Low profile, compact instrument pods?

[Suijin]

I'm going to be moving my instrument displays (2) from the helm to under the dodger, on a bracket that attaches to the underside of the traveller truss. There's not a lot of room under there, with the winch farm on top of the cabin, lines, and the angle of the dodger, so I want the most compact enclosure I can find.

For the life of me I can't find anything online other than NavPod or Scanpod, but I have seen them on OPB's. Basically a shallow, rectangular box. I suppose I could fab my own but I have another other stuff to do during my deck refit and would rather go with a bought item if I can find something suitable.

Anyone know where to look? Thanks.

[deluxe68]

What size displays? I did a lot of searching for low profile pods but found nothing that would work for my boat and a 9-12 inch MFM. So I went with a 7" display with a Navpod rail mount. The dealer (B&G) did not recommend it, but I have seen displays mounted at the helm without any pods protecting them.

NavPod RailMount RMX4400 Series

[Suijin]

They are B&G instrument displays, @ 3.5-4" square. Only need the mount to be 2" deep to accommodate depth of instrument and 90 degree N2K plug.

[leftbrainstuff]

I can't stand stuff spread all over the cockpit. Its an ergonomic clusterf#ck, unsafe, and looks like a mess.

We built our own helm pod. It has a vertical and flat area for a 12' B&G screen, engine controls, its own fuse box, circuit breakers, about 18 Idec pushbuttons, cupholders, grab rails, etc. We can run everything from the helm. Its also freed up space around the cockpit.

There is nothing close available new. I have seen some nice options on other boats but I guess they don't become available on the second hand market.

[rgleason]

If it is under the dodger do you need a pod? Wouldn't a the largest size ram mount work with a brackat?

[UNCIVILIZED]

I know you're trying to avoid making one yourself, but if you do, a simple solution is to find a piece of generic tupperware or planter box that's the right size, & use it as a mold for the glass & resin option. So, poof, a custom pod. Then just add a face plate for it to bolt the instruments to.
And a piece of flat aluminum attached to the traveler track's bolts on it's underside can be bent to whatever angle you desire, to attach the custom pod to. Or use a piece of flat stock to bend into a custom bracket for mounting around a rail.

An option that's a bit more work, is to glass the pod to the deck at whatever angle you choose, so that the faces of the instruments are at the ideal angle for viewing. This used to be a common solution on racer's, especially those with dual helms & helming compasses. So that the helmsman had the necessary readouts right in front of him, kind of like a Heads Up Display. And the same was done for the trimmers.
Old idea, I know, but in the 70's & 80's just having instruments was fairly revolutionary. And... it worked. Still does.

Halved or quartered PVC pipe is good for laying up glass corner sections in. And they then get attached to pieces of glassed 3mm ply/frp sheet in order to form small boxes & structures.

Just try & do all of your glass fabrication at once, as it saves a lot of time overall. Given that setup, making jigs, etc. is a big chunk of the time that goes into fab'. And making some extra parts, or sub-assemblies often pays off later when you decide to either add more instruments,, or alter your current mounts.

[rgleason]

I like the tupperware + glass idea! Make it how you want it.

[UNCIVILIZED]

Originally Posted by rgleason

I like the tupperware + glass idea! Make it how you want it.

Thanks. And I'm not telling you to do this, but with some plastic molds you don't even have to use a release agent. Just flex the tupperware a couple of times once the glass has cured & the part pops out.

The other nice things about molding a "rectangular" part in such a mold, is that once you pull it out of the mold, you cut the entire part on a bevel. So that when mounted to the deck, it's face is already tilted at the desired angle to make for easy reading of the instrument once it's mounted in this custom housing.

Such "tupperware" molds are also very handy for creating 2-sided, or 3-sided parts, vs. 4 or 5-sided. And you can choose squared edges, or round, based on your mold choice.