Hi,
Well, after thinking about it for several years, I'm biting the bullet
and buying radar for Far Cove. I just want a Simple one that will tell me
if a freighter is bearing down on me 2 miles away in the fog. So I'm
getting the JRC 1000 - Steveston Marine has it for $1200.

This weekend, I'm just gonna duct-tape(?) the antenna to the dodger or
something, but I'd appreciate suggestions on where to mount on a 36ft
sailboat. Mast? Or separate mast on the stern? Or should I get a "radar
arch" and mount my VHF antenna, GPS antenna, radar, and solar panels on it?

Also, where should I mount the display? I steer Far Cove from all over
the cockpit, rarely from behind the wheel, so a pedastal mount may not be
the best (maybe OK if it swivels...). And I'd have to remove it when I'm
leaving the boat. Or maybe under the dodger?

Lloyd Sumpter
"Far Cove" Catalina 36
http://www.bcboatnet.org/

Lloyd wrote:
Hi,
Well, after thinking about it for several years, I'm biting the bullet
and buying radar for Far Cove. I just want a Simple one that will tell me
if a freighter is bearing down on me 2 miles away in the fog. So I'm
getting the JRC 1000 - Steveston Marine has it for $1200.

This weekend, I'm just gonna duct-tape(?) the antenna to the dodger or
something, but I'd appreciate suggestions on where to mount on a 36ft
sailboat. Mast? Or separate mast on the stern? Or should I get a "radar
arch" and mount my VHF antenna, GPS antenna, radar, and solar panels on it?

Also, where should I mount the display? I steer Far Cove from all over
the cockpit, rarely from behind the wheel, so a pedastal mount may not be
the best (maybe OK if it swivels...). And I'd have to remove it when I'm
leaving the boat. Or maybe under the dodger?

Lloyd Sumpter
"Far Cove" Catalina 36
http://www.bcboatnet.org/



I'd get the array up as high as possible to improve coverage, and also
to keep it from washing over people in the cockpit or on deck. Some say
the jury is still "out" regarding any harmful effects from exposure to
radar at close range, but when it comes "in" it might be too late to do
anything about past exposures.

Lloyd wrote:
Hi,
Well, after thinking about it for several years, I'm biting the bullet
and buying radar for Far Cove. I just want a Simple one that will tell me
if a freighter is bearing down on me 2 miles away in the fog. So I'm
getting the JRC 1000 - Steveston Marine has it for $1200.

This weekend, I'm just gonna duct-tape(?) the antenna to the dodger or
something, but I'd appreciate suggestions on where to mount on a 36ft
sailboat. Mast? Or separate mast on the stern? Or should I get a "radar
arch" and mount my VHF antenna, GPS antenna, radar, and solar panels on it?

Also, where should I mount the display? I steer Far Cove from all over
the cockpit, rarely from behind the wheel, so a pedastal mount may not be
the best (maybe OK if it swivels...). And I'd have to remove it when I'm
leaving the boat. Or maybe under the dodger?

Lloyd Sumpter
"Far Cove" Catalina 36
http://www.bcboatnet.org/



I'd get the array up as high as possible to improve coverage, and also
to keep it from washing over people in the cockpit or on deck. Some say
the jury is still "out" regarding any harmful effects from exposure to
radar at close range, but when it comes "in" it might be too late to do
anything about past exposures.

On Fri, 18 Nov 2005 20:25:44 GMT, Commodore Joe Redcloud©
wrote:

Putting the antenna higher, like
mounted on the mast, puts it up too high for seeing close objects.

================================================== ==

With all due respect to Commodore Redcloud, this is not true unless
you are trying to spot something 20 feet away. I have my new Furuno
mounted on a mast bracket about 25 feet above the water which gives
excellent range at a distance, and goes down to about 50 ft close in.
I am very pleased with the overall performance.

My old boat had the radar about 10 feet above water and I always
regarded range as marginal even though it had a bigger scanner than
the new one.

Thanks for the input!

