Moeller Marine Products Review

Over the years we have often used Moeller Marine products, also sold under Tempo, and found them to be of fairly decent quality. But our most recent purchases have changed our opinion considerably. Here on the Beach House site we often post the specific product we are working with and links to where it can be found. When we use a product we like, it gets a good mention and we will often recommend it to others. But when we find a product we consider of poor quality we feel just as obligated to let others know of our experience. Three recent products made by Moeller have made our "Never Again" list. 

Each of these was purchased only a few months ago and only used a couple of times. The first is a pad that goes over the transom of our dinghy to cushion it when the outboard is mounted. This has only been used one other time with the outboard on and when we mounted the outboard again this weekend, here is the condition we found the pad to be in. It has split completely in half. The dinghy is mounted horizontally on our swim platform and it is impossible for anything to come in contact that might cause this problem.

The next is the premade fuel line that connects the outboard to the fuel tank. The squeeze bulb that lets you prime the line and the outboard is made of such a hard rubber material that you can't squeeze it to prime anything. You must virtually step on it to get the bulb to compress.

The hose itself is starting to collapse from the inside. We are always very careful not to crimp the hose but this one has already developed a crimp on its own, right at the end fitting. Also note the cheap crimped clamp on the end fitting since this too is a problem.

Both ends leak where the hose attaches to the end fitting connectors because the crimped clamp does not clamp down tight enough on the hose. You can easily spin the end connectors and if you can get enough pressure on the priming bulb the ends leak and will continue to leak when the engine is running and pulling fuel from the tank.

The biggest disappointment has been the brand new 3 gallon fuel tank that we purchased about a month ago. We use three gallon tanks for the dinghy so that the gas in the tanks get turned over quickly and we don't have to throw away bad gas, especially as expensive as it is now. The first time we filled up the tank and carried it down the dock we found it was leaking all over the place. Upon further inspection it was determined that the threads for the plastic cap that holds the pick up tube was split in half where the threads meet the mounting.

After disassembling the fitting, I used the handle for the pliers to hold open the split to show how bad it was. Note the other tank sitting next to the broken one. This older tank is a couple of years old and is also a Moeller tank. It has shown no signs of problems and continues to be leak free. I can only make the assumption that the manufacturing process has changed and quality control has gone down the tubes. The colors of the tanks are not the same further indicating to me that things have changed. Perhaps if it had been a single product we might have just taken it back for exchange. But three different products from the same manufacturer all failing in such a short period leads me to only one conclusion. We don't want this product on our boat. This time we will take the hit and reorder all three of these from another manufacturer. I invite Moeller to come on the site and comment on this if they care to.

Our Navigational Notices and Other Work Related Stuff

We haven't been totally neglecting Beach House, but W-O-R-K has been interfering with our boat work a little. Our new projects for Marinalife are coming along nicely. We have quite a few Navigational Notices and Alerts posted that cover the eastern U.S. coast from Maine to Florida and the Gulf Coast, Great Lakes and inland Waterways that include the Great Loop Route. We have even posted a few from the west coast, but not as extensive as the rest. We are also putting together cruising itineraries based on some of our previous cruises that include marina stops and anchorages for a leisure cruise south on the ICW, with stops at about every 50 miles. We will have another cruise template for the ICW from the Georgia border to the Florida Keys, but that will probably not be up for another week. If anyone wants to receive my Navigational Notices, you can go to the Marinalife website and register, and then sign up for whatever areas you want on your dashboard page. It is all free and I send out the Notices as soon as I receive and verify them. They can be read on the website or sent right to your email box. The notices are also linked to our Nautical Chartviewer so you can see the exact area where the notice is posted.

We have also done a few articles for Marinalife Magazine and Susan has an article that has just been picked up by Cruising World. We've compiled many of our anchorages and included them in the Marinalife Chartviewer, plus we have an article for anchorages along the ICW that we will be posting later. Keeping up with all of our other writing has kept us off the blog for a while, but we will make it up soon. Besides working to build the cruising Kitty, we are renovating the flybridge and will post on that as soon as we're a bit farther along. Our plan is to replace the old fiberglass seats, Awlgrip areas we have not done yet and redo the non-skid on the decks. It's still a work in progress, but we are moving along.

