[C38] Stern Rail

[Les]

I mounted JACE's radar on a homemade pole.  I don't recommend that, but
I wanted to create the pole and it will float so I can recover the
radome should anything un good happen to the mount.  

	The critical issue is to get it well above everyones heads in the
cockpit.  This means about 10' or so above the seats.  The reason is
that the radiation is not good for the grey matter or the eyeballs.
Most radomes radiate from about 15 degrees above and below the plane of
the antenna.  At 60" difference, that means the beam is about 15" below
the radome.  Since the cockpit is about 12' altogether from stern to
companionway, that means you need about 30" above head height at the
forward end of the seat.  You don't need to worry too much about the
radiation in people working on the deck, unless you have them standing
there for long periods while the radar is on.  If you are going to race
with the radar running, and will have foredeck crew or sail handlers
standing on the bow or near the mast, then the antenna will need to rise
about another 4-5' to put the beam over their heads.  That would mean a
14' pole at the stern.  That is one reason racers generally mast mount
their radomes.

	Also routing the cable (it's about 1" diameter for most) means climbing
around in the locker and behind the engine and/or hanging upside down
from the stern seat to put tie wraps around the cable and fastern them
beneath the deck to route them forward at least to the wheel (if that is
where your main display is mounted) or quite a bit farther if the
display is mounted at or near the chart table.  Mine is at the chart
table.

Regards,
Les H