[C320-list] Pedestal ICOM command mike

[Bruce Stanley]

12volts in the propane locker.......... it sounds potentially dangerous to
me!?

Bruce Stanley #1084
Sydney Australia

On Wed, Mar 5, 2008 at 11:34 AM, Allan S. Field <allan.field at comcast.net>
wrote:

> I had it mounted under the lid to the propane tank for about 2 years also.
> I found that I was constantly knocking the mic off of the bracket and
> always
> had to be on the port side to talk as the cable is not that long.  I
> always
> felt as if I was going to pull the thing out of the mount.  That is why I
> eventually went with the "harder" install and have never regretted the
> work
> that went into making it right for me.
>
> Allan S. Field
> Sea Shadow - #808
> Columbia, Md
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: c320-list-bounces at lists.catalina320.com
> [mailto:c320-list-bounces at lists.catalina320.com] On Behalf Of Joe Barrett
> Sent: Tuesday, March 04, 2008 11:06 AM
> To: C320-List at catalina320.com
> Subject: Re: [C320-list] Pedestal ICOM command mike
>
> Soooo much easier to mount it just under the lid for the propane tank.
> Straight run down to the interior VHF. Very accessible from the helm and a
> much easier install. If I remember correctly I did not need a cable
> extension though I could be wrong on that.
> Joe Barrett
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: c320-list-bounces at lists.catalina320.com
> [mailto:c320-list-bounces at lists.catalina320.com] On Behalf Of Bill
> Culbertson
> Sent: Tuesday, March 04, 2008 10:09 AM
> To: c320-list at catalina320.com
> Subject: [C320-list] Pedestal ICOM command mike
>
> You'll definitely love having the command mike at the pedestal and as
> others
> have said it is definitely more complicated that other locations.  IMO
> it's
> worth it.
>
> What I did was somewhat less complicated than Allan. I'd read his first
> and
> decided to see if I could try the engine pod.  It worked so I stuck with
> it.
> What I did the same as Allan is to buy the extension as well as cut the
> cable.  I bought a terminal block same as he did and reconnected the cut
> ends via the terminal block except that I mounted mine under the aft berth
> next to the fresh water pump.
>
> What I did differently was run the cut cable end through the tube to the
> engine pod and mount the connector on that small flat section of the pod
> on
> the port side.  I clip the mike up high just under the sailing
> instruments.
> I had hoped that cutting the cable end would allow me to thread the cable
> up
> the engine pod stainless tube without further ado.  Turns out, it just
> won't
> go.  So I disconnected the engine wiring pulled it down into the aft cabin
> while messengered from the pod.  Then I inserted the cut cable end from
> inside the engine pod and threaded that down the tube into the aft cabin.
> When I ran out of cable, I had the connector end ready to mount into the
> hole in the pod I'd already drilled for it.
>
> Disconnecting the engine wiring sounds scary but actually there is a
> terminal block inside the pod connecting the incoming cable harness to the
> various engine instruments.  So you are really just undoing the wires from
> the harness side of the terminal block.  With one exception, they are all
> uniquely color coded and the color code of the harness wire exactly
> matches
> the color code of its mate on the terminal block.  I labeled the one which
> didn't match its mate.  So for reassembly, you need only match the cable
> harness wire color code to the wire left attached to the instrument side
> of
> the terminal block.
>
> Once the harness wires are disconnected, I gathered them together, tied
> the
> messenger line into place with a series of half hitches spaced an inch
> apart
> and then spiral wrapped the whole thing with electrical tape.  There was
> probably an 8" length that was taped.  My son helped me with him below in
> the aft cabin gently pulling the cable (I'd removed the access cover from
> the aft cabin roof) and me up in the cockpit pushing/feeding it into the
> tube.  I can't remember if I sent the command-mike cable down as part of
> this operation or if I fed it down separately after the engine cable
> harness
> was removed from the tube.
> Regardless, you end up with the engine cable in the aft cabin and the cut
> end of the command mike in the aft cabin.  I secured the radio cable and
> my
> son and I fed the engine cable back into the tube him pushing on the cable
> and me pulling on the messenger.  I think I slathered joy dishwashing
> detergent on the engine cable harness to ease the process since it was now
> rubbing against the command mike cable on its way back into the pod.  Once
> it was in the pod I unraveled the tape and messenger and reconnected each
> wire to its mate on the terminal block.
>
> For the mike cable, I ziptied it every 12-18" or so to existing wiring
> that
> was exiting the pedestal guard and fed it under the aft berth (easy).  As
> I
> said before, I mounted a terminal block to the board on which the fresh
> water pump is mounted and connected the free wires to that block.  I
> connected the other end of this cut cable to the terminal block and
> connected the connector to the 2nd intact 10' command mike cable from
> ICOM.
> I ran that one under the fridge and under the stove (access by removing
> the
> teak "thingy" under the
> stove) and fed up to the navpanel.  I've run lots of cabling from the
> navpanel to the under- the-stove area so that part was pretty familiar
> already.  One of those was a cat5 cable that I had managed to squeeze into
> the port-side of the pedestal as Al Ahlman recommends.
> I'd done that in an earlier wiring project.  That cable brings seatalk
> from
> the pedestal instruments back to an ST60 Multi unit on the navpanel
>
> One last note.  For mounting the mike itself to the pedestal I borrowed an
> idea either from this list or from a dock mate or from a sailing magazine.
> I bought a broom handle mount at the hardware store.  These clips expect
> something about 1" in diameter.  I screwed the broom handle clip to a
> small
> piece of plywood and screwed the mike connector to the opposite side of
> the
> plywood.  Now you just clip the mike to its connector and clip the broom
> handle clip directly to the 1" pedestal tube anywhere you like.  I tend to
> keep it just below the instruments.  But if I later put another navpod
> below
> the instruments for radar, I'll just clip it to another part of the
> pedestal
> tube.
>
> I have a bunch of pics of the process.  I should upload them to the
> website.
>
>  -bill
>  Harmony #859
>
> ----- Original Message ----
> From: Chuck and Kathy <katchu at chartermi.net>
> To: c320-list at lists.catalina320.com
> Sent: Monday, March 3, 2008 6:38:39 PM
> Subject: Re: [C320-list] C320-list Digest, Vol 27, Issue 1
>
> Thanks for all the help.  Allen - I particularly appreciate knowing that
> the
> Icom cable won't fit without cutting it.  That will save me a lot of time.
>
>