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Please help! I am thinking about try to self install a garmin GMR 18 dome on my Contender 25 open. I am pretty handy and have no problem running the cables and connecting to my network (3210, 3205, GDS 22, GSM 10, XM weather and radio) and power. But I have some questions regarding the install. I will be mounting the dome directly to the T-top due to total height clearance issues (keep the boat stored on the trailer under family beach house).
1) I might have just enough room to install a 4 degree seaview wedge is this necessary? Can a just install the dome directly to the T-top or do I need the wedge to tilt the dome forward?
2) When I install the dome it will be at the same height as my GPS and XM antennas, will this cause interference? Do I need to mount my GPS and XM antennas on extended poles to raise them above the dome? Someone told me that the radar will "fry" my GPS and XM antennas if they are at the same height, is this true?
3)Do I need to some how shield the radar cable when running it to the network and power. The garmin manual says not to run the cable next to any other power, VHF, GPS, or any other cables. This seems impossible!! The radar cable will have to be run next to other cables in my T-top and center console. Do I need to isolate and shield the radar cable??
Any other suggestions or help would be great! Please Help! Thanks!!
OW;
I installed the same dome on my boat. I didn't use a wedge. My two GPS antennas are at the same height, no problems. I never even thought about shielding the cable(s). Go ahead, it should be just fine.
you need to get the antenna on a diff plane than the radar - it will fry them long term - mount the radar on a strut - keep the the gps antennas on a 1 in mount near the deck like this. Get the book "Radar for mariners" by David Birch - off Amazon...
The purpose of the wedge is to keep the radar level when the boat is on plane. But think about this: if the weather is bad enough to require radar, do you want to be going that fast? If it flakes out for a moment or two, you will be going way too fast to to say anything but "OH Fu" before you go splat on something you didn't see until it was yards away.
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If it ain't broke, I haven't played with it.
Glen E-- I like your setup and that is exactly how I would install my dome if I had the room. (I keep the boat stored under my family beach house and there is not enough room to mount the dome on a strut. As it stands right now I have 11" of clearence from the bottom of the house to the T-top. The dome is 9" tall, so I have to mount the dome flush on the t-top (might have enough room for a 4 degree wedge). Thanks for the book info -- I will buy it today! Does your strut tilt your dome forward? Should I use the wedge if I have the room? Is it ok to mount the GPS and XM antennas on extended poles above the dome that can be raised and lowered like my VHF antennas when trailering and storing?
sandyda-- Are you running your radar without a wedge, and is it working well for you?
I'm sure others will disagree but I think using a wedge on a CC is overkill - they all run flat enuf that I think the signal is fine. Now for something like a Searay Express 30 footer, I'd use a wedge.
Now I understand. Thanks. I notice struts are advertised as leaning aft or forward. Any performance differences between the two. Also, are the hole patterns on the bottom of the strut universal?
On my old boat, I first installed an 18" dome flat on the t-top/bimini. The radar worked, but not as good as I thought it should. After a year or 2, I lifted it 8", and added a 4 degree tilt downward. It was like night and day. The tilt forward made ALL the difference in the world. Most boats ride bow high when your running, higher than you think. Radar come out of the dome on a 20 degree angle, that's 10 degree's up and 10 degree's down. That is not very much, especially when your small boat is bounding around in 3' seas, and the bow is going up 45 degree,s and back down 45 degree's and sometimes more. This makes the radar miss the place of the sea, which is what you want it on.
The moral of the story is, LIFT it, and TITLE it. Look how far mine is titled now, This setup works awesome.
Then you'll get target detail like below (look at the bouys out the windshield, then look at the two radar displays, left side radar, right side radar overlay both showing the bouys clearly) :
Might want to lift the dome up a little if you cannot get it far enough foward to eliminate a small blind spot in front of the boat. Here is a pic of the mount I had fabricated with built in 5 degrees this is on a 25 contender....Mark
I made my own aluminum mount. The bottom plate is 10mm x 120mm x 120. The top plate is 5mm cut to the dimensions in the Garmin manual. The tubing welded between the two is 65mm diameter, about 6mm thick.
I cut the tube with a 4 degree angle and about 150mm in length. You could cut this to any length to suit your needs.
Help with Garmin Radar
