Best Location for VHF

[Steve A.]

I am considering buying a H260 this summer.Where is the best place to mount a VHF radio in the H260? How did you run the power to the radio and how did you get the coax up the mast? Did you pop-rivit the antenna bracket to a specific place at the top of the mast?I installed a radio in my Santana 21 and I had to drill the base of the mast, install rubber gromets and fish the coax up through. I must have done it wrong since I can hear the coax slapping back and forth inside the mast.

 

[zigracer]

Plenty of ideas

Quest,You installed the coax on your Santana the proper way. The only thing I did to keep the coax from rattling was to put cable ties along the coax about every eight inches. This helps the coax stay in one spot inside the mast and doesn't interfere with any halyards. I did a bunch of custom installs on my 260. If you e-mail me at zigracer@aol.com, I'd be glad to share them. Greg

 

[Mark]

In the head wall

At present my radio is located under the helm seat however I am looking at cutting a hole in the wall of the head so that the face of the radio is on the left as you step down into the cabin.On the inside of the head I would build in a box section with a removable panel for access to the back of the radio. Power would come from the light (I think) and the coax hopefully will feed over to the base of the mast and then use a thru hull coax fitting for connection to the mast wire. I would probably pull out the mast head wire and zip tie the tow together to stop rattling. The antenna would be mounted at the top of the mast and so I would move the windex aft on the top bracket. This will also mean that when I am towing the windex is closer to the road to speak so the chance of a branch destroying it will be less.

 

[Tom2909]

Check out this link...

http://www.sailboatowners.com/upload/display.tpl?folder=W73105569472&fno=17The H260 has conduit inside the mast to run wiring through so it doesn't slap. You can get easy access by taking off the mast top and bottom plates -- my 1999 model are screwed on, early models used rivets.Fair winds,Tom

 

[Mark]

Condut

I do not think my mast has a condut in it???

 

[Tom2909]

Mark...

The "i" in "Conduit" must've fallen out, since you are reading it upside down, down under! Fair winds,Tom

 

[ross10271]

conduit

I took off the mast cap on my 2001 260 intending to install a conduit to stop the masthead wire from banging around inside the mast. The t-track running the length of the mast was so small that I couldn't find a conduit with thin enough wall thickness to fit around the t-track. As others have done, I installed 3 wire tie wraps (leaving the "tails" on) every few feet for the entire length of the masthead wire. No more noise inside the mast.

 

[Mark]

Oooops

I must concentrate on remembering to turn my keyboard upside down when I type to you guys!