Radar Reflectors

With my boat when I got it was a long (~18") small diameter (~1.5") cylindrical reflector inside a plastic tube. It was mounted to a vertical post for a cockpit canopy which has been removed. Is that thing any good? If so, I ought to go find that and lash it to one of the bow rail uprights.


Wonder what would happen if you coated your propeller with tin foil.......
Click to expand...
Electrolysis?
 
Being cheap and and just a little off beat, I bought a plastic bread dispenser form wallyworld and spent a fair chunk of the day carefuly folding up tin foil and placing it the dispenser. I aim to just throw it up on the dash when it gets foggy. Maybe tomorrow when we're out fishing I can get Mike to tell me how much of a blob I am.
 
D.G.D. - great minds? twisted maybe. No field testing today, I forgot some folks are radar impaired. I thought about the crinkled method but thought a variety of flatter surfaces maybe be better..dunno. If you make to Walmart check out the bread dispensers in the plastic kitchen storage area, it's a nice size and cheap.
 
Dan, I'm fairly confident that your JRC didn't pick up the name on that Almar, but did you? I know a guy that just picked up an Almar and there's not many of them down there.

If it's him I'll try to find out when he is going back out and I'll schedule my trips "around" his. Yeah, OK, I'll let you know too!

It was pretty "soupy" in PWS the last few days. But the fishing was good!
 
Nope, different guy. The one I'm thinking of only has a couple of cane poles, a hand line handlines, a lighter and some dupont sinkers.

I think I know of whom you speak however. Not an Almar, but a big 'ole aluminum running with a heavy hand and blinders. Adds another dimension to the word "fog".
 
it does scare you when someone goes past you way fast. we have that issue with bass boats in our area. as I was simply enjoying a nice day, all though it foggy, fixen an omelette on the wallas when I heard him power up leaving the launch ramp... watched him changing speeds going ever faster....right at me on radar ...set at the 3/4 mile range...and yes...that does close fast... He went past about 50+mph, head down and burried in that GPS trail he had more than likely laid down on an earlier visit... thinking nobody else would be on the lake early on this damp, cold, wet, foggie morning.

Cruised around a bit, enjoyed my breakfast, made a new pot of coffee, watched the fog lift, circled back to the launch ramp...and what do you know,,,only one tow vehicle...and a custom Skeeter trailer that matched the fast boat who disrupted my cooken. I had an opportunity to be waiting at the launch ramp with Mr. Mossburge in hands sitting on the man's trailer of his 75mph+ Skeeter bass boat when he returned to haul out his boat. My boat of course tied up at the pier down by the ramps.. as to be sure he saw it THIS time after the fog had lifted and he was going much slower. His expression more than likely matched mine when he went past me a few hours earlier. You know, I forgot to offer him a nice cup of coffee to knock off the morning chill... Now that was not very southenly of me.
 
So how about it folks? Any fresh and clever tips or tricks on mounting a radar reflector on your boat?


BTW I really enjoyed Byrdman's story, I'm a sucker for a happy ending.
 
You want a radar reflector to be as high as you can get it on the cabin top--ie just below the radar, or on the arch. On our sailboats I have put the radar reflectors on the mast--at least 40 feet above the water.

There are various studies which come out showing that XXX radar reflector is "best". The small round reflectors have received good reviews--but in the long run, the Davis cheap folding reflector does consistantly well. That is what we carry.

I ran the radar during part of the delta cruise--and all of the C Dories showed up well on our radar, even without reflectors.
 
A week ago or so, Paul and Verla on the JC Lately and the SleepyC crew were out doing a bit of "radar exercise". With both running radar, at about a mile away, and facing or leaving (directly in line there was a definite scan return that increased slightly when a 90 degree turn was made by the reflecting vessel. We were able to track each other with no problem, but when he got closer (1/4 to half mile from the bank on the far side) he would kind of disappear into that bank. We also noticed that up close 50 - 100 feet the return image would disappear also. That may have been my lack of experience in fine tuning the receiver.

We also tried a 14 x 20 inch cookie sheet, held up flat side toward the scanning boat, with occasionally a slight increase in the return size. Probably due to the inexactness of actually holding it perfectly flat to the scanner-receiver of the observing vessel.

Something I found when rereading this thread, and had missed when thinking about this before. Ours, like most C-Dorys, has a stainless steel sink inside with some reflective surfaces there. Not high off the water, but as the closing distance decreases, that height becomes effectively less necessary for another boat to see it. There are also metal pans and a BBQ on board. Much more metal than I carried on the sail boat.