On Fri, 18 Nov 2005 20:25:44 +0000, Commodore Joe Redcloud© wrote:

On Fri, 18 Nov 2005 11:54:31 -0800, Lloyd wrote:

Hi,
Well, after thinking about it for several years, I'm biting the bullet
and buying radar for Far Cove. I just want a Simple one that will tell me
if a freighter is bearing down on me 2 miles away in the fog. So I'm
getting the JRC 1000 - Steveston Marine has it for $1200.

This weekend, I'm just gonna duct-tape(?) the antenna to the dodger or
something, but I'd appreciate suggestions on where to mount on a 36ft
sailboat. Mast? Or separate mast on the stern? Or should I get a "radar
arch" and mount my VHF antenna, GPS antenna, radar, and solar panels on it?

Also, where should I mount the display? I steer Far Cove from all over
the cockpit, rarely from behind the wheel, so a pedastal mount may not be
the best (maybe OK if it swivels...). And I'd have to remove it when I'm
leaving the boat. Or maybe under the dodger?

Lloyd Sumpter
"Far Cove" Catalina 36
http://www.bcboatnet.org/

The Furuno 1623 is twice the radar for about the same price. Just the
better display alone is enough to put them miles apart. The antenna is
a little better too.

Maybe true (I do like my Furuno GPS31 GPS), but I need it for this weekend
and Steveston's has a JRC in stock...

As far as temporarily mounting the unit on your dodger... DON'T! The
antenna needs to be mounted high enough that it's beam will not hit you
unless you are at least 8-10 feet away. Putting it on the dodger means
it will be burning what's left of your eyes to a crisp. Just forget it!
Wait until you have it properly mounted.

I was thinking of all the little hardtop powerboats I see with the
antenna on the roof. Guess they don't run the unit unless they're in the
cabin.
How about a PVC pipe attached to the stern rail with a plywood plate on
the top? Just long enough to get it well overhead. (I have to get it
installed tonight)


I have a tiller, so I mounted the display on a 1 foot square of
Starboard that I can plunk down on the seat beside me.

Sounds like my "sounderbox": I have a plastic box that has a sounder and
GPS, (with rechargable batteries and solar cells on the top in the
future...) that I use in my small boats. Everything I need close at hand...

You also want the
display close at all times because you will be needing to make
adjustments on a continual basis. I have the cables coming up from
inside a cockpit locker. I can move the display wherever I want it by
feeding out more cable from the locker. When not in use, the display
goes into the locked locker. I made a bracket that it slides into on the
wall of the locker.

Interesting arrangement. Do you have holes in your locker where the cables
come out?

I deal with
fog frequently, and I also sail in heavy rain (Hey, if you don't like
water, you really should find another hobby!) and at night.

Hey, I sail the West Coast - donno how to sail if its not raining!

I practice often during good visibility. I can sail into my harbor, find
the channel, make the tight 90 degree turn between the two close rocks
and make my way up the river to my slip on instruments only.

I kinda do the opposite: try to avoid depending on electronics. (ie I use
the GPS, laptop charts, etc. but still rely on compass and paper charts)

Lloyd Sumpter
http://www.bcboatnet.org

On Fri, 18 Nov 2005 11:54:31 -0800, Lloyd wrote:

Hi,
Well, after thinking about it for several years, I'm biting the bullet
and buying radar for Far Cove. I just want a Simple one that will tell me
if a freighter is bearing down on me 2 miles away in the fog. So I'm
getting the JRC 1000 - Steveston Marine has it for $1200.


One other thing: Am I correct in assuming if I have MY unit on, it shows
up on other peoples radar's too? (ie don't need a radar reflector)


Lloyd Sumpter
"Far Cove" Catalina 36
http://www.bcboatnet.org/

"Lloyd" wrote in message
news
Hi,
Well, after thinking about it for several years, I'm biting the bullet
and buying radar for Far Cove. I just want a Simple one that will tell me
if a freighter is bearing down on me 2 miles away in the fog. So I'm
getting the JRC 1000 - Steveston Marine has it for $1200.

This weekend, I'm just gonna duct-tape(?) the antenna to the dodger or
something, but I'd appreciate suggestions on where to mount on a 36ft
sailboat. Mast? Or separate mast on the stern? Or should I get a "radar
arch" and mount my VHF antenna, GPS antenna, radar, and solar panels on
it?

