....good and not so good... tiller pilot and DSC setup

...."not so good"? Read on..

Pretty damn good actually...one of those crafty days off work that usually deliver so much on the sailing front in the summer, also delivered some goodness on the construction and maintenance front..

There were three jobs (four actually) on the list today...

With a little more than 40 days to launch prioritisation is now the key, jobs that need power and electrics move closer to the top of the list, as paint jobs and the like can be done on the water if needed (they don't tend to get done, by the way, they just get moved to next winters list )

First (and easiest), it being March it was time to drop the outboard off for its service - job done and after time for a catch up with Simon at Emsworth Outboards, it was on to the chandlers for one of those (top left -  more anon) and some nuts and bolts..

Next was the job I have been (over) thinking about for far to long, and as is usually the case worked out much easier than I thought - it was time to construct the tiller pilot attachment..  over many long cycle rides to work I have come up with hundreds of ideas ( I was even welding a bracket at one point!) but in the end I rejected them all for the simplest solution a block of 4 x 2 and a hinge..  truly the most difficult thing about it was doing the measuring..  happy to say I followed the 'measure twice cut/drill once' this time rather than my usual other way round..

First off Julian on "Billy" found me a tiller pin in his spares box last summer - it was slightly over size for the fitting on the end of the ram on mine, but that is only plastic so I drilled it out slightly and all was good.. drilled a slightly undersized hole into the tiller and it screwed in with a good tight fit with no need for epoxy..

Just prior to drilling the hole for the pivot pin..  the tiller pin is fitted - thanks Julian!

That done I could do the measurement from pin to cockpit edge, and as suspected it was several inches short of recommended - trimmed down a piece of 4 x 2 I'd bought with me and offered it up with the pilot resting on top and the other end on the pin on the tiller so I could see the pilot was horizontal and at right angles, marked up the position of the end of the block on the cockpit side, and got a rough idea of the length I would need..  once that was cut, I repeated the above, and when I was happy, did a precise measure from the pin on the tiller to get me the position of the hole for the pivot on the pilot. 10mm hole was drilled - perfect size - tested again, perfect..

After that a stainless steel hinge from the spares box (I think I was originally going to use them for the cockpit lids but thought they weren't heavy duty enough) was attached to the block at the cockpit end of the block, and to the cockpit side - that way the block can lie flat again the cockpit side when I'm not using the pilot, so I can still open the cockpit hatches

All done bar the shouting - it's not switched on hence tiller position - power socket down in the corner on the cockpit floor - the hook and eye will be the other side of the block - eye end on the block

The block is in the garage for a couple of coats of paint; I'll fit the hook and eye (which will secure the block when it's being used) next time, as at this point the rain drove me into the cabin for a cup of tea... 

Warm and dry in the cabin (fan heater going like a banshee), tea in hand, it was time for the third job - the VHF..

The easy job was to program in the MMSI that I recently got from Ofcom when I registered the radio, but then the job that turned out to be infinitely more a pain in the ar*e - connecting my GPS 72 (which is truly old, but continues to work and therefore I am reluctant to upgrade) so I can send GPS data for the DSC function on the radio..

The problem was that the GPS data cable has two wires for data, the radio has four wires..  I read that radio manual about a hundred times trying to understand what the cables were doing and what matched up - I don't consider myself to be a dull bloke, but I could not get the GPS to talk to the VHF for love nor money, so in the end I did what I should have done and did some research on the web.

On the Practical Boat Owner forum I came up trumps, someone had asked the exact same question a number of years ago, and one of the respondents had done the exact same job that morning and had provided the very info I needed!

Seven years ago, but as valid and useful to me as the day it was written - thanks "Bru" (I follow his blog, by the way - he owns/owned SV "Pagan" if you want to find him on Google)..  the file he references is long gone but I managed to find it on the 'way back machine' so if you want to read it, it is here [clicky]

So a temporary fix later and we had the following lash up..

...went into the GPS and set the interface to NMEA - the 4800 baud was default and the only option

..and eureka..  GPS data feeding to the VHF =>

Top result....  I would never ever even have considered that one of the two connections required used the negative power cable on the GPS without that handy post!...

So the not so good? Display on the new VHF is faulty - two lines of pixels missing as can be seen from the picture above..  damn....  so the day came to an end on a good note and a bad note... 

