# Scanner 'Cage'



## Ron Stringer (Mar 15, 2005)

While I was at sea and later, when I was working on Tyneside as a technician, it was a fairly common occurrence when a loose halyard was collected by a radar scanner and wound around until either the halyard broke or, more usually, the scanner jammed or blew the radar fuses. Some could be cleared using a sharp knife and brute force but others necessitated hammer and chisel or complete dismantling of the aerial drive unit to clear the blockage. Then there was the job of checking everything out to see that proper performance was restored. 

Such occasions always seemed to coincide with high winds, heavy rain and low temperatures. "Something should be done to prevent this" was the least vulgar thought that entered my mind while trying to make my frozen fingers hang on to the scanner, the rail around the platform and my tools. What was needed was a way of stopping the halyards from reaching the scanner.

Dick Sloan has posted a Video of the sail training ship 'Stavros Niarchos' http://shipsnostalgia.tv/action/viewvideo/4193/ which shows just such a feature. A great pity that nobody had this bright idea back when I sailed as the R/O aboard (or worked ashore as the radio technician) who had to go up the mast and first free and then fix the scanner.


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