Well, we have finally done it and the bloody thing is now installed and working. We actually did the deed over last weekend and wound up not sailing anywhere but it is now done. The unit is on the bulkhead, the splitter is on the side next to the chart table sailing instruments and the switch panel. We had to run an extension from it to the AIS unit itself and finally, I had to thread the wire from the GPS aerial on the pushpit through all the cockpit lockers, along the quarter berth and finally behind the switch panel and bookshelf but it is all in and working.
We start our holiday this weekend so will be trying it out for real now. Off the boat, I have become addicted to the AIS tracking web site
Marine Traffic
Keep an eye out for us.
On a side issue, congratulations to fellow AZAB entrant Marco Naninni who has just successfully completed his 1000 mile qualifying passage for the Route du Rhum
Marco Naninni
Friday 20 August 2010
Monday 2 August 2010
More AIS blues
The saga of the AIS transponder continues. We have concluded that the process of running a second aerial up the mast and getting it two meters away from the other one is not likely to be a goer. So, we have bought a Comar splitter. Now the problem is to install the splitter.
A lot of head scratching later and we have decided that the only practical place to fit it is immediately above the bookshelf. This means lots of hole drilling as we not only have to fit it but also get the co-axial cables routed. There are however different sorts of co-ax connections. The VHF has a PL-259 socket and thankfully, the cable coming out of the splitter has a nice PL-259 connector crimped onto it. However, the AIS cable has a BNC bayonet connector while the AIS unit has a PL-259. It transpires that a BNC to PL-259 adaptor is not an easy thing to find and no chandler stocks them. Grrr.
Thankfully all is not lost thanks to a Ham Radio site who do stock them. Martin Lynch and Sons. They sell everything possible to do with radios and can be found on:
Martin Lynch & Son
Hopefully, that will bring an end to it and we will really be able to test the thing out though I still have to work out how to get the GPS element wired from the pushpit to the chart table. I suspect that this will need lots of cable ties and contortions into uncomfortable positions in the cockpit lockers. Watch this space.
A lot of head scratching later and we have decided that the only practical place to fit it is immediately above the bookshelf. This means lots of hole drilling as we not only have to fit it but also get the co-axial cables routed. There are however different sorts of co-ax connections. The VHF has a PL-259 socket and thankfully, the cable coming out of the splitter has a nice PL-259 connector crimped onto it. However, the AIS cable has a BNC bayonet connector while the AIS unit has a PL-259. It transpires that a BNC to PL-259 adaptor is not an easy thing to find and no chandler stocks them. Grrr.
Thankfully all is not lost thanks to a Ham Radio site who do stock them. Martin Lynch and Sons. They sell everything possible to do with radios and can be found on:
Martin Lynch & Son
Hopefully, that will bring an end to it and we will really be able to test the thing out though I still have to work out how to get the GPS element wired from the pushpit to the chart table. I suspect that this will need lots of cable ties and contortions into uncomfortable positions in the cockpit lockers. Watch this space.
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