finding the cable sections in my mast

[Phoenix of Hamble]

I'm about to fit a radar scanner on my mast and am concerned over the cable routing...

I've got a Selden mast with two built in cable ducts, one either side of the mast track.....

Its a keel stepped mast, so has a foam bung in the main mast section at just above deck height....

How do I route the radar cable?

Is it round the oustide from the front to the rear of the mast and into the existing cable runs (assuming I can get the cable down the smallish space with the existing cables allready there (that run to the mast head for lights, VHF, Windex etc)?

Or do I route down in the main mast section and then exit at deck level, through the deck (with a gland)?

or is there a better way?

 

[DickB]

My mast is exactly the same. When I fitted the radar scanner the guy who fitted the bracket told me that he always just leaves the cable dangling down the forward centre void (where the halyards run). The cable exits from a drilled hole at the mast base (with a grommet). Looking at a x-section diagram of the mast , the cable runs would be difficult to get the very thick radar cable down, since you would have to drill at the side and the hole would have to be oval to get over the bending limitation of the radar cable. (not to mention the risk of damaging masthead cables...)

I confess that knowing the cable is actually flapping around in the mast dos not sit easily with me but to be honest I have never heard it clonking against the inside wall oif the mast.

After all that it works fine...

 

[Albert Ross]

Likewise .. I tried to pull the radar cable down the internal conduit that the deck flood light runs in but it was far too tight to fit the thick radar cable .. ended up just running it loose up the inside of the mast. I think it will flap around and may eventually get worn down by the halyards etc .. ideally it needs to be tied forward inside the mast to stop it flapping but to do this I think you need some sore of surgical endoscope to look inside the mast and secure it .. does anyone know where to get hold of such an instrument?
Peter

 

[john_morris_uk]

Our boat came with the radar cable in a hemispherical conduit on the forward starboard outside face of the mast. The cable is far to big to go into the deisgnated cable channels in the mast (as others have noted) but the (white) conduit installation looks neat and tidy. Its another solution to consider?

The hemisperical conduit is hard to source until you know where to look. (One bit of ours was cracked and needed replacing) After much searching, I found that there is a main supplier in Crownhill, Plymouth after all the normal Electrical Factors claimed that there was no such thing as semispherical conduit. PM me if you want to go this route and I will look up the dealers name.

 

[Phoenix of Hamble]

John,

How is the conduit attached to the mast? Is it glued or is it rivetted?

 

[john_morris_uk]

Not totally sure I remember - I'm off down the boat in a few minutes and I will have a look. From memory, its rivetted. I do remember it has a large dollop of mastic in the top of the conduit where the cable from the scanner goes in.

Of course if you don't want to rivet, you could stick it on with a suitable mastic like Sikaflex?