Here are some items to think about.
1. Where do you want to mount the RADAR, Mast, Backstay or on a Pole, all have good bad points, its a matter of personnal preference.
2. Are you going to use Analog or Digital RADAR. 2KW Analog units are less expensive that 4KW Digital however Analog cable is quite thick presenting some problems depending upon where you mount the unit. Digital RADAR uses less Amps.
3. What RADAR display are you planning on using, will it be at the helm or at the Nav station. Ideally it should be at the helm but do you have space and can you use your exisiting GPS or do you have to buy a new one for the Radar display.

I recently moved Hilbre from Lake Mead to Los Angeles and had Radar installed. Here is what I did:
1. After careful thought and as I was going to have the mast removed anyway, I opted to mount the radar on the mast.
2. I decided to upgrade my GPS to a Raymarine "C80" standard with 2KW Analog Radar and antenna as a package deal. As it was being discontinued I got a good price.
3. I purchased a Kato mast mount for the Dome (I have a roller furling main)
4. I had to replace one conduit in the mast as the existing conduit was too small to accept all the thick cable.
5. I had to purchase the extra long Radar Cable in order to reach the helm where I was installing the new C80 GPS.
6. I bought a new pre-cut navpod for the C80 and mounted my old GPS at the Nav station as a backup.

All of this adds up however I am very happy with the installation and used it "Real" time two weeks ago comming back from Avalon, Catalina when I was in thick fog in shipping lanes for about 2 hours. It was very comforting having the radar and my wife finally decided that it WAS a worthwhile purchase. Probably the best advise I got from the C36IA site was not to spend lots of money on the RADAR unit and buy the smallest cheapest radome unit.

John Meyer
Hilbre 2136 San Pedro, CA

The reason for recommending purchase of the 2kw radar versus a "higher power, longer range" unit, is because the curvature of the earth limits practical range. A 2kw unit has a spec range of well over 25 miles, BUT no matter how much transmitter power a radar has, it will not be able to see the Exxon Valdez more than about 20 nm away. The formula to calculate a radar horizon is 1.22 x sq rt height = nm to horizon. A 36ft high radar has a horizon of 7.3 nm. The Exxon Valdez at 100 ft high has a radar horizon of 12.2 nm. Sum the two values, and the absolute maximum ANY radar 36 ft high can see a 100 ft high target is 19.5 nm.

My 2kw radar is mounted immediately above the spreaders, a height I recently measured at 30ft above the waterline. This says that the radar horizon on my boat is 6.7 nm. Of course, the height of the radar target has to be added to that number to arrive at a maximum practical range.

I don't want this thread to wander off into a detailed discussion on radar, but I did want to emphasize the importance of keeping your money in your pocket instead of getting sucked in by marketing propaganda.

My last advice here is: Take a Radar Course! If you're going to invest that much money in a safety device, learn how to use it properly. You owe it to your family. You owe it to your crew. There is much more to operating marine radar than you think. Some ASA sailing schools offer this course (I teach it at sailing schools in the Pacific Northwest), or starpath.com in Seattle has an online course (disclosure...I would be your instructor if you did this).

That was good info Larry, thanks