We are in our third marina since we arrived in south Florida. We have always wanted to be able to sample different locations rather than just park in one spot as we have often done. Being able to do this is not only fun, but it lets us feel more like we are still boating rather than just sitting and working. More on that later too. The big projects are yet to be done. The autopilot will be next after we finish the flybridge. After that, and a few smaller things, we will tackle the generator. So stick around and sign up for Marinalife updates through email or RSS feed, and we will keep on keepin' on.

Plotting Your Course

In September of 1987, I sailed my 30-foot Hughes Columbia sailboat south to Little River, South Carolina. After a few days of waiting weather, I exited the Little River Inlet and pointed the bow towards Bermuda, some 1,000 miles away. To find that small speck in the middle of the Atlantic, I had the most up-to-date navigational instruments of the time. They consisted of a compass, VHF radio, a sextant with complete tables, paper charts and a radio direction finder. Seven and a half days later, I tuned the RDF to the radio signal for St. Georges Harbor and my feelings of accomplishment were beyond explanation.

Flash forward to the year 2000 as we were planning a trip through the Bahamas, Hispaniola and Cuba. We bought our first on-board computer with state-of-the-art navigational software and the most current electronic charts. We thought we had gone from the Santa Maria to the Starship Enterprise. Now, just 11 years later, that first navigational setup seems almost primitive. Today, we have a full complement of electronics, including our favorite, the chartplotter. We didn’t install our first chartplotter until our cruise from Houston, Texas to Beaufort, South Carolina in 2007. Once we had it on board, we wondered how we had navigated all those thousands of miles for all of those years without one.

Plotters are arguably the most popular piece of electronic equipment found on boats today. The advancements of plotters and GPS integration over the last 18 years are nothing short of astounding. In the early 90s, most all of us were still plotting our course on paper charts and using dividers, protractors, parallel rulers and a sharp number two pencil. Some time around 1993, all of that changed and the race was on for high tech, highly accurate electronic charting. In 1993, Raymarine introduced the Raychart 600 as an add-on to their radar system. The unit displayed on a CRT screen and the radar had to be switched off to view the crude monochrome display with little detail. In 1995, Garmin introduced the GPS Map 220. It boasted of viewing in 16 colors and retailed for over $2,000. These early chartplotters required expensive data cards or “chips” with limited storage space. A long distance cruiser might need up to 10 or more of these chips to cover all of their navigational areas. These chips were not updateable, so to have the most current, we would often have to purchase new cards if significant chart updates had been made.

In 2003, Raymarine once again made major headway with their introduction of the C Series and E Series displays with the ability to integrate other onboard electronics to the same screen. The term chartplotter was already becoming a thing of the past. True chartplotters are getting harder and harder to find today as system integration becomes the norm even on small recreational vessels. Today’s multifunction displays or MFDs can display almost every other instrument connected to the system. This includes radar overlays, wind speed and direction, boat speed, depths and much more. All of this while providing a position on the electronic chart with accuracy within feet of where your boat actually is on the planet.

The current offerings for MFDs are as spectacular as the improvements from 15 years ago. The new Raymarine e7 series, released in July 2011, contains a dual-core processor, touch screen technology and dedicated graphics for incredible speed and detailed display. The e7 has built in WiFi that will communicate with the Apple iPad, allowing it to be used as a repeater and much more. With the new LED backlighted screen, the e7 is incredibly bright and colorful, even in direct sunlight. The e7 can be integrated with Raymarine radar, night vision cameras, Sirius weather receivers, autopilots and other instruments and contains a 48-channel GPS receiver.

Not to be outdone, other manufacturers are also bringing out some outstanding products. Simrad has introduced their new touch-screen NSSSport Series. The NSS Sport comes in three sizes and offers touch-screen, keypad and rotary control to provide the user with a variety of user controls to fit their comfort level. Ensuring ultimate flexibility, the NSS Sport can be networked to the Simrad NSO and NSE multifunction displays, as well as Simrad Yachting’s comprehensive range of innovative performance module options, including the award-winning Broadband Radar™, StructureScan™ Sonar Imaging, SonicHub™ marine audio server and WM-2 SIRIUS^® satellite weather/radio module. The NSS Sport is also preloaded with Insight USA™ inland and coastal cartography, and is fully compatible with the complete range of Navionics chart options on microSD.

