I am adding an Eighteen inch radome (Garmin) on top of a 2008 Gulfstream. Dealer said the "hump" on top of the hardtop may interfear with the radar if I mount the radome directly to the hardtop. Anybody have any experience or suggestions for mounting the radome? Do I really need a radar mount.
Radome on Hardtop
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Fishtales
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Hi,
Most mount them on the front edge of the hardtop (the dome edge is in the same plane as the front edge of the hardtop. I had 2KW (12" dome I think) mounted this way on my 282.
When I installed a 4KW (18" dome) on my 300, I used a mount. I wanted to get it up a tad higher and wanted the angle adjustment that the mounts provide. I liked the fact that the mount got the mast light and the GPS sensor up out of the way too.
I think either way will work fine.
Most mount them on the front edge of the hardtop (the dome edge is in the same plane as the front edge of the hardtop. I had 2KW (12" dome I think) mounted this way on my 282.
When I installed a 4KW (18" dome) on my 300, I used a mount. I wanted to get it up a tad higher and wanted the angle adjustment that the mounts provide. I liked the fact that the mount got the mast light and the GPS sensor up out of the way too.
I think either way will work fine.
I mounted my 4KW Furuno dome directly on the hard top, all the way forward. I needed minimal vertical trailer clearance, and didn't want a strut.
It worked great, forward and behind. Nothing on the hardtop to interfere with the radio waves. My gps antenna was mounted inside of the upper E box and works just fine.
It worked great, forward and behind. Nothing on the hardtop to interfere with the radio waves. My gps antenna was mounted inside of the upper E box and works just fine.
Prime, as the members responded, you can see this installation right on the Great Grady Home Page, it's a Sailfish, but the idea is the same.
The radome sends out a beam angle that is typically 13 deg. up and 13 deg. down off the horizontal (mounting plane of the radome). Even if you have rod holders up there, other antennas, etc., the scanner will see fine as it sweeps 360 deg. around. And the actual antenna in the radome is in the upper half of the radone, so the lower half doesn't need to be in the clear.
I' have two GPS mushrooms, and one satellite radio mushroom in this beam, never had a problem. I just keep it away by about 2 ft.
And when the boat is sitting moored, the scanner should be level to slightly pointed down in the front, so that when the boat is off plane with bow up, the scanner sees in the water the closest to the front of the boat it can. You can buy wedge blocks sold for this purpose to change the angle if needed.
The radome sends out a beam angle that is typically 13 deg. up and 13 deg. down off the horizontal (mounting plane of the radome). Even if you have rod holders up there, other antennas, etc., the scanner will see fine as it sweeps 360 deg. around. And the actual antenna in the radome is in the upper half of the radone, so the lower half doesn't need to be in the clear.
I' have two GPS mushrooms, and one satellite radio mushroom in this beam, never had a problem. I just keep it away by about 2 ft.
And when the boat is sitting moored, the scanner should be level to slightly pointed down in the front, so that when the boat is off plane with bow up, the scanner sees in the water the closest to the front of the boat it can. You can buy wedge blocks sold for this purpose to change the angle if needed.
The garmin scanners may have a shorther profile than the Furuno and Raymarine (I don't recall), verify the mounting height info offered in the manuf. instruction manual, if you didn't buy it yet, the manual is probably available off the garmin website, if not email them for the mounting instructions.
