Radar Splice: where to locate?

[tonywright]

Before shipping my recently acquired 2003 MK II from Gloucester up to Canada, the mast had to come down. The yard could not find where the radar was spliced, and so cut the cable at the base of the mast.  After the event, it turned out that the cable was spliced in the port locker, alongside the holding tank, low in the bilge area. I gather that the idea is that you use a signal line to pull the cable down through the compression post to the bilge and along to this locker every time that you step the mast.

Now maybe many of you in southern climes don't have to pull the mast off each winter. But we do in the frozen North, since the boat must be out of the water from November to April, and storing with the mast up is (a) definitely not recommended, and (b) not possible, due to the fact that we use commercial cranes to lift boats in and out of the water, and they cannot cope with a mast being up.  I now have to either order more cable to replicate what was done before, or use a different method.

So my question is: what experience does anyone have using a multi-pin (10, I think) connector for the radar in the mast? This hookup would be the most convenient for stepping and unstepping the mast, but I worry about reliability of the connector/no ability to fix with the mast up.  Is there a recommendation for type/brand of connector? This is the basic Raymarine radome.

Has anyone else gone through the experience of pulling the cable 10 feet through the boat while the mast is dangling 6 inches off the deck each spring and fall? Any other solutions?

(OK I guess at least one person will suggest mounting the radar on a pole, and not on the mast?)

Thanks in advance

Tony