Garmin’s new GPSMap 6000/7000 touch-screen offers state-of-the-art G motion technology and built-in worldwide maps, XM weather radio compatibility and allows support for radar, sonar and more. The G motion technology give the user unprecedented viewing of navigational charts.

Many of the current displays include built-in charts for the entire United States coastal and inland waters. The need to purchase individual charting chips is also becoming a thing of the past. Satellite overlays, 3D imaging, weather overlays and video displays are but the beginning of more features, added capabilities and expansion we will see from all of the major manufacturers. As users demand more integration with other mobile devices and more computer-like capabilities, companies like Raymarine, Garmin, Simrad and others will quickly introduce new and more exciting products, a long stretch from my first sextant and radio direction finder.

A big word of caution is also needed with all of this technology. The temptation is great to fire up all of the electronics and head off into the sunset staring at your MFD and feeling you’re getting all of the information you could possibly need to navigate around the world. As great as these electronics are and with all of the information they can provide, they are by no means perfect. Nothing compares to a set of eyes constantly on watch for hazards and potential problems. No display can tell you if a log is floating in your path or if channel markers have been moved due to shoaling. Blindly following a plotter is a sure-fire recipe for disaster, and overly depending on any piece of equipment for the safety and security of your vessel and crew is foolish. We still keep paper charts on board because we have learned from experience that electronics can and do fail. When we want to look at the “big picture,” we can only do that on a set of the most current, up-to-date charts. We use a variety of sources for information and confirmation, and years of cruising and tens of thousands of miles under our keel have taught us that anything is possible. We want you all to stay safe out there.

Adjusting Our Ford Lehman Tachometers In Four Easy Steps

The tachometers for our Ford Lehman 120 have been a question mark since we bought the boat. We have had no way to know how accurate they are, and our cruising RPMs help to determine how much fuel we burn per hour. With the price of fuel today, this is an important piece of information and we would like to be as accurate as possible. Of course, calculating the number of hours run and the fuel added to the tank will give us an average, but we want to be more precise. Running the engine at our average cruising RPMs of about 1750 will mean a fuel burn of about 2.2 gallons per hour (GPH). Running at 1950, the fuel burn jumps up to 3.1 GPH and at 2000 RPMs, it is 3.4 GPH. Having the correct readings on the tachs can save us some considerable cash considering our cruises are usually thousands of miles.

 

I recently purchased a Digital Photo Tachometer or Optical Tachometer as they are sometimes known. These can be found from many sources online and priced from $22.94, which ours was, up to $300.00 or more. We chose the less expensive unit based on recommendations from others, and although we want the tachs to be fairly accurate, they don't have to be precise. The process is pretty simple and only took a short period of time.

The first step is to place a small piece of reflective tape that comes with the unit on the flywheel in a spot where the beam from the photo tach can easily reach it and will be convenient for the tester. It is important that any dirt or grease be cleaned off so the tape will not fly off while you are calibrating. The second step is to start the engine and let it warm up to operating temperature. This calibration can be done at the dock or while underway. I decided to do it initially at the dock and then re-check it again at some point while we were underway.

The third step is to take the actual measurements. The photo tach needs to be pointed directly at the strip of reflective tape and the beam must hit it every time the flywheel turns. A digital read out on the photo tach gives an over all average for several revolutions. I began with the engine at idle, which is about 700 RPMs for our engine. The RPMs were increased to different points and the difference between the actual tach and the photo tach reading were recorded in a notebook. I ran at 1000, 1200, 1400, 1500, 1700, 1800 and 2000 RPMs to give me a complete range. I did not test at wide open throttle. The readings were consistently 74 RPMs less at the photo tach than the actual tachometer. The tachometer at the upper helm was reading about was 125 RPMs less at the actual tachometer than the readings on the photo tach. The upper tach is the most important since we do most of the steering from the upper helm station.