Many happy returns,

Harvey
SleepyC :moon
 
It is amazing how small a return a large boat will sometimes make. I prioritized a good radar reflector on all my boats. I have used the medium size trilens reflector with excellent results.
 
I fabricated a radar reflector for C-Cakes and mounted it on the port side of the tall radar arch between to two supports, (pictures on the last page of C-Cakes album). Roger on Dreamer says C-Cakes gives off a good strong blip so that is good. It is not officially approved by any government agency but it makes me feel better. I figure I get about 270 degrees of enhanced reflection. Total cost less than $10.
 
Wonder if anyone is using this radar reflector from West Marine? And what kind of return improvment it has provided.

10730398.jpg


WM Radar Reflector Tube M# 10730398 .

I would like to know how it compares with the Davis Echomaster, The 3 flats put together to make a circle, for less money, but it maybe more favorable, for mounting OR how it compares to the Tri-Lens reflectors like this:
2343069.jpg


for 3 to 4 times the money and more obnoxious to mount. :roll:

Harvey
SleepyC :moon
IMGP2622.thumb.jpg
 
Harvey, I had a few recommendations to go with the Rozendal Tri-lens reflector (one of those recommendations came from Captain Matt).

As you said, they are obnoxious to mount. The only thing I could come up with was to get two of the small ones and mount them port and starboard, suspended from the underside of the arch. I had to find a solution that dealt with the symmetry issue. It's one of my many hang-ups. :).

I haven't mounted them yet, so I can't tell you how well they work yet.
---
mike
 
When I was looking into putting a radar reflector on c-cakes I read all the reviews of different types I could find. The tri-lens was almost always rated most effective. The cylindrical one least effective..As I posted some time ago I fabricated one for C-Cakes and was pleased with it. A couple of weeks ago I discovered a problem with it. It was mounted on the side of the radar arch and when I pulled the boat to Seattle I just left it up there...mistake. It was not strong enough to withstand the 60MPH winds and one piece broke. So, now I have to spend another $2 for aluminum and make another one. I just accepted that I did not get 360 degree reflectivity by mounting it on one side. Something is better than nothing and I will definitely make another one.
 
I think I mentioned this in another thread but after 10 years use on two boats my Rozendal trilens began to leak rust.

I contacted the manufacturer to ask about whether I could fix it, what I should do, etc. They simply replaced it - brand new - I did not even pay for shipping. I did NOT expect that kind of customer service nor did I ask for it!!!! I would never use anything else between my field experience with the unit and that kind of service.

They lend themselves nicely to a flat mount on the C-Dory roof as you can see in my installations album.
 
I read a Practical Sailor test article a few years back, plus some other test reports that seemed from credible sources. The Tri-Lens was the best, by a good margin. The Davis sheet metal ball (three flat pieces) was pretty good. Every thing else seemed not worth the bother. Some of them really don't work at all.

I have one of the thin tubular Mobri types lying around and I've been meaning to tie it to one of our racing buoys (all plastic) at the yacht club and then motor around it with the C-Dory radar and see how it looks. It was rated poorly.

Also, someone earlier commented about not being able to see targets at very close range. When a radar transmits a pulse, I believe it turns off its receiver for a (very) short time so it doesn't get slammed by high power reflections from extremely close objects, like things on your boat or the one right next to you.

The Davis ball is sensitive to orientation. Having a couple of them, in different orientations would probably be a good idea. It would be neat to mount them inside plastic balls, or a simulated smoke stack for instance.

Plus, there are two radar bands. We use X band (better resolution but sensitive to rain) and the big boats use that near shore, too. Offshore they use S band, which is a different wavelength and these little reflectors are pretty much useless. That's the information I found. If it's out of date, I'd enjoy learning more.

-Jeff
 
I like the Tri-Lens for it's effectiveness, and maybe the medium one for it's increased image return. I am thinking of mounting it under the radar, and up close, behind (or in front -- but less likely there) the short post that is the current radar tower. Question, Will the effectiveness be decreased, by mounting it that close to that metal post? I am thinking that it would snuggle up close, with the two legs of the "Y" pointing forward at 45's and the other leg pointing straight aft. Any comments? Please.
IMGP1572.sized.jpg

Harvey
SleepyC :moon
 
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