Lobster boat radar mast

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This is a radar mast I made.It mounts on the wheel house roof of the lobsta boat. The radar dome mounts on the lower pedestal and radio and gps antennas go on the vertical spreaders.I use the top of a aluminum  street light poll I got from the town d.p.w. Yard.
Reply:Nice job. I like the gussets.IAMAW Local 330Airco 300 AC/DC HeliwelderAirco Dip-Pak 200 with Profax spool gunPowr-Kraft AC225Everlast PowerArc 200stBuffalo Forge No.21 drill pressSpeedglas 9100xxAirco, Oxweld, Purox, Victor torchesLincoln Ranger 8
Reply:Looks like it's ready to launch.Nice workAre the wholes for style or serve a purpose?I wish my DPW was cool like that
Reply:The ocean can be mighty harsh...I don't like the arm in the front....zap!I am not completely insane..Some parts are missing Professional Driver on a closed course....Do not attempt.Just because I'm a  dumbass don't mean that you can be too.So DON'T try any of this **** l do at home.
Reply:Mighty harsh indeed!I like lobsta! City of L.A. Structural; Manual & Semi-Automatic;"Surely there is a mine for silver, and a place where gold is refined. Iron is taken from the earth, and copper is smelted from ore."Job 28:1,2Lincoln, Miller, Victor & ISV BibleDanny
Reply:What alloy?The arm up front will be fine if it's a smaller enclosed array.  The open arrays are heavy and would require a more substantial gusset.
Reply:That's cool. Your welds look better than mine, I just used a spool gun.Mine is 6061 and I ended up using a high zinc primer followed with white enamel spray paint.  I found some pretty nice cable glands that I mounted in the back tube, so the cable for the radar and remote control spotlight can run inside the tube on mine.I wanted cheap for my boat and I got it. Later I'll build a real one out of stainless maybe Last edited by middleofnowhere; 10-16-2013 at 12:42 AM.
Reply:It's got to be for a dome similar to mine, not enough clearance for a small 4' array.  That gusseted arm looks like it will be plenty strong for even the biggest 24" Garmin radome. Originally Posted by zapsterThe ocean can be mighty harsh...I don't like the arm in the front....zap!
Reply:Looks good Nick, I think you waved at me one morning in Peabody. I saw your friends truck going down 128.Disclaimer; "I am just an a$$hole welder, don't take it personally ."
Reply:Nick D  -  LobstaWhat is more tastee than: molten butter, salt, and Aluminum?zapster has a point;The [unspecified] weight of the instrument on the pad:results in a shock-lever moment, to the narrow weld cross-section, of the gussets to the mast . . .Tension vs compression loading drives nautical engineering.Opus
Reply:The biggest problem you will run into is harmonic vibrations.  Thinner gussets tend to have lower harmonic frequencies that coincide with vibrations of the hull as it moves through the water.  I work on vessels for a living and I am no expert on anything but you can certainly never make a gusset, a hangar, or a pipe stiff enough.  Everything will crack.  I maintain a fleet tug boats ranging from 3000-6600 horsepower.  You would not believe the things that fail due to vibration.
Reply:Enclosed array radar domes are very light and you wont have any issues with the mast that you built.  Open array radars do weight more, however the cantilever arm is too close to the mast for an open array anyway.  Looks good.
Reply:The mast was built to fit  the small enclosed radar I also used 6061  for the gussets  and radar bracket which are thicker than they look in the photos because I rounded all edges with a 1/4 inch. Round over router bit. Yea Tozzi that was me I live in Peabody. I've seen your rig truck working at the Kodak plant a few times. With cables running inside.
Reply:Originally Posted by Nick D Yea Tozzi that was me I live in Peabody. I've seen your rig truck working at the Kodak plant a few times. With cables running inside.