Once I had the corrections to apply to the tachometers at the helm station, it was a simple matter to find the access to the small potentiometers on the back of each tachometer for the fourth and final step. These are found in very small holes usually covered by a small plastic piece that has to be pried off. Different tachs can be found in different locations but the adjustment is the same. With a small screwdriver that will fit in the tiny hole, slowly turn the adjustment one way or the other depending on whether the reading needs to go up or down until it is where you need it to be. Let the engines run for a while, and check the tachs at different RPMs until they are within acceptable readings. Our tachs run off the alternator so I know the readings will not be perfect, but fairly close. Once satisfied that all is as it should be, the engine can be shut down and everything put back where it belongs. This was probably the simplest and quickest project I have done in a long time.

The Big Boat Cover-up

One of my pet peeves with businesses in the marine industry is not showing up for appointments when we need an estimate. I can't count how many times we have called someone locally and said we were ready to spend some money, but needed to have them come out and give us an estimate. The response is always, "no problem, we will be there on XYZ day." That day comes and you wait...and wait...and wait. Finally, you give up when they are a no-show. We absolutely will not call someone back and beg them to take our money. Besides, if they won't show up for the estimate, what would happen if we gave them a job to do? The biggest offenders, in our opinion, are the canvas shops. I mean, if your not coming, call and say so, and if your too busy to take another job, tell me your too busy! But I am amazed how so many cry about how terrible business is and blame it on the economy, cheap boaters and all kinds of other influences.

Our solution was to buy a heavy duty sewing machine from Sailrite and make our own covers. We started small with the easy stuff and slowly progressed to the more complicated projects. We have made a couple of our own biminis and they may not be perfect and as good as the pros might do, but they sure look pretty good and we get lots of compliments. We wrote about the bimini project in this post. A recent project brought all of this home once again. We needed a replacement cover for the seats in the flybridge after the two-year-old vinyl covers completely wore out. Finding these anymore is difficult and they just don't last long. Of course, this time we did not even consider getting someone else to do this for us.

A friend in Annapolis gave us a few bolts of cloth in various colors and textures. Being one of those "cheap boaters," we decided to make the cover out of one of the bolts, even though it's not the same color as all of the other canvas. Beside, this is Beach House and we want to maintain that "Caribbean" look. We had a very nice bolt of a waterproof material in a dark blue that would be perfect, and there was enough material on the bolt. The pros like to make patterns out of sections of plastic material, but my preference is to use the actual material I'm working with to make as much of the pattern as I can. Doing some measuring and marking things off with chalk is a good start for me.

There is no room at all on the boat to lay out material of this size so the dock becomes my cutting floor. It does require some sweeping and cleaning of the dock before I get started. If the wind is blowing, I also need a few sandbags to keep everything in place. Using a yardstick and some chalk, or a chalkline for really long cuts, the bigger pieces are cut to size, allowing for any strange shapes and adding for the seams and bottom hem.

The material was a little too flimsy to make the patterns for the side pieces so I used my old standby; underlayment designed for laminate floor. It can be found everywhere, is very cheap, easy to mark and cut, and is just the right thickness to work with. Once I had the pattern marked off and cut, it was taken to the dock and laid over the material. I cut and marked the pattern to the exact size and then added another 1/4 inch for sewing the seams and an inch and a quarter where the bottom hem would be.

The sewing is usually done at the table in the main salon. For larger projects, it can be a struggle so we will try and find a picnic table somewhere to work. The Sailrite has been a great machine and has paid for itself many times over. We buy most of our thread and materials from them also. All of our covers are sewn with a UV resistant thread, and very seldom have we ever had a problem with the seams coming apart because the thread has deteriorated.

There might be several fittings and adjustments made before the final hem is sewn in place. Typically, there might need to be some tightening of the seams or adjustments on the curves to make a better fit and give it a better overall look. Once everything fits okay, the bottom hem is marked using the yardstick and chalk.

One more final fitting, a little more adjustment and the job is done. We are hoping that this one will last a lot longer than the store bought one. This project took a total of about two hours. The amount of time it takes depends on the complexity of the cover. But it's fun and we like the feeling of doing it ourselves and really like the money we save.

We have made covers for our windows, screens for the opening windows and the sliding entrance door, and a weather cloth for the flybridge. We even use a good quality white plastic tarp for sun awnings. We cut the tarps and resew them to give us semi-custom sun shades for a very small fraction of what the cost would be to have it professionally done or to even do them with a heavier-duty material. This way, we don't feel bad if we forget to take them down during some of those afternoon squalls with 30- and 40-knot winds. They still seem to survive quite nicely, will typically last us a few years and then we replace them. The awnings lower the temperature inside the boat by five to 10 degrees and cut down significantly on the amount of time the air conditioners have to run. All in all, we have been quite pleased with our results and even more pleased with all of the begging we have not had to do to get someone to take our money.

