Radar Question

[flrockytop]

In particular on the CD16. What do you do with the extra cable? Looks to me that the length of cable needed is only about 3 to 4 feet depending on where you mount the display. What do you do with the extra mile of bulky cable.

Thanks
Roger

[Sneaks]

Both Raymarine and JRS will "bless" those who wish to cut the cable length down to a reasonable length NOT LESS THAN 10 FT.! Both of those companies offer tech support "assistance." Furuno stonewalls but any Furuno factory authorized repair center can and will cut your cable down to size and still keep your warranty in place.

Raymarine sells a connector "kit" that replaces the connector at the radome end, which is the only end to shorten. Ask the tech nicely about how to get one and he may "comp" you the connector.

JRC prefers that you cut and splice inside a metal junction box somewhere between the radome and the display.

Furuno techs do the same thing the Raymarine guys do.

In the real world, it's possible to go below the 10 ft. rule, but it can and does put the timing adjustments out of whack and often no amount of adjusting will work. That means the expense of a new cable.

Most guys and gals just coil the cable in a large loop then use plastic ties to turn it into a narrow long loop and set it somewhere unobtrusive.

I've shortened both Furuno and Raymarine cables without a problem, then again I was a radar tech in my first wifetime.

Don

[Sea Wolf]

Roger-

The best solution is simply to roll it up and store it someplace convenient along the route from the antenna to the display.

Mine's rolled up on top off all the electronic gizmos on the electronics shelf.

The reasons it's not usually cut and shortened are 1) that the length of the cable is critical to the timing of the electronic pulses, and 2) that re-doing the plug end or splicing are very difficult and can only be done by a professional. Also, there is an absolute minimun length for the cable.

Joe.

[patrick and linda]

i've installed radar on virtually every boat i've owned. wouldn't leave the dock without. several boats ago, i had to run the cable in such a way that it simply was better to leave the cable and purchase a new one for the re-install aboard the new boat. cost me $135.00 to replace the cable. so, if you shorten your cable and later want to transfer your system to another boat, you may find it will cost you, like me, $135.00 for a new, longer, cable.
sea wolf, has it right, just roll it up and stow it out of sight.
have a great day.
pat

[TyBoo]

But if you do shorten the cable and wish you hadn't, I just happen to have a brand new Furuno 10 meter cable that can be had for half price!

Note to Modulators and Nerds: I ain't trying to sell stuff on the wrong thread. I am just trying to help appropriately in the proper discussion. So don't give me no guff about your stoopid rules!

[flrockytop]

Right. I know about the con's of cutting. I have done it it my old days( when I could see). It was a real pita then. I would not even attempt it now. In other boats I've had more room to find a place to put the excess.

I plan on mounting the display on the overhead. The option I see is running the cable down into the area behind helm and then back up to the overhead. I am just looking for a neater way to do it. I thought about having the dome "bracket" be a fiberglass box and the excess cable put inside that under the dome. That involves getting some fiberglass person to custom make something. I don't know how difficult that would be. Anyway, just looking for ideas.

I've also got to work out trim tabs for the 16 -- yes or no and if yes which ones. I know that for the 22 Bennett seems to be the right choice.

Autopilot. This is going to be a long solo trip I gotta have it. Do I switch to hydraulic steering or stay with cable.

I'm headed to Miami and figure now might be the time to get some of this.

[SEA3PO]

I replaced my radar last year when my Raymarine SD unit kept loosing it's GPS signal....I worked with Raymarine and they first gave me a new GPS antenna and that diden't improve the problem, so I complained to West Marine and they replaced my entire unit with the current model radar, including the dome and software...free... straight across..
The new radar done made it easy to shorten the cable... so I did....probably have 12 or 14' up there...it was easy...they send you something like 40' of cable... works fine.

Now you know why I buy almost everything from West Marine...even though my son does not manage a store anymore. (no more killer discounts)

Joel
SEA3PO

[CAVU]

flrockytop,
I seem to remember someone stringing their excess radar cable along the outside of the cabin up under the lip and eyebrow? I can't remember who it was though. Would this work on your 16 cruiser?

[Hunkydory]

Flrockytop

There has been a lot of recent chat on autopilots and cable verses hydraulic steering. Suggest you check it out. Very limited experience here, but we have had both types of autopilots and steering and definitely recommend hydraulic steering with autopilot.

Jay

[thataway]

Agree with coiling up the excess radar cable--and I would just mount a shelf on the overhead to put it on. As for the auto pilot it will be much easier to install it with hyraulic system. There were some some auto pilots which work directly on the 3/4" shaft of the steering wheel of power boats. These would probably work fine on a 16 with the low hp motor. I am not sure that these are still produced. The sailboat power pilot will probably not work with the CD 16.

On the other hand, I am not sure that you really need radar or an auto pilot on a CD 16, even with the trip you are planning. How much will you be running at night? Are you willing to occasionally wait a few hours in the morning, proceed at a slow speed or even occasionally sit out a day in a delightful anchorage? I find that far too many people who "do" the loop move way too fast and don't really take time to enjoy the voyage and the stops along the way. In a boat where you can walk around the auto pilot may make some sense--but in a boat like the 16, where the vast majority of the trip will be on ICW, waterways and rivers, where an auto pilot is not of a lot of use, I think fitting an auto pilot is questionable.
If you were going long distances in straight lines, then I would say the auto pilot is potentially desirable.

[mikeporterinmd]

I'm going to sneak this question in.

RADARs are often rated at 2KW, 4KW, etc. I'm assuming that
KW= kilowatts. What I don't understand is how something could
emit 2KW, for instance, from a 12V source. 2,000 watts should
mean something like 166 amp draw, assuming no loss. Obviously,
RADAR units don't draw 166 amps, so where does the 2000 watt
rating coming from?

Anyhow, that's been bugging me for a few years now.

Thanks,

Mike

[Dora~Jean]

Mike, you're right, KW is kilowatt. On the power question, radar (and depth sounders) emit very short pulses, in the microseconds (1/1,000,000th millioneths of a second) and milliseconds (1/1,000th thousandths of a second). That's why the overall power drain is so small.

[TyBoo]

Think flash bulbs. The radar output is intermittent and in between pulses it charges up the dilithium crystals for the next shot. Or something like that. We hashed this over a year or so back and got into talking about magnetrons, klystrons, flux capaitors and nuclear reactors.

It does seem kind of odd that 12v going through a 5a circuit can get 2000kw when the math says 60w, but you should know better than to question the smart guys who built the thing.

[Hunkydory]

Mike

Because the radar operates on a very short pulse, I imagine it uses a capacitor set up of some type to momentarily use that much amperage.

No doubt one of our c-brat experts will explain it in detail shortly.

Jay

[Hunkydory]

Sheeess

I was slower on guessing than the experts in detail.