Project Log: Saturday, June 28 2014
After a break of a few weeks, I continued work on the
masts, this time with the mizzen mast. When I left
off, I'd still been working on wiring on the mainmast,
and had intended to get to the VHF antenna wire required
for the mizzen in short order, but this was the first
chance I'd had to get back to it.
The second VHF antenna was dedicated to the AIS
system, and was the main means of that system's
communication of the ship's position and other data.
Earlier, I'd led a cable from the AIS unit beneath the
pilothouse dash and up through the overhead to the aft
end of the pilothouse, where it'd eventually connect
with the cable leading to the mast and antenna.
There were already holes in the mast for the cable, one
about five or so feet above the mast base, coinciding
with the intended height of the cable exit from the
pilothouse; additionally, the original wiring hole was
still in place near the top of the mast. To begin,
I ran my snake from the lower hole to the upper, a
process that didn't take too long. There was no
internal conduit in this mast.
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Connecting a length of coaxial cable to the end, I next
pulled the wire through, leaving ample excess at the
lower end. |
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Above the masthead exit, I installed a bracket for a
basic wire whip antenna, using Tef-Gel on the tapped
fasteners and all that jazz before installing a
connector on the wire end and making the connections.
I'd have to look for a rubber grommet for that wiring
hole. For the moment, I bundled up the excess
cable at the lower end and left it be pending final
hookup when the mast was stepped. |
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On the mainmast, I installed a second bracket, this one
for the main VHF radio antenna. This cable, which
I'd run earlier, led down from the very top of the mast
to the base of the antenna unit. |
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With the heat of the day and an appointment around
mid-day, I didn't get back to the mast project before
day's end. Meanwhile, the boat waited (im)patiently
in the shop, causing me guilt and angst with each
passage nearby as I went about my daily work and
business. That's my poor old 1994 John Deere GT262
in front, another eventual restoration project (though
more of an stabilization and operational/structural job
rather than cosmetic). |
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Total Time Today: 2 hours
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