Also, where should I mount the display? I steer Far Cove from all over
the cockpit, rarely from behind the wheel, so a pedastal mount may not be
the best (maybe OK if it swivels...). And I'd have to remove it when I'm
leaving the boat. Or maybe under the dodger?

Lloyd Sumpter
"Far Cove" Catalina 36
http://www.bcboatnet.org/


Just attach a mounting platform to the mast and attach the radar unit to the
platform.

The display should be mounted at the main helm area. All your electronics
should be mounted in a central area. All displays should be removable and
taken off the boat when you leave.

How do you steer the boat from "all over the cockpit, rarely behind the
wheel.."???

On Fri, 18 Nov 2005 23:59:24 GMT, Captain Joe Redcloud
wrote:

Furunos are great units! The reason I originally went for Furuno is that it
seems like 95 out of 100 commercial boats seem to have that brand.

I agree with that. The vast majority of commercial fishing boats that
I see are using Furuno's, and the day time visibility on mine is
excellent, even in bright sunlight on the flybridge. The big crowd
pleaser on mine however is the ARP function. It will track up to 10
targets simultaneously and display a speed and direction vector for
each. For any one selected target you can get a data window showing
target speed, course, closest point of approach (CPA), and time of
CPA. Very useful running at night with seriously large shipping
traffic near you, and that is when I most appreciate the longer range
afforded by height. I've never tried threading my way between rocks
30 ft apart but have no difficulty resolving pairs of closely spaced
channel markers at close range. Since the ARP function requires a
digital heading sensor the unit has one other cool trick. It has a
mode where the chart from the course plotter can be overlayed with the
radar image. That function is particularly useful for quickly
determining whether a radar target is a navaid or not.

JRC makes good stuff. I picked up the 1800 a while back for Cruis'n
Rulz!. Killer radar. Just think, Lloyd, for another $400. you could have
a color LCD and split screen CmapNT+ chartplotter, and twice the range.....
JR

Lloyd wrote:

Hi,
Well, after thinking about it for several years, I'm biting the bullet
and buying radar for Far Cove. I just want a Simple one that will tell me
if a freighter is bearing down on me 2 miles away in the fog. So I'm
getting the JRC 1000 - Steveston Marine has it for $1200.

This weekend, I'm just gonna duct-tape(?) the antenna to the dodger or
something, but I'd appreciate suggestions on where to mount on a 36ft
sailboat. Mast? Or separate mast on the stern? Or should I get a "radar
arch" and mount my VHF antenna, GPS antenna, radar, and solar panels on it?

Also, where should I mount the display? I steer Far Cove from all over
the cockpit, rarely from behind the wheel, so a pedastal mount may not be
the best (maybe OK if it swivels...). And I'd have to remove it when I'm
leaving the boat. Or maybe under the dodger?

Lloyd Sumpter
"Far Cove" Catalina 36
http://www.bcboatnet.org/



--
--------------------------------------------------------------
Home Page: http://www.seanet.com/~jasonrnorth

"Wayne.B" wrote in message
news
On Fri, 18 Nov 2005 23:59:24 GMT, Captain Joe Redcloud
wrote:

Furunos are great units! The reason I originally went for Furuno is that
it
seems like 95 out of 100 commercial boats seem to have that brand.

I agree with that. The vast majority of commercial fishing boats that
I see are using Furuno's, and the day time visibility on mine is
excellent, even in bright sunlight on the flybridge. The big crowd
pleaser on mine however is the ARP function. It will track up to 10
targets simultaneously and display a speed and direction vector for

But, is their a NEMA link to your fire control system?

each. For any one selected target you can get a data window showing
target speed, course, closest point of approach (CPA), and time of
CPA. Very useful running at night with seriously large shipping
traffic near you, and that is when I most appreciate the longer range
afforded by height. I've never tried threading my way between rocks
30 ft apart but have no difficulty resolving pairs of closely spaced
channel markers at close range. Since the ARP function requires a
digital heading sensor the unit has one other cool trick. It has a
mode where the chart from the course plotter can be overlayed with the
radar image. That function is particularly useful for quickly
determining whether a radar target is a navaid or not.