Fourth job was going to be that fore hatch but it can wait, I'll be down on the boat again on Sunday..

Dismantled the VHF, went home, found the receipt, put it back in ts packaging, and went off to the Chandlers I bought it from (mail order) to return it and hopefully get a replacement only to find it doesn't work that way and after 16 days you don't get a replacement - it goes back to the manufacturer for assessment/repair ..  double damn...  still, I am advised they are quick so I should hear within the next week to two weeks..  #firstworldproblem

On the plus side, while I was there I picked up the antifoul..  after two years of Hempel Classic I was all set to go with that again (it's as good/bad as anything), but as they were doing a special on this one I went with that instead..   £35 for 2.5 litres - I could pay three times as much and am not convinced it would be any better, never mind three times better... navy blue naturally, as all boats look the dogs nadgers in navy blue antifoul as we all know..  

...and more jobs done... mainsail, thwarts/strakes,pads and VHF thoughts...

...that paint brush about sums it up...

While the weather gods continue to smile (and their are warnings that it won't last much longer than the middle of the week), I continue to slap on the varied unguents, confident in the knowledge that they will at least have chance to dry before it cools overnight and produces the inevitable heavy dew...

So it was that this Sunday saw me paintbrush in hand to finish off a number of the painting type jobs...

If the good Lord wills it, the following jobs are now complete

• the rubbing strakes got a second coat of wood stain
• the outboard pad got a second coat as well  - handrails look ok,.. (so job #14 done)
• the tenders rubbing strakes got a coat of wood stain (and that will be it - one is enough)
• the bottom washboard got another coat of white - the wood is shot really and the last coat didn't dry well so I gave it a rub down and another coat and if that doesn't work, then I'm going to epoxy it.. (job #13 done)

Once that was done the last job of the day was to wire in the new VHF (part of job #3) which was done with a quite astonishing lack of fuss.. I was even getting traffic which is pretty damn impressive given line of site from the aerial being what it is... As is the way of things on a boat however, that job completed, it generated two new ones...

1. One I need an MMSI number, so today I hot footed off to the OffCom web site to register the fixed VHF with the boat - that generated me an MMSI (Call Sign: 2CDS3). I'll enter code in the VHF this weekend as somewhat irritatingly it shrieks at me whenever I turn it on, along with a message that I need to enter it..   Either way, job done, and should I ever sell the boat I need to remember to cancel the two licences I now have (one for the handheld, and one for the fixed)
2. the other job is a far more 'interesting' one - the new VHF is DSC enabled and comes with an external GPS cable in order to feed it with a GPS position for the DSC (should, Heaven forbid, I ever need it). You have a few choices these days on how to generate the GPS data but what I think I'll do is connect the VHF to the Garmin GPS 72 I use as my primary nav instrument - I'm using the Garmin for every trip anyway so it's just a matter of plugging in the radio at the same time...  the manual says my GPS is NMEA 0183 compatible so what I need to do is either cut in to the existing data cable (not keen) or find myself a second one I can use (which I've done - see below). The whole thing promises to be quite interesting.. typical me of course, originally I'd not planned to bother with the GPS position and just use it as a straight radio, but seeing as I have the capability it seems a waste not to.. and given it also has power cables I suppose I could also wire it in to the ships 12v system so I no longer need to feed the beast with AA batteries by the half handful... and... and... and...

010-10082-00 PWR DATA CABLE - black and red are power, white and brown are the Rx and Tx NMEA cables

 Separately I got a call that the mainsail had been finished off - they've done a cracking job on it - can't wait to see what it looks like when deployed...  so job #10 is done

Next jobs..

• GPS feed to the VHF radio (plus power for the GPS if possible)
• autopilot fitting - we have power - now I need to set up a way of connecting it to the tiller - Raymarine recommend the following:
  
  

  

  Copyright Raymarine

  Key measurements are 24" from the tiller centre point, and 18" in from the back of the tiller, which means that on Sparrow, the tiller pilot pivot pin is about 9" in from the coaming and 6" above the cockpit lid, so I need to either manufacture a connection point, or buy some (expensive) extension rods  - not surprisingly I am going with the former and what I plan to do is use a length of 2 x 4 timber (inches, not feet, darling...), connected with a hinge to the cockpit side at the right height and distance, so that I can fold it back against the coaming when I'm not using it, and also so the cockpit lid isn't blocked from opening - to keep it in place I'll use one of these the other side to the hinge. I'll drill a hole at the other end for the pilot pivot pin..
  
