On Sun, 24 Aug 2003 23:59:06 -0400 Rodney Myrvaagnes wrote:

What would consider optimum height for the antenna when
mainly used on short range, (up to 5 miles) in bad weather conditions.

I put mine about 11 feet off the water. High enough to be well over
our heads in the cockpit, but low enough so sea clutter doesn't bother
a lot. I did this first after using the same kind as my first radar on
a friend's boat. He had it mounted on the mast, about 20 feet up. The
clutter really was a detriment.

I have JRC 1000 mounted about 3 meters (~10 feet) above the water. I can see
big ships at 6-8 nautical miles range and I consider it enough. On the other
hand, I can see little buoys at 0.2 nautical miles and it is enough too. In
general I am very pleased with my radars performance.

matti

--
"China is a big country, inhabited by many chinese." - Charles de Gaulle

I have used both the 2kw and 4kw Raytheon radars. The 4kw gives brighter and
better defined targets than the 2kw. It will pick up small bay bouys at 1-2
miles where the 2kw won't pick them up until within 1 mile.

With your 4kw unit at the 1-2 mile range what roughly are the size
of the buoys
you can pick up and at .125 of a mile what would be the smallest
object you would detect.

(Matti Raustia) wrote in message ...
On Sun, 24 Aug 2003 23:59:06 -0400 Rodney Myrvaagnes wrote:

What would consider optimum height for the antenna when
mainly used on short range, (up to 5 miles) in bad weather conditions.

I put mine about 11 feet off the water. High enough to be well over
our heads in the cockpit, but low enough so sea clutter doesn't bother
a lot. I did this first after using the same kind as my first radar on
a friend's boat. He had it mounted on the mast, about 20 feet up. The
clutter really was a detriment.

I have JRC 1000 mounted about 3 meters (~10 feet) above the water. I can see
big ships at 6-8 nautical miles range and I consider it enough. On the other
hand, I can see little buoys at 0.2 nautical miles and it is enough too. In
general I am very pleased with my radars performance.

matti

The scanner of my Furuno 1621 is 10 ft (3 meters) abovew the water
and I lose sight of ships at 16 nm (the maximum range of the set). Due
to poor eyesight, I usuallly don't see them appear on the screen at
that distance, but once I know where they are, I can still see the
small echo. One slight drawback of the lo position is that small buoys
will not easily be seen if there is much sea running (say more than 6
ft). All considered, I'm quite satisfied with that height, since it
allows me to "heel" the scanner to counterbalance the boaat's heeling.
john