Hi, Don — see comments below:
Fred Street -- Minneapolis
S/V Oceanis (1979 C&C Landfall 38) -- Bayfield, WI
> On Aug 22, 2016, at 3:10 PM, Don Harben via CnC-List <cnc-list@cnc-list.com>
> wrote:
>
> Hi Fred,
>
> My mast is down for inner surgery and prepping for add ons. Based in the Lake
> Huron North Channel, I would like to explore afield into Michigan and
> Superior.
>
> MASTHEAD
> A. Marinebeam masthead Nav and anchor
> B. Windex
> C. Wind transducer
> D. Cell repeater aerial
> E. VHF aerial
> F. HD 1080 cam
I agree with Dennis — add a Windex light to the list, if you can.
>
> SPREADER ZONE
> A. Steaming Nav
> B. Foredeck light
> C. Genoa telltale night sailing light
> D. Spreader side deck illumination
>
> STERN POST, ARCH and or BACKSTAY
> A. Solar panels
> B. Radar
> C. AIS/VHFbackup
> D. Sat radio
>
>
> Questions!
>
> 1. What brand/model/source is the cell repeater aerial?
I used a Digital Antenna 1264PW; it’s gotten excellent reviews, and covers
pretty much all of the cell frequencies. With a splitter, you could also use
it for WiFi (but 2.4 GHz band only; it won’t do 5 GHz).
> 2. Does it benefit from, or need, a mast head plate ground plane?
No need.
> 3. At what proximity does a cell signal repeater aerial and a VHF aerial
> start to interfere with each other? A wireless HD camera connecting to the on
> boat wifi router, either 2.4 or 5?
If the cell antenna and VHF are mounted close by, you WILL get some squirrelly
behavior on your cell phone if you’re on a call and somebody keys the VHF.
If you do a wireless HD camera, how will it be powered? I’m not a big fan of
wireless at the masthead; there’s a lot going on up there to cause
interference, and solar power for something like a camera wouldn’t last very
long.
> 4. Did you use LMR-600 for the aerials? MR-600-DB?
I used LMR-400 for both the VHF and the cell amp. I had one pre-made (because
of the little SMA connector needed for the cell amp), and used Times Microwave
center-pin crimp PL-259 connectors for the other. As long as you have the
proper crimper for the connectors, and do a good job of heat-shrinking the
connector (included with the connector), you’ll get a very solid connection.
> 5. If I a do a wired masthead HD digital camera, would you have any
> suggestions for camera and/or cable?
Cable depends on the camera; but on a run that long, you’d probably end up
using CAT5/6 cable and baluns on each end to get the HDMI signal down. I
haven’t really researched cameras for that application; weather resistance is
going to be a huge issue. If you’ve got lots of $$$, look at the FLIR cameras;
you can even interface them to Raymarine plotters.
> 5. Did you use a wire mesh choking strain relief anywhere?
No.
> 6. Do you guess or crystal ball if Raymarine might change their wind
> transducer cable/plugs? I am waiting for the next generation of Raymarine
> wind transducer to see if there are updates to compete with Garmin
> transducers.
I haven’t heard of any plans by Raymarine to end-of-life their long-used analog
wind transducer.
> 7. How do you recommend sealing the mast head connections?
I put an aluminum waterproof gasketed low-profile junction box on the top of my
mast cap, and terminated all the connections inside it, along with strain
relief. There is a photo posted of my masthead redo from this past spring at
www.postaudio.net/webserver/masthead.jpg; you can see the combo tricolor/anchor
light from MarineBeam mounted on top of the junction box, along with the
Digital Antenna VHF and cell antennas. Note that I had a local metal shop do
up a custom stainless steel mount for the cell antenna, to mount it away from
the masthead a bit; I’d be happy to supply the shop drawing for this mount to
anyone who needs one.
> 8. Spreader deck lights?
Go LED! If you’re doing a combo steaming/deck light, that may be all you need.
Otherwise, MarineBeam and others have good-quality LED fixtures that could
mount under your spreaders.
> 9.
Do you have fog signals/PA on your VHF? If so, don’t forget a waterproof
speaker on the mast.
When wiring, make sure to calculate for 3% voltage drop on the conductors used
for lighting (easy to do for LED, as the current draw is low); and if you use a
common ground lead, make sure it’s sized appropriately for ALL of the loads
used simultaneously.
> This looks like consulting time! I am happy to pay the consult opening if
> others are interested.
>
> Don
>
> Life
> Viking 34
> ww.ncyc.ca
Let me know when/if you have more questions.
— Fred
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