  
  
• paint the floor of the tender
• I have an idea to complete job #4 (the forehatch hinges) - a job that has been on the list for as long as I have owned the boat...  stay tuned...

Fitting an external antenna to a Standard Horizon HX280E handheld VHF

One of the mini-projects this winter was a temporary solution to my requirement for a permanent VHF. As good as the winter was in terms of crossing stuff off the job list, I never managed to get to the electrics, and a fixed VHF requires pukka 12v power. In order to resolve the issue temporarily, and to increase the range of my hand held, I came up with a plan to use it with an external antenna suitable to be used with the fixed VHF when I get it...

Now I'll be the first to say that the subject of VHF sockets/connections was Greek to me, but with the assistance of some of the guys on the Practical Boat Owner web forum, I now have a significantly slightly better idea of what's going on - but I'm no expert - so if anyone chooses to believe the following, I would advise double checking....  having said that, with the exception of the external antenna most of these adapters and connectors come in at less than a fiver... 

There are a number of things to bear in mind when looking at antenna's (and this site [clicky] gives an excellent overview of them) but my understanding is that "Gain" is the most important as that is a reflection of the 'power' of the antenna...  simply put, the bigger the aerial the bigger the gain/power.. but over 3' length and the power is at expense of the shape of the radio wave..  way too complicated, but there is a reason that most antenna's on yachts are the 3' type - they are the accepted compromise, and that was good enough for me...

The external antenna I bought then was this one - a bog standard 1mtr, glass fibre pole - in this case made by Banten (who seem to have a fairly good reputation) - you'll note the gain is quoted in decibels (3 db). By comparison my hand held has the 'usual' 6" rubber aerial attached to the handheld via a stub screw - gain on these antennas are usually quoted as 0 db..

I bought the antenna from these guys [clicky] based on price (about £37), but also because it came with the following - an adjustable mounting block, 5 mtrs of RG58 type cable that was pre-attached to the aerial (NB. over a certain length ie. 6 mtrs'ish, RG58 is not good enough - the link above gives the alternatives), and they also supplied a plug (more of which anon)...

So my main reason for doing this was to get a little extra range - I'm not planning to shift the aerial to the top of the mast (though I may do one day) as I sail predominantly in Chichester Harbour and the Solent so range is not super critical. Either way there is some maths you can do (just do a search on 'VHF range calculation' on Google and you'll even find sites that do the calculations for you) but assuming a 30 foot mast at the coastguard, I reckon I'd get about 15 miles range if my antenna was at the top of the mast, as opposed to 11 miles with it on the pushpit board... the Solent is only 4 miles wide at it's widest so I think it'll be good even taking account of line of sight...

So - antenna taken care of, how did I connect it to the handheld?

Seemingly you have two choices - and it basically comes down to choice of connector...

My aerial came with a PL-259 type like so:

I believe most fixed VHF's come with this socket, and certainly this was how the fixed VHF on my old boat connected...

The alternative is a co-ax type connection called a BNC - people who have worked in an office may find this familiar as it used to be used for LAN cabling - if you go this route you need a 50 ohm type (they also come in 75 ohms which are more commonly used for TV/Camera type applications).

Either connector (BNC or PL-259) is valid for this project, also you can get crimp on type in both, but I think the general opinion is that a soldered connection is better. Longer term I will be fitting a fixed VHF (next winter probably), so I decided to go PL-259 from the outset. In either case - whichever plug you decide on for the antenna - you will then need the relevant adaptor for the hand held, and based on advice I would suggest these..

BNC:

You need an SMA<=>BNC adapter, the Standard horizon version is their CN-3 adapter. This is a single piece unit that screws on to the handhled and has a BNC plug at the other end..

I ordered one of these [picture above - clicky] (before I made up my mind about going PL-259 )

PL-259

Same applies you need an SMA<=>PL-259 adapter (NB. Sometimes they refer to SO239 as that is the name of the socket for the PL-259 plug)

Examples include the following - you have a choice basically between a single piece unit as per the BNC example above, or one with a short length of cable between the two adaptors..

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SMA-male-t.../191521373255?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PL259-PLUG...item1e74c006a5

I went for the single piece adaptor in the second link.