[C320-list] Pulling cables for new electronics

[Jeff Hare]

BTW, If you're using SeaTalk NG devices at the helm, you can reduce most of the wiring up the binnacle and have plenty of room and not much trouble feeding the wires.  This is because you can just run a backbone up and branch out in the nav pod.

If you're going NMEA2000, (you didn't say which vendor) but assuming Raymarine, you might be better off upgrading to the newer SeaTalk NG stuff like i70/i60/p70 displays etc. because you won't need the sensor cables lead to the control heads. They'd just all go to the ITC-5 and then be on the bus.

The last time we wired anything extra into the nav pods was when we had 3 ST60 devices and chart plotter. Getting all those wires up involved a lot of grease, multiple pairs of hands and a full swear jar. When we added the Linear Drive AP, 2 i70's and the p70, all the wiring got really clean.  We mounted the ITC-5 behind the panel where the VHF & Stereo live and that's where all the transducers connect.  From there, everything's just hangs off the SeaTalk NG backbone. One note, is that if I were to do that job over, I'd use an i60 Wind display and an i70 display instead of 2 multi-function i70 displays.   

The only major exception to rule that was the Radar cable which also runs up to the ChartPlotter.  

I know that many people would rather use lots of DIY muscle and creativity than spend a buck, but the difference is that all upgrades are pretty easy from here out once you have a tidy instrument bus running everywhere. AIS can connect to the bus anywhere and now it's already up in the nav pod and available to your remote mic if you have a display on it.

If you're using Garmin or B&G, well, nevermind all this as you'll probably end up with a mix of busses to deal with. 

-JeffH

PS: Next year I'll probably tackle the same project on our new boat.  The old SeaTalk (all the old ST60 stuff needs to go away).


-----Original Message-----
From: C320-list <c320-list-bounces at lists.catalina320.com> On Behalf Of Chris Burti
Sent: Saturday, February 19, 2022 5:10 PM
To: C320-List at catalina320.com
Subject: Re: [C320-list] Pulling cables for new electronics

You need to pull something out so can secure a messenger line in order to pull wire back up. 

Best Regards,
Chris Burti


> On Feb 19, 2022, at 11:08 AM, Graeme Clark <cg at skyflyer.co.uk> wrote:
> 
> Chip
> I did similar a few years ago and resolved the issue by buying a 20 
> core cable and then spliced the necessary connections at each end (ie below deck and in instrument pod) that went up one leg of the binnacle guard rail and the new NMEA2000 cable went up the other I have had no crosstalk issues whatsoever.
> Regards
> Graeme
> #366, 1996
> 
> Sent from my phone. Excuse typos! 
> 
>> On 19 Feb 2022, at 15:37, Charles r Martin <chiprmartin at gmail.com> wrote:
>> 
>> Dear Shipmates:
>> 
>> My current challenge is in order to upgrade my electronics to a NMEA 2000 based system (so I can add AIS, connect with an iPad at the chart table, and upgrade my auto helm), I will need to pull new cables through the poles on the binnacle.  Has anyone else tried this?  It looks to be a challenge, especially as I hope to leave some existing cables in place (sensor cables and power cables). I couldn’t find anything on this in the C320 toolbox.  I see some warnings regarding cross talk and ferrites that I need to understand better.
>> 
>> Best,
>> Chip Martin
>> S/V Bonaventure, Hull #767
>> (410) 231-0199
>> chiprmartin at gmail.com
>> 
>> Sent from my iPhone
>