Wiring GPS to steering pedestal on H34

[lnikl]

I have a small Garmin 276c GPS that I have mounted to my steering pedestal on a 1983 Hunter 34.

At the moment, I "poach" electrical from my autopilot plug when not using it and I charge the GPS battery. A poor and temporary solution. I would like to run the wiring (and also connect to a DSC radio at the nav station) down through the pedestal and over to the Nav table. I could give it a go and best guess the wiring placement and type of waterproofing connection but I figured that someone on this site has done it elegantly, such that the wire doesn't interfere with steering etc.

Any suggestions out there?

 

[navigator97]

I did the same, on my 1990 H-33.5, with my Garmin 492 Chartplotter at the pedestal and ran its cable down thru the pedesyal metal tubing (Pedestal Guard)and then drilled thru horizontally from below the pedestal into the aft cabin. I then mounted a "Radio Shack" junction box (Project Box) with a euro terminal strip inside. A 2 conductor power cable (about 20 AWG size) then ran to a switch box under the nav Station (which also powers Radar, Auto Pilot, Fan, Sump Pump, etc.). A signal cable (about 26 or 28 AWG size) runs from the junction box to the VHF-DSC Radio to provide Lat Lon Signal to it. I did use a small diameter cable gland wher I drilled the hole under the pedestal to provide water tight penetration. Also in the junction box I put in an inline fuse (1 Amp I think) in the red pwer lead. I also placed a connection diagram in the junction box for future connection info for me or next owner. I place a vinyl cap over the end of the Garmin Cable when it's not connected to the Chartplotter, and another over the Chart Plotter connector while it is stored below in the cabin. The only tricky part is determining the best location to drill the penetration hole. Good luck with yours.

 

[Allan12210]

I did this very same project wiring my Garmin 478 GPS from the helm to the nav station. From my photo you can see from the back side of the compass housing I drilled a couple of holes and installed grommets to pass the pigtail supplied by Garmin and my autopilot display cable to the outside world. Later I have slotted those holes to the bottom so I can remove that compass housing without pulling my wires all the way back from the nav station. Seal with caulk. Once inside the housing I attached the GPS pigtail to 8 conductor signal cable (West Marine # 541748). I only needed power, ground and the signal lead, so there are some extra wires left over for future projects. The colors matched nicely. When not used I cover my GPS cable with a red rubber plug cover.

Now the fun part. In the rear berth area you have to remove that cover underneath the steering quadrant. Since this project was in two widely separated steps, the pictures aren't quite accurate. Drill an additional hole through the pedestal base to facilitate running the wires. Its aluminum and I used a 3/4" step drill bit. Others have used a spade bit. Wear eye protection as junk is going to fall in your face. You can see where I ran the two black autopilot cables through the new hole. The white gps cable had been routed earlier before I made that hole and the job was harder because the available pass throughs were tight. Once you pull the cable through the hole you need to route it back aft under the fiberglass where it will emerge again from the edge. Go back up to the aft lazarette and drill a hole down right at the front edge of the bottom of the lazarette that will end up under that quadrant cover when done and allow the wire to be pushed up into the lazzarette. Later, seal that penetration with caulk. Now dress the cable over to the port side and up under the coaming. There is a chase there that will go all the way forward to where the wire bundle goes down inside and behind the circuit breaker panel. You'll have to use an electricians fish tape fed from the inside the boat to pull your new cable back. At this point you should be able to connect the correct wires to 12V, ground and the DSC connections on the radio. I also split that data wire and hooked it to my autopilot computer which is inside the locker on the other side of the nav station. This way the autopilot can track (trk button on a Raymarine X5) the displayed course on the GPS. That alone made this project worth it.

Good luck.

Allan

 

[heart of gold]

Hi Niki, from Rochelle and Ian, As far as your question, Allan pretty much covers it although you may not have to drill into the bottom of the base as there may be enough holes that you can use already. I found this with mine. Cheers.

 

[lnikl]

Thanks all for the tips.
Lee