A few more upgrades on the 360DA

[Two Peas]

Thanks again to Boat Tech and Gyrospiro who helped me figure out which additional parts I needed to complete my steering sensor install.

Here's the sensor mounted on the Sea Ray stainless steel mounting bracket over the starboard rudder post:

Here is where the 4-pin to 10-pin harness plugs in to the "smart transom" port on the engine harness (it is the plug with the orange/brown wire retainer clip):

And here is the result on the SC5000 display:

The wireless camera/display I picked up from Harbor Freight really came in handy for this job. It allowed me to center the sensor at 0 degrees from the engine room without having to have another person at the helm to tell me what the display was showing.

Next, I used Scott's advice (sfergson727) on coax wiring and was able to replicate his install of satellite tv (using a dish on the dock) into the salon. Now I just need to run an HDMI wire from the salon tv to the stateroom tv so it works in HD on both sets. For now I will leave the cockpit TV out of the satellite loop.

And finally, I am very happy with this next addition. I have drooled over the upholstered stools/ottomans that come with many of the much larger Sea Ray sport yachts and yachts. I found a place in Green Bay (on eBay no less) that makes custom ottomans for a nice price. I had this one made for our salon, and it fits perfectly under one side of the table, is the right height for sitting on or for stretching out your legs, and is almost the perfect match to the original ultra-leather upholstery. I might order another one for the other side of the table - with it tucked under, it does not interfere with foot traffic at all.

The new solaire grill gets delivered tomorrow. Then I think I am done for the summer! Autopilot can wait another year.

 

[douglee25]

Looks nice!

Doug

 

[JediJD]

Nicely done! Nicely done! :smt038

 

[Tonka Boater]

Very nice!

 

[La Maddalena]

Stop upgrading your boat ! I'm falling behind :grin:
Actually I appreciate all of your posts because they give me such great reference information for our boat.

 

[my3sons]

Very nice!

 

[Two Peas]

Thanks for the compliments. Now that I've looked more closely at my own work, I think I need to reroute the green bonding wire to the forward side of the stainless steel bracket... I didn't notice that while I had my body contorted into a squashed pretzel while installing the sensor.

I figured it wouldn't take long for someone to ask where the ottoman came from - here's the link (they should pay me a commission for this... or at least send me a second one!)

I ordered mine in "ivory": http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250639992664

 

[Two Peas]

These are the Sea Ray ottomans that look so fantastic, but I couldn't find a quick, inexpensive solution to match them.

 

[Pietro]

:thumbsup: Very nice Andrew and I will copy your ottomans....but...did you find a place to store the Margaritaville mixer???? :grin::grin::grin:

 

[OldSkool]

Great mods Two Peas!:smt038 If my canoe ever grows up I'll be dulicating much of what I have learned from you guy's.:thumbsup:

 

[Pseudomind]

...I figured it wouldn't take long for someone to ask where the ottoman came from - here's the link (they should pay me a commission for this... or at least send me a second one!)

I ordered mine in "ivory": http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250639992664

I have seen some of these, but they open and on the inside have round/square cutouts to hold liquor bottles standing upright, and other bar accessories.

 

[Two Peas]

I have seen some of these, but they open and on the inside have round/square cutouts to hold liquor bottles standing upright, and other bar accessories.

I'd love to have internal storage in it, as long as it was weighted so it wouldn't tip over. This one has most of the weigt in the bottom so it is quite sturdy.

 

[PMvdb395DA]

Looking good!

 

[Two Peas]

I blew off the rest of the day and decided to tackle running the A/V cables from the galley/salon TV, which is on the port side and where the satellite receiver is located, to the stateroom TV, which is on the starboard side.

I hunted for a path for the cables in the compartments under the floor, in the ceiling, and through the area where the sliding door is. None of these ideas worked - there were fiberglass or plywood impediments everywhere.

This left one last chance - through the port closet, under the step, under the bed, under the starboard step, up through the starboard closet, and around the back of the TV cabinet.

Ugh.

To start, I disassembled the port closet. I removed the top outer panel, loosened the shelf, removed the bottom outer panel, and finally removed the floor.

Then I fished the cables from the back of the galley cabinet to the back of the port closet. The receiver I'm using only has one HDMI out, which is in use in the galley / salon TV, so I had to use component video cables and regular RCA left/right audio.

Then I fished the cables through the step and under the bed where the A/C unit resides.

Then, I removed the compartment covers in the starboard closet and fished the cables back up.

It was a PITA. I have cuts on the backs of my hand from working in tight spots, but in the end it was worth it.

Now we have satellite TV in the stateroom too, and the cables are hidden nicely away.

 

[Four Suns]

I would make a few suggestions...

You may want to epoxy some small wood blocks to various places on the inner hull so you can put some tie strap mounts on them and then tie down everything the best you can (every 12" or so). Also, some of the places where the cables cross a piece of wood or other corner, you may want to put some wire loom over them so they do not chafe... You can also tie wrap long cable runs you can't get to to a dowel (long) and secure the dowel at both ends...

Just some stuff I've done to minimize "cable flopping"....

And you are right... it's a PITA... but good work on pulling the stuff apart..

 

[Two Peas]

Thanks, those are good suggestions. I used a few zip ties to ensure the cables don't flop down on the A/C unit, and also tied them up behind the tv so they don't fall down and become unreachable if they became disconnected. Most of the bends were already covered by Sea Ray with some plastic loom, too.

The tool I found most useful for getting the plywood / vinyl panels out of the closet without tearing the vinyl was my snap tool. Because of its handle, soft edges on the metal part, and curvature, it made a great prying bar to get behind the plywood.

It would have been even easier if I could have used a simple HDMI cable, since it is so much smaller and thinner. The 20ft component cable is heavy and clunky.

Before I tore anything apart, I really though it would have been as simple as dropping the cables behind the galley tv, and grabbing them from the bottom under the freezer. No such luck. It seems that the galley countertop is epoxied to the inner hull... and I didn't want to be cutting and holes around there.