What is the Best way to snake a coax cable from TV Antenna on Arch to cabin

[probertrich8]

Hello everyone I have a 2005 sea ray 260 sundancer with a radar arch. I was wondering if anyone could tell me whats the best way to get the antenna wire from the radar arch to where my stereo plate located inside the cabin. Or is there a wiring diagram on club sea ray which would show me how to snake the wire through down to the stereo plate.

Thanks,
Rich

 

[Dave S]

Rich

I am not sure what you are trying to do. Sea Rays use the internal boat wiring for a radio antenna. Sometimes it works OK sometimes it doesn't but there are no other good choices (There have been several threads on this subject over the years).

Maybe if you could give us more information, we could be of some help. I do know a good way to get from the arch to the stereo panel but rather than explain that now, let us first know what you are thinking about doing.

Dave

 

[Gunn]

Not sure how much difference there is with a '03 280DA, but...my stereo is on the port side.
You can go from the port side radar arch straight down and into the engine room. Then looking straight towards the bow, there is a piece of plywood with a wire bundle going through it. Either run your wire through that bundle or drill a hole. You can get to the other side via the mid-berth. I have a pair of doors there. Open them up and remove the upholstery facing the stern and facing the bow (which is right next to the stereo). Pull the wire through.

Tom

 

[Hellman Huddle]

http://www.google.com/imgres?q=fish...w=164&start=0&ndsp=14&ved=1t:429,r:3,s:0,i:81

 

[probertrich8]

Dave,

My wife and I have a portable tv with a built in dvd player, were kinda sick of always bringing up dvd's so I thought that If we buy a marine tv antenna and mount it on our radar arch bringing the coax cable down in the cabin I could drill a hole in the wood plate where my stereo is and mount a male coax fitting and then just have a small removable coax cable from my tv to the one that I would mount in the stereo wood plate so when we go back home we could just unplug the coax and take our tv back home with us.

Hope this makes sense,
Rich

 

[Lazy Daze]

The easiest thing will probably be to take the coax from the arch, then into the bilge, then along the port side and forward to your electrical panel in the cabin. This is assuming the arch terminates above the bilge, which I believe it does?

I think you have a speaker in the arch? Remove that for better access.

But, just to be sure... check to see if the coax is already there. It's a long shot, but worth a few minutes to either pull the panel out or remove something from the arch to look and see.

 

[Gunn]

I think you have a speaker in the arch? Remove that for better access.

I don't think there would be a speaker there, but there is an access panel. If you look in the ER you should see the two bolts and nuts that attach the arch. If there is no existing cable there, you can then drill a hole between those bolts and run it forward as I had mentioned previously.

Tom

 

[Dave S]

Rich

Here are a couple of things to think about based on what I have seen other folks do in this situation.

If your TV runs on 110V, you may just want to consider getting one of the new portable antennas such as this one http://www.solidsignal.com/pview.as...dtv-uhf-tv-antenna-for-tv-or-laptop-(ici-102) That way you can pretty much put the TV where you want whether it be in the cabin or in the cockpit. If you still want a permanent jack mount, you can go ahead with the Glomex Antenna but typically they don't work well without the amplifier. I also don't know if the amplifier comes with the antenna or not. My boat was purchased with the TV and the Antenna already mounted. The control for the amplifier is inside the wardrobe closet on the port side. You can see it here on the panel I had removed for a project I was undertaking.

So you probably need to consider this as well if you go ahead with a panel mount for the coax.

Now if you want to get from the arch to the stereo panel, drop your coax down the starboard side of the arch right behind the captains chair. (You can remove the white panels on the inside of the arch if necessary to see what you are doing.) DO NOT drop the wiring down the port side because the power panel is right below the arch and you could have other issues because of that. From there rather than try and go thru the huge bundle of cables on the starboard side, cross over to the port side with the cable securing it appropriately along the rear foam padded bulkhead. You will now have to remove some panels and trim from the mid cabin. I did this when I installed the wiring for my bilge heater to the main power panel in the cabin. It is not hard to do it just takes a little time. The main side panel as well as the rear panel up against the bulkhead in the mid cabin is what you need to remove (along with trim panels near the entrance to the mid cabin) You can run the cable along the wood tray behind the side panel you have removed. I have only had that stereo panel open once but if memory serves me correct you do have access to the side panel area (double check that first before you go to all this work). Drill a hole thru the bulkhead on the port side big enough fro the coax and seal it with silicone after you have installed the coax.

Hope this helps.

Dave

 

[Lazy Daze]

Oops, sorry Tom. I skipped over your response and basically said the same thing, although you provided a little more detail.

 

[Gofirstclass]

A hint for future projects....when you run any cable to or from the arch, ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS pull a line of parachute cord or 1/8" nylon rope with it. Leave it there and it will make running the next cable much easier because it's already installed along the correct path. When you use that line to pull another cable through, make sure you pull another length of parachute cord or line with that so it will be there.

If that doesn't make sense, blame it on the tequila!

 

[Gunn]

A hint for future projects....when you run any cable to or from the arch, ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS pull a line of parachute cord or 1/8" nylon rope with it. Leave it there and it will make running the next cable much easier because it's already installed along the correct path. When you use that line to pull another cable through, make sure you pull another length of parachute cord or line with that so it will be there.

If that doesn't make sense, blame it on the tequila!

I did this very thing when I ran the cable for my new GPS antenna last season. Great tip!