John,
There have been many threads on this topic. Have you done a search on it, both in this forum and in the "old" forum (link on the home page). There's LOTS of great stuff on this website!

Yes, John, there are TONS of posts about this issue. The bottom line is that it's a blonds, brunettes, redheads decision. Of course, we all have our preferences - I am married to a blond - but any one serves the purpose quite well.

My personal opinion is that if you have the mast off (for shipping), then it would be easy to install it just below the spreaders. That's where mine is.

One important point: Do not buy more radar than you can use. What do I mean? Well, even with the antenna near the spreaders, the absolute maximum range that you will see another vessel is about 18 nm, even if the other vessel is the Exxon Valdez. This radar visibility limitation is due to curvature of the earth. Any larger radar is a waste of money. Also, 2kw radars are smaller, lighter, much lower cost. For mast mounting, the smaller radome allows the sail to easily slide across on a tack.

There are legal responsibilities that come with having a radar on your vessel.

For example, if you have it, you MUST use it when appropriate in the circumstances...and sometimes this means on sunny, clear days. You MUST know how to and be prepared to do "radar plotting or equivalent systematic observation" of targets to determine risk of collision. You MUST know what to do to avoid a collision if a target appears to be approaching. These are in the Navigation Rules. The Rules require specifc actions, and the other vessel will be expecting you to take those specific actions.

Not many people realize that right-of-way rules ARE DIFFERENT when in restricted visibility and radar is the means of collision avoidance. And they don't realize that radar operation *when both the radar and the target* are in motion is not intuitive.

I urge you to take a radar course, either from your local American Sailing Association school, or from another source, such as David Burch's online school at Starpath.com. [Full disclosure...besides being an ASA radar instructor in the Pac NW area, I would be your instructor if you take an online course from Starpath.]

John, radar operation is not trivial. I would guess that only 5 out of a hundred folks who have it haven't a clue how to use it properly. It's not expensive to learn to use it correctly, and the payback in reduced risk, increased safety, and better utilization of the equipment is extremely positive.

I agree with Larry as he has hit it right on the nose about you using it and others not know how to use it. You do have a responsibility then once you mount it if you get in a collision. I have ours mounted on the transom and on a pole. I can go out the max distance but very rarely do it.

Most of what I use is in the 6 mile and under range. We move so slow that I do not use it out on the max. 3 mile is what I usually run at then go down from there.

2 kw is what I have and it works fine fine for us, but what a 4 kw will do is punch through fog better and make things more defined from what I learned in courses I took.

Randy

John,
If you are planning to mount your radar on the mast, I'd highly recommend mounting it with a Kato Marine SS mount. A number of owners have it (including me), and think it is the best mast mount around. It is strong enough to hang on. I've never had complete confidence in mounts that are cast.