Mounting a radar on an open top tinny

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bugeater
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Mounting a radar on an open top tinny

Post by bugeater » Mon May 08, 2023 5:59 pm

So I went out a lot on my month off with my new tinny. Lots of fun exploring Western Port much further than I ever could with the kayak. Did a few night trips as well. It's pretty quiet out there at night which is nice, but as I've discovered there are idiots that don't display nav lights which makes working out what it going on a little difficult. On one trip back into Corinella I was trying to work out what the very bright light was that was coming on and off. Turned out to be two blokes hooning along with a huge lightbar, but no actual nav lights, so I couldn't tell what was actually going on until much closer.

Anyway... it had me thinking about radar as a way to have greater situational awareness. The cheapest options are around the $2k mark (damn the weak Australian dollar), which is almost justifiable. Plus those integrate with my sounder, which is nice. But I've got an open-top tiller steer tinny, so there aren't any elevated locations on which to mount a radar.

Has anyone else tried to tackle this or similar?

I was thinking a pole that slots into one of the seat mounts could work. Mostly I want to get it out of my vision and high enough for it not to be blocked by the boat. Being removable would be a big bonus too. Not much need to use it during the day. Radiation isn't a major deal - these are very low power.

Would be interested to see if anyone has solved this, or have seen others come up with a solution.

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Andrews
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Re: Mounting a radar on an open top tinny

Post by Andrews » Tue May 09, 2023 7:33 pm

I couldn't see why you wouldn't be able too do it, however I'd have hesitancies,

You'd probably need to mount a steel pole to stop it picking up a bend when when traveling at speed the movement /flex could damage the seat mount & aluminum tinny
It would also act a giant DIY lightning rod
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