Our New Outboard Lift and Back Saver

During our cruise along the south coast of Cuba several years ago, I did a really dumb thing. We were Med-moored to the dock at Santiago, next to our friend's Vagabond 47 and there was a bit of swell running in the harbor. We both decided to set out an anchor from our bow to keep us from banging together and used our dinghy to do just that. I sat in the dinghy with our CQR 45 and about 50 feet of 3/8 BBB chain in my lap ready to deploy the anchor, and that is when it happened.

It was right about then that I heard the loud pop, and the pain shooting up my back was excruciating. It almost ruined what turned out to be the best cruising we have ever done. From that moment on, it meant I had to be very careful when doing any kind of lifting. That has not stopped me from forgetting over the years and doing more stupid things to aggravate my back problem from time to time. A few weeks ago, we wanted to get out and use our new dinghy for a trip around the local waters. This means lifting the dinghy from a bracket on the stern of the boat, down onto the swim platform and then onto the stern of the dinghy. This is something I have only done a couple of times. then paid for it later with back pain. If we did not resolve the problem, it was obvious we would not use the dinghy very often and there would always be the potential for disaster. Our outboard was given to us by a friend. It looks rough, but runs like a champ. It is a vintage 1999 Johnson 6 horsepower and is pretty heavy to be lifting around on the swim platform.

After considerable research and feedback from other boat owners, we decided that an outboard lift was the answer to our problem and the savior of my back. We decided on the St. Croix 175 Little Crane mounted on the stern corner of the boat just above the outboard. It was not the least expensive, but we liked the sturdy build and the ease to disassemble and stow it when not needed. Another trawler owner highly recommended it and has been using the same model for years. We found the best price on-line at Marine Warehouse in Miami and it arrived about a week after we placed the order.

The installation is very simple and straightforward, as straightforward as anything on a boat can be. The first obstacle to overcome is the mounting bracket that holds the upper part of the lower mast pipe. This is designed to be used on a one inch horizontal rail and or course our rail is teak. But after a little study, I concluded that it would still work on our rail with the use of some slightly longer bolts. You can see how it luckily fit very well and was pretty sturdy.

The next step is to mount the base bulkhead bracket to the combing on the stern. This was thru-bolted to a substantial piece of teak as a backing plate and large fender washers. A healthy dose of caulking behind both the bracket and the backing plate on the inside will keep the water out.

 Once these two brackets are installed, the section of the mast pipe with the notch in the bottom to accept the bulkhead mount is slid into the rail mount and down to the bulkhead mount. The mast is a fine piece of polished stainless and looks very nice. It is also thick walled to handle the weight of the outboard.

The upper section of the mast pipe is fitted into the top of lower section. Both of these can easily be removed and stowed away until they are needed, which is one of the points we liked about this unit.

The lifting arm is, again, a separate piece and can be very cleverly attached and removed if not needed. There are two tabs welded to the top of the upper mast section, and the arm is inserted in the tabs. The arm will swing over and allow us to use the lift on the side of the boat as well as the stern. The crane arm has about a 30-inch reach, and both the arm and the upper section of the mast will swing and rotate as needed.

The final steps in the process is the lacing of the line provided through the three rollers at the end of the arm and the 3-purchase block, also provided. There is a clear diagram in the instructions that makes it easy. A snap hook is attached to the block or can be left attached to the outboard. That is all there is to it. Careful consideration needs to go into the exact location for mounting. I always check and recheck everything before drilling any holes. The outboard is heavy so everything is through bolted and not screwed. All that is left is to hook it to the outboard and lift away. Except that the one thing I forgot was the strap that is attached to the outboard to lift it off the bracket. Oh well, another trip to the supply store. Until next time.

Is It Hard To Install A Single Side Band Radio?

