly sealed cover you can pressurize with dry
nitrogen for the raymarine domes to keep them out of the destructive
environment they're not made for. It'd probably work great if we could
keep it out of the sun and breathing in and out through the little rubber
tit drain only dry nitrogen...(c;

Range drops very gradually as the components corrode, then the little
printer stepper motor Raymarine has driving the rubber band drive stops
when its stepper electronics is finally destroyed. How awful.

Someone mentioned a Raytheon in my other thread. I saw an old Raytheon on
an old sloop, the other day. Its dome looks much better made.