Wiring your VHF
Ralph, I just installed my VHF this spring and it was very easy. Find a nice location for your radio. Mine is on the underside of the ceiling (liner) on the stbd. side above the berth, about even with the electrical panel. I used a 36" Shakespeare Ant. kit which came with 60' of wire. Get a male and female PLN connector from Radio Shack, solder type prefered. Prep by putting a PLN connector on one end of your coax, to match to the ant. connector. With the mast down, take the base and masthead cast fittings off. You don't need to disconnect halyards, just move out of the way. With a stiff wire or electrician's fish tape go up through the PVC wire holder in th forward edge of mast. Strt from bottom with fish. Drill a hole at top of mast to one side and below insertion depth of masthead fitting. Insert rubber grommet to protect wire. Run coax end through grommet and into mast. Pull wire down through wire tube in mast with the fish tape. Leave enough wire with PLN connector sticking out side of mast to allow easy connection to ant. At base drill hole at front of mast, again above insertion depth of base fitting. Rubber grommet and pull wire through. I took a "Tie-wrap" and put it around the coax inside the mast at the base to act as a strain relief. Cut off the wire outside the mast leaving about 8-10". Attach another PLN connector (female). Reassemble your mast fittings and install Ant. at top with a suitable bracket. The lead-in to the cabin was a drilled hole aft and to the Stbd. side. I drilled straight down from the deck partway and then up at an angle from inside next to the compression post. Do some careful measuring using the mast base mount aft stbd. bolt as reference and it will work nicely and be almost hidden. On the deck, I used a std. wire pass-thru fitting for 1/4" wire. Screwed it to the deck with 3M 5200 sealant. Attach the mating PLN end to the wire, and send it down thru the deck. I then ran the wire along the top of the bulkhead, over the top through a clearance cut and fastened it going back to the radio with nylon wire holders screwed to the hull/topside wood reinforcement. When mast is up, connect your mast light connector and your radio PLN connectors together and your in business. Mine works great, and gives good range even with the blanketing I get from the Ohio River valley hills.
