...Our MacGregor Index Page....... Mac 26S Outside Mods Index Page..........
....................... Previous Page...................................... Next Page If There Is One
..........................--- VHF-Windex Mounting and Wiring ---
Our Mac came with an older VHF radio that was mounted under the companionway and had an antenna mounted on the stern. It worked, but we didn't have NOAA weather out on Lake Powell for a few days due to the high canyon walls. We wanted a new radio with the safety DSC feature and decided to mount a new antenna on the mast top for hopefully better reception when we returned to Lake Powell and for our forthcoming trip to Florida. Now at Lake Powell we would still for sure have no weather at times due to the fact we were only raising the antenna about 30 feet.
The new VHF radio, ...
.................
.... a Standard Horizons Eclipse with DSC was mounted above the sink to ....
..................
... keep the coax run to the top of the mast at a minimum and is a good place on this size boat. It is protected from the weather, easy to reach and use in the cabin and the speaker projects pretty well back into the cockpit. We also have a good hand-held VHF for cockpit use also.
We had previously mounted a very low wattage LED anchor light on top of the mast and we didn't want the antenna to interfere with seeing it, so....
.....................
... I made an offset bracket that had a ...
.....................
... VHF mount on one end and had two holes in it to attach it to the anchor light bracket and the chicken-head, arrows.
.....................
The top left arrow points to the VHF antenna (Shakespeare 5215) with the Windex mounted on it. The top right points to a 'drop' in the antenna bracket to lower it below the anchor light, not too evident from this camera angle. The bottom right arrow points at the main halyard block. The bottom left arrow points to a double sheave block that replaced the single sheave one that was used further up this page. One side is for the topping lift and the other side is for the anchor sail up-haul. On anchor we now hold the boom up out of the way to one side with the topping lift, which holds it up and using the main sheet on the traveler, which holds it over to the side and with one of the preventer lines snapped on the boom bail to keep it from swinging around.
The picture above was taken with the mast down and the boat on the trailer. The black cord you see wrapped around the Windex is a bungee that keeps the Windex from spinning going down the highway.
.....................
A hole was drilled near the top of the mast and a grommet installed. The VHF
.....................
The coax comes around the mast and attaches to the bottom of the antenna.
............................
The anchor light wiring and VHF coax was run down the mast using foam pieces to stop wire slapping noises in the mast and has worked very well for that. The coax was RG-8X good for up to 50 foot runs and has worked very well for us.
.....................
A second larger rubber grommet was place in the bottom of the mast and the mast wiring and Coax exits there. The two right arrows point to the 4 plug mast wiring plug on the right and the coax on the left. While trailering I keep a male/male plug screwed into the female coax fitting to keep it clean inside.
.....................
When the mast is up on top of the boat trailering I also keep a male/male plug on the coax exiting the cabin top to protect it also. The bottom right arrow points to the original/old 2 prong plug that I left in just in case I ever needed it. The new 4 prong, center bottom arrow, is next and I went with a 4 prong so that I could have at least one anchor light circuit and one mast running light circuit and possibly more if needed. The final fitting, right arrow, is a fitting I got at West marine that provides a watertight exit for the coax from the cabin.
I used Centerpin® Gold-Plated PL-259 Connectors for the female connectors. The first one was a pain installing, but then they went easier once I got the hang of it.
.....................
The above photo is looking forward from the cockpit and shows the connections with the mast in place on the water and another view ....
.....................
.... looking towards the stern of the mast wiring.
While in Florida we never had less than 2-3 NOAA weather broadcasts available to us even when we were down in the remote Everglades area on the southwest coast or while crossing Florida Bay to Marathon from there.
.................................................................................. Next Page If There Is One