First, a complete disclosure. I have installed a dozen or more SSB radios as a service technician over the years. But my first two installations were on our own boat and I started with no previous knowledge and only the manufacturers manual. To make matters worse, we had no internet to do any research on and most installers would have us believe that there was some kind of magic and mystery to installing an HF radio. We quickly found out that was not the case, and installing one of these radios was no more difficult than installing any other piece of equipment. Eighteen years later, we are installing the most current Icom offering, the 802, on Beach House in preparation for future cruising. And once again, it was not all that difficult.

First, we needed to decide where the rig would be mounted. This does take some consideration since the ease of access when using the radio, the wire runs, where to mount the main unit, the automatic tuner and the ground or counterpoise connections are all factors. We chose the forward cabin as our "radio shack" because it would have the radio out of the way of all other equipment, give the operator some separation from all the other noise in the boat and give us easy access to running the necessary cables. We also chose to use the mounting brackets for the remote control head and speaker rather than flush mount them. Flush mounting would mean cutting some pretty big holes in a bulkhead and if we every decided to remove the radio or find we had to move it, we would be stuck with the holes.

This is also the same area we have set up as our office and computer work station with our printer, separate hard drive storage and all of our supplies. The radio would need to be connected to the computer for retrieving email and weather information over our Winlink system, so this made perfect sense. A small, one and 1/2 inch hole saw cut, through the bulkhead up in a corner under the shelf, gave perfect access to an unused compartment behind a hanging locker. The cables from the remote control head, speaker and Pactor Modem could pass through the hole with enough space to allow for the plugs on the ends.

The main unit of the Icom also comes with a mounting bracket, and our choice was to mount the unit on the other side of the bulkhead. A big consideration for mounting the main unit is to be sure it is in an open and dry area. This unit is not waterproof or even water-resistant. It was within a little more than a foot from the remote control head and speaker. The cables that attach them do allow for a considerable distance if needed. One word of caution, the OPC cable that connects the main unit to the automatic tuner is not very robust. Care should be exercised so as not to damage the plugs or to pull any of the wiring away from the pins in the plugs. This is a common problem during installation. An RG 8U coaxial cable with PL259 connectors on both ends runs from the main unit to the automatic tuner. Another common problem is improper soldering of the PL259 connectors. Positive and negative wires from the main unit to a DC power source are also needed. I always run the power cables directly to the battery bank and fuse both the positive and negative wires at the battery. I have found that connecting an HF radio at the distribution panel almost always creates RF issues in other electrical equipment. The wire should be sized based on the overall run to the battery and back so that voltage drop is kept to a minimum. I don't connect the power cables until the very last, after everything is installed. All wires and cables should be well-secured so they can not chafe or accidentally disconnect. We have had the Pactor Modem cable come out on its own and it took a while to figure it out.

The Icom 802 requires an automatic tuner and, of course, Icom recommends their AT-140. Other cruisers we know have used other manufacturers tuners with great success. We tend to stay with what we know and we have had the AT-130 and AT-140 in the past. We also decided to try a different approach with the ground or counterpoise for this installation. This was my first install on a powerboat, so the antenna setup was a little different than past installations. The typical SSB installation will have a copper foil strap, about two to three inches wide, run from the ground lug on the tuner to a Dynaplate and/or thru-hulls that are in contact with the water. This is how I have done our own and others installations in the past. But in researching how we planned to do this on board Beach House, we found a radial-type counterpoise called KISS SSB. The reviews and feedback from others were very positive and the idea of not having to run copper straps all over the boat was very appealing. The copper straps will corrode over time and degrade the radio's signal strength. We are so pleased with the KISS SSB system that we have become suppliers and can offer them at a good discount.

The KISS SSB is a bundle of wires designed to be radials that are connected to the tuner via a short length of wire. It is all bundled in a waterproof vinyl covering and sealed on both ends. It is a self-contained, counterpoise radial ground system. The Kiss can be run just about anywhere on the boat, clear of electrical wires and electronics, and can even be looped without affecting the performance. Our choice was to run the KISS around the perimeter of the forward V-berth and secure it to the frames just under the top. It is out of the way, but fully stretched out, without being near any other electrical items. This was almost too easy and I did not know what to expect when we finally fired up the radio.

