Is this a sensible place to mount...

demonboy

demonboy

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... my satellite phone aerial? It certainly makes the job easier to install than mounting it on a s/s plate on the pushpit as I can feed the cable through the inside drain hole. Just concerned about the amount of water that could hit it and rip it off. Because it is behind the vent box it would get more protection than if mounted on the front.

If I epoxy and/or sikaflex it to the vent box and use self-tapping bolts, do you think this would be ok? The vent box is approx. 7mm thick fibreglass. What type of self-tapping screws should I use? I can't get to the inside to bolt it on.

Any help appreciated.



aerial1.jpg


aerial3.jpg


aerial2.jpg
 
I see you have got over your bout of depression... well so would I with that sun... /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

now to business: I would be concerned about it being knocked over/stepped on the which going around the deck in a sea way. Is it likely to be exposed to that kind of insult?
 
Let me start off my response to your question by saying that I have no experience with Sat phone aerials at all! Having established my expertise you can now judge the worth of my comments...or not.

I would not mount any aerial there because I think its too vulnerable to damage from people/lines on deck, too vulnerable to the weather, and its not going to do too much for the boats appearance either.

I suspect the only reason you are considering it is ease of fitting.

My advice, as one who suffers from these sort of subjective decisions all too often is "Do it once, but do it right!". If wrestling with feeding the cable back to the pulpit is a bit daunting, take a day off, chill and wait until the "mental batteries" are up to the challenge.

Do it wrong and it will haunt you every time you look at it.

You will be happier in the long run...but you knew all that before you posted the question didn't you? /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
alternative solution:

get three S/S pipe clips (bowler hat section) to suit your push pit, drill the vertical plate of the braket to suit the clips so the brakcet is located on a T-junction of the pushpit, and just bolit it together. Comprendo?

not the prettiest solution, and you stil have to thread the wire, but saves messing around with welding in extra bits.
 
Well its not great, but it looks as though it will be OK if you do something to prevent it getting snagged.

How about just attaching a piece of flexible plastic like a sail batten to the bracket and bending it over to attach onto the vent? Then nothing can drop between vent and aerial and it is much less likely to get stood on.
 
Not ideal due to the mast and sail being between the antenna and the sky. The effect of this may be worse when the sails are wet with rain. There may be enough margin in the syatem for this not to matter.
Also potential rope snagging.
 
I wish I owned your Oyster and had this sort of problem! I'm in Turkey mid July and I'd be willing to give you a hand!?
I think it a bit too vulnerable sat on the back of that dorado box and looks something of an 'add on'. Despite having to route a cable, I would try and find a better position.
How about some more piccies to make more informed suggestions?
best of luck!
Scotty
 
Many aerials go onto the pushpit, easy to mount, good sky visibility, and easy to wire up, and out of the way.

I think the location you have shown might just get ropes snags, or be kicked. Also has the boom above block the vital satellite!

Not sure how sensitive the sat phone is to obstructions, but would guess its fairly sensitive...

Mj
 
Thank you all for your thoughts. Seems like a resounding 'no', then. Funnily enough I had a ninja dream last night; you know, a problem-solving dream. Anyway it's pretty much what tobble described, so that's my next strategy.

I was looking for shortcuts because I've had it up to here (motions to the sky) with cables. I've just run a 5m VGA and USB cable through the boat (involved drilling holes in places I didn't want to drill), whilst the Navtex and radar installations on the mizzen took about a year of my life. Oh well, that's boat maintenance, innit!

Thanks all.
 
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