Older Boat, New Electronics - Questions

[diggler]

Greetings, this is my first post - here it goes..

I recently purchased my first sailboat (which is also my first boat), a Miller 28 (29' LOA sloop, made in 1973). She's a racer stuck inside a cruiser's body and was well maintained by her previous owners.

I've been on a mission to get it setup with a few modern electronics to include a small N2K backbone. Here is what I have so far:

• B&G Zeus2 7"
• Standard Horizon GX2200
• B&G ZG100 GPS (not yet installed)
• B&G Wind Sensor (ordered, not yet installed)

The boat has a Uniden QT206 depth finder that "works". This brings up my first question:


In terms of monitoring speed, would I really need to install a DST-like device with this setup or would the ZG100 with the Zeus suffice? (I can live with +/- .5kt accuracy for this season)


Question #2:

The boat does not have a VHF antenna! There are remnants of one off the stern, where there's a mount for what used to be a pole with RG-58 coiled up. I purchased a small Shakespeare emergency antenna for the time being, but I plan to get a new antenna (possibly dual for AIS and VHF).

My ~40' mast is deck stepped. There is a ~1/2" hole where two power cables run up to a light on the mast, but that's it. My running rigging is all external.

Given that my plans are to install the wind sensor that has an N2K cable and a new antenna, how likely is it that I will have to unstep my mast to run conduit and the cables? In other words, is it at all commonplace to install conduit inside of a stepped mast (assuming that the mast has adequate space inside, as is)?

Question #3:

What can I expect in terms of cost for having the wind sensor, VHF antenna, and conduit/cabling installed? I ask this in a general sense, so I have a rough idea of what to expect - highway robbery is rampid in my area (Seattle) from what I have been told, and this is new territory for me.


Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!

[indiana_ct]

I have a number of cables tied in together inside the mast, rather than running a conduit. The mast itself has a place to tuck in cables that is clear of any sliders and halyards. A conduit could make wires harder to access and may interfere with running rigging.
I would decide everything I wanted putting up the mast and do it all at once in a single unstepping.
We did the whole task at once at the same time as we were rigged:. Lights, vhf, TV, WiFi, AIS.