The AT-140 was mounted in the same compartment as the main unit except on the horizontal at the bottom of the compartment. This made connections between the tuner and the main unit about 2 feet, and getting to anything to troubleshoot would be easy, with all connections in the same place. In practice, all of the plugs and connections are coated with a dialectic silicone grease, and all of the coax connections are wrapped in a vulcanizing tape for added protection. An important note here: There is a green ground wire on the OPC 1147n cable, and the Icom manual tells you to connect that ground wire to both the main unit and the tuner. There is even a special lug for this. DON'T DO IT. It will cause additional noise and interference on the radio. With the remote controller, speaker, main unit and tuner all connected, it was time to work on the antenna.

In the past, all of the installations I have done were on sailboats. The mainmast backstay was always used as the antenna by cutting the backstay and putting insulators near the top and bottom. The entire length between the insulators became the antenna. Since there are no backstays to speak of on Beach House, we would need to install a whip antenna. HF radio whip antennas come in two sizes; 16 feet and 23 feet. The longer the antenna, the better and we did not want to skimp on the installation, so we ordered the 23-foot whip. We also chose the Morad Antenna System after much research. You'll find the Morad on U.S. Coast Guard and Navy vessels because they are very strong and well built. Morad's website has been down for quite a while, but the antenna can be ordered directly from them by calling them in Seattle, Washington at (206) 789-2525. Ask for Ken. You will get all the information you will ever need on their units, and he will be sure you have all of the bits and pieces to install the antenna properly.

Because the antenna would be sticking up 23 feet in the air, we had to give careful consideration to where it would be mounted. If it was placed on the side of the flybridge, it would be about 17 feet above the bimini and not exactly ideal for us. Another issue would be the run of the cable from the tuner to the antenna itself. Since the radio produces high voltage to the antenna when tuning and transmitting, a special high voltage cable is needed to connect it to the tuner called GTO 15. Only the inner core wire is used and a simple crimp on connector is attached at one end to the tuner via an insulated connection and a wing nut on the opposite end from the connections to the main unit. The important factor here is that the GTO cable MUST be kept away from all other electrical wiring, panels and electronic equipment, especially autopilots. The GTO connection cable is also part of the antenna itself and puts out significant RF. For our installation, we were able to run the GTO from the tuner, behind a space along our main salon settee, to an unused open space behind the medicine cabinet in the aft head. There was also access to this space to mount the base of the antenna. The base that we purchased from Morad allows us to lay the antenna down when transiting under bridges. This same area allowed us to mount the antenna almost at the deck level, so it only rises above the bimini about 7 feet. It looks better esthetically and functions as it should.

At 23 feet in length, an intermediate support is needed as high up as possible. Since our installation put the antenna behind the bimini frame, the next logical place was the rail at the aft end of the flybridge. The support supplied from Morad was very well made and they even made us a special attachment for the one-inch rail since the support was designed to fit a two-inch tube. This put the support at about 8 feet and made the antenna quite secure. There is a simple latch that allows the antenna to be released and lowered down to the deck if needed. We ordered the UPS version of the antenna, so named because it came in three pieces, the two longest being eight feet. This allowed us to ship it UPS without expensive extra charges. The two lower sections are powdered coated aluminum and the top section is stainless steel. The whole antenna is very well made and very robust. We don't envision any problems, even in high winds and heavy seas. With the tuner now connected to the antenna, it was time to connect the power to the radio. When the positive and negative wires are connected to the battery, you will get a spark. This is normal.

One additional piece of advise for the installation. We have found that no matter how well the install, there always seems to be interference to or from other electrical equipment. Our 12-volt fans were the only culprit this time, but in the past, other equipment has caused problems. Refrigeration, alternators and most electric motors will make a lot of noise on frequency. Keeping all of the cables and wires as far away as possible will help as will connecting the power cable directly to the batteries. If all else fails, we find the clip-on ferrites can help with the noise and leaking RF. These ferrites on both ends of any cables, as close to the attachment point as possible, makes a significant difference. Attached to the power cords for fans and motors near the motor itself will help, and sometimes several will be needed. Ferrites can be found at almost any electronics supplier and should be sized to fit the wire as snugly as possible. To find the source of any interference, turn on the radio and tune it to the noisiest frequency. Then, turn the power off one at a time to each electrical source on the boat. The noise will go away as soon as you find the culprit. Then, either move some wiring or add the ferrites. With everything in place, it was time to test the rig.

