running an antenna wire up the mast of a 1987 C-22

[Lafayette Mike]

View media item 25809I have heard there is a conduit in the mast for wiring, but not sure quite where. I have posted a picture of my mast, taken from the bottom. I've highlighted what I think is the conduit. Is it? And how would an antenna lead fit in there? It looks pretty tight.
Thanks
Mike

 

[justsomeguy]

You want to try again?

 

[AaronD]

Mike, I'm not sure about your '87 - the mast section might be different from my '81. But when I did mine, I ran new coax up in a bundle along with new wiring for the anchor and steaming lights. I skipped the little conduit/channel (if that's what it is) and just ran it in the main mast section, with a set of zip-ties every few feet to keep it from bouncing around and making noise inside the mast.

I used LMR-400 Ultraflex cable - partly because it's the lowest loss coax I could find (1.5 DB/100'). But loss isn't quite as big a problem on a relatively short C-22 mast - mostly I picked it for its tight 1" bend radius - the other options I found were between 2.4" and 4.5". I didn't see how to hit those radii coming out of the mast (on either end). And I wanted the flexibility for some tighter bends inside the cabin too (since a 3-6" loop of coax could get in the way).

Finally, I used Amphenol 182130-10 PL-259 crimp connectors. As I recall, most connectors crimp the sheath but solder the pin; per Maine Sail's advice, I try to avoid solder connections on my boat whenever possible. They crimped nicely on the LMR-400. Looks like it was a total of $142 from dxengineering.com, including a crimping die for a standard ratchet crimper and a few spare connectors (in case I messed up a couple).

I have no complaints so far. As always, your mileage may vary, but maybe that helps a bit.

 

[Lafayette Mike]

Hopefully the image uploaded this time.
Mike

 

[Justin_NSA]

Hopefully the image uploaded this time.
Mike
View attachment 131988

Wow, that is tiny. At least Catalina installed one. My old Mac was open.

 

[Lafayette Mike]

My concern is that with internal halyards moving up and down inside the mast, I don't want to simply string the antenna inside the mast itself, but that conduit does look small to me. I'm worried about getting a cable up through that.
Mike

 

[Gene Neill]

That's how mine looks. Your coax cable and electrical wires will fit easily enough, you'll just need a fish tape to pull them through.

Whatever you do, don't get lazy and just hang the coax cable in the mast ... not if you ever plan to get a wink of sleep onboard. The noise it will make is literally - not figuratively - unbelievable.

 

[Lafayette Mike]

I have a fish tape and lubricant.......just wanted to make sure it would all fit before I ordered it. Thanks for the reply.
Mike

 

[Gene Neill]

Here's mine ... plenty of room, although my electrical wires don't have all that insulation on them.

 

[watercolors II]

My 87 has a anchor light at the top and a steaming light deck light combo at the spreaders with 4 wires running thru that conduit.

I pulled a vhf antenna cable through it and it just fit. I used the electrical fishing wire with lots of lubricant to get it through.

 

[CloudDiver]

I got some fiberglass tube, just larger than 1/2 inch in diameter. I am going to run my coax and 3 hots plus a common ground. I haven't decided how I am going to attach the tube into the inside of the mast. I don't want to use pop rivets, not enough room on the inside of the tube for that... Haven't made up my mind yet, I just think 3/4" PVC is too big.

 

[CaptDon01]

I don't want to use pop rivets, not enough room on the inside of the tube for that... Haven't made up my mind yet, I just think 3/4" PVC is too big.

The factory has been using pop rivets to secure the wiring conduit inside the masts on the C-22's for over 30 years on thousands and thousands of C-22's. The C-22 Tech Manual also covers upgrading the older boats without the wiring conduit on how to perform this project.

Don

 

[SV_GALATEIA]

Successfully ran the VHF coaxial cable through the mast today. The mast conduit had two cables existing, one a two conductor for the anchor light and a three conductor for the steaming and deck light. I tied some old speaker wire I had to the anchor light cable at the top of the mast, pulled the anchor wire out from the bottom of the mast which pulled in my pull wire, attached the VHF coax to the anchor light cable/pull wire and pulled it all back through the mast. Worked pretty easily.

As far as mounting the antenna, there really isn't much room at the top of the mast for the bracket. The upper shrouds go all the way to the top on the flat sides of the mast, the rest of the mast is curved. Decided to drill a hole in the bracket and mount it using the shroud bolt. The bracket is stainless steel and is not responding well to my attempts to drill it. Have a drill press at work so will try Monday.
Recommended drill bits for stainless?.

Haven't drilled the cabin top yet for the pass through fitting....working on my nerves...

Looking to run the inside cable down through the mast support. Tried fishing a heavy line (weed whacker string) but cannot get the turn at the bottom of the support. Will probably disconnect the cabin light and use the wire to pull in a pull wire and pull the antenna wire back with the cabin light wire.

Replaced the four pin deck and mast cable connectors. Be careful tightening the little screw connectors for the wires, I broke one of the screws on the deck fitting with only a little tweaker screw driver, luckily it held the wire.

 

[Ron20324]

... .... Will probably disconnect the cabin light and use the wire to pull in a pull wire and pull the antenna wire back with the cabin light wire..

Next "pull", pull in a messenger string that you can leave there "for the next time".

 

[JimInPB]

...
Recommended drill bits for stainless?.
...

135 degree split point COBALT, preferably screw machine length (short), but standard length is OK. Use a slow spindle speed, about 1/5 the speed that you would use in easy drilling materials & use plenty of coolant. If you don't have proper cutting fluids, use a garden hose & keep it running. Drilling SS requires heat removal more than lubricity from the cutting fluid.

Let me know if you have trouble locating 135 degree split point Cobalt bits. They are usually straw color. They are actually slightly softer than standard high speed steel, but they have better heat tolerance, which is why I use them in SS. I normally get between 25-100 holes in SS with a single bit, when used correctly.

Solid carbide bits are actually the best, but they are stupid expensive, they shatter if you side load them, & they don't come in split point, which makes them require a lot more pressure. Cobalt should be maybe 20-50% more expensive compared to normal high speed steel twist drills.

If you must use standard HSS bits, go slow on the RPMs, & use lots of cutting fluid. At least try to get bits with a split point.

 

[JimInPB]

...
Looking to run the inside cable down through the mast support. Tried fishing a heavy line (weed whacker string) but cannot get the turn at the bottom of the support. Will probably disconnect the cabin light and use the wire to pull in a pull wire and pull the antenna wire back with the cabin light wire....

Home Depot often stocks little neodymium magnets with a hole in the middle. I have had very good luck tying a thin piece of braided fishing line to one of those, then guiding it where I want it to go inside a non-ferrous passage, from the outside with another very strong magnet. Modern neodymium magnets, of grade N42 or higher, are incredibly strong for their size. Some of the larger ones are so strong that they can actually be dangerous.

 

[Jacktar]

Here are the mounting sites for antenna on masthead of my 83 and where the antenna cable entered the mast. I put several cable ties with uncut tails on it and no banging around inside the mast. I led the lines thru using a metal 50 foot snake from Harbor freight.