We were absolutely delighted that our first radio check on frequency from another boat about 300 miles away got us a "loud and clear." Since Susan is a licensed Ham operator, she has been able to check in on the Maritime Mobile Net and also received good signal reports. This is especially good since we are at the dock and broadcasting from a marina with lots of sailboat masts, a large metal building, etc. which can be problematic. It appears that the rig and installation works as advertised and the only thing left is the connection of our Pactor Modem. The Pactor allows us to connect the Icom to our computer and send and receive emails, as well as weather fax and other weather products from NOAA that are broadcast by the U.S. Coast Guard. The Pactor is connected to the Icom via a special cable that is attached to the back of the Pactor and the ACC connection on the Icom main unit. This allows the Pactor to communicate with the Icom, but another cable is needed to connect the Pactor to our computer. Our Pactor is an older IIe model that connects to the computer through a serial port. Since most computers today, especially laptops, don't have serial ports, we need a USB to Serial cable to make the connection. The cable must be compatible with our computer operating system and have the appropriate drivers. The newer Pactors are capable of connecting directly via USB.

The Pactor and computer communicate through a great software program called Winlink Airmail. This is free to Ham operators as long as it is not used for business purposes. It will also function with a SSB through a service called Sailmail, which is a paid service. We have used Airmail for years and although it has limitations, we find it invaluable when we are in out of the way areas and need to send or receive emails from family and friends. It will also give us the ability to download weatherfax and Grib files to make our passage planning safer and more comfortable based on the weather. Susan like to participate in several of the SSB and Ham nets and we can even get phone patches through other Hams if we are in very remote anchorages where no other communication is available. All in all, we are extremely happy with our new installation and one more piece of equipment is checked off the list.

Here are some Cruisers Nets for the Caribbean from Noonsite....

Bahamas Cruiser Net
VHF Channel 68
08:15 local time for Marsh Harbour Abaco, Bahamas.
Bahamas Weather (BASRA)
4003 kHz at 1100 UTC
Caribbean
6215 kHz at 1000 UTC (Uncontrolled 1000-1200).
Caribbean Maritime Mobile Net
Run by Lou, call sign KV4JC, on 7241 kHz at 1100 UTC. At 1115 UTC weather forecast from St. John (USVI). Following this report on 7086 kHz FAX, Slow Scan TV and other weather info etc.
Caribbean SSB Weather Net
Controller Dave. 8104 kHz at 1230-1300 UTC and 12362 kHz at 1300-1330 UTC. Comprehensive Weather for Caribbean region.
Caribbean SW Net
8107 kHZ at 1330 UTC. Weather and information Caribbean coast of Panama and Colombia.
Caribbean Safety and Security Net http://www.safetyandsecuritynet.com, SVSecondM@aol.com
An interactive high frequency radio network of cruising yachts which meets each morning on SSB 8104.0 at 1215 UTC for the purpose of exchanging information with regard to safety and security concerns while cruising in the Eastern Caribbean. More info at their website.
Marine Weather Centre
Chris Parker
Tel: 001 863-248-2702 www.mwxc.com, info@mwxc.com
Opening Hours: Telephone Best times 10am-2pm EST (except Weds 10-1)
Custom weather reports for the Carribbean, Bahamas and Eastern Atlantic Ocean via SSB, phone or web. See website for more details.
Maritime Mobile Service Network http://www.mmsn.org/
The Maritime Mobile Service Net is operational every day from 12:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time, and from 12:00 p.m. until 10:00 p.m. Eastern Time during Daylight Savings, on a frequency of 14.300 MHz., in the 20-meter amateur band. The network also operates on the alternate frequency of 14.313 MHz. The Maritime Mobile Service Network immediately follows The Intercontinental Traffic Net. Coverage extends via relay stations to most of the Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea, the Caribbean Sea and the Eastern Pacific Ocean.
Salty Southeast Cruisers Net www.cruisersnet.net
Up-to-date information about cruising southeastern United States and the Bahamas.
Southbound II - Herb's Weather http://www3.sympatico.ca/hehilgen/vax498.htm
12C (12359) kHz at 2000 UTC. Covering the North Atlantic and the Caribbean. Limited coverage is available for the South Atlantic and the Eastern Pacific subject to HF propagation.