Where to install SSB unit in my boat?

[tdalke]

Hey guys, Travis here again.

I'm looking for some advice on placement of an SSB unit on our boat and would like to pick the brains of those who are far more knowledgeable than myself. We have picked up a Icom 710RT with the control head at the nav station, the tuner under the backstay, and now the placement of where to put the main radio body has us (wife and I) scratching our heads. The best spot we've found is abeam our mast in a large cabinet, but having it there, we would have to run the cable to the tuner and the power cables side by side for about 15' before they go separate ways. Should we rethink this?

[F10]

15 foot is far, greater the distance the greater the power loss, not a big deal on transmit, but it will mean a weaker receive signal. You can use a low loss coax, RG8U I think it is called. Also, you want to keep the 12v DC power cable to the transmitter very short, look at the icom manual for you radio as they have good instructions.Manual Downloads | Icom Inc

[leftbrainstuff]

Place the main unit as close to the power source as possible. Follow the manual rrcommendations.

Only use good coax and connectors. RG8 and N type connectors. Add ferrites as needed.

Most important is your ground plane and power supply.

[roverhi]

If you plan on switching frequencies or using it on the Ham bands, you'll want the radio where you can easily work the controls. If you have a chart table with or without a seat, that's the obvious place to mount the radio.

[CSY Man]

I had the same setup and bolted the radio to the underside of the chart table with the control head next to other radios just below the 12 v panel behind the chart table.
Worked great, lasted a long time.
Click around on my pics and you may see the nav station

[Jim Cate]

I think you will find that at HF (3-30 MHz), co-ax losses and connector losses are negligible. Voltage drop in the power cables can be significant and will affect performance. The length of the ground lead from tuner to whatever ground system you choose is also important and should be minimized.

Thus, one should minimize power lead length and find a place for the tuner that minimizes the below deck length of the output wire to the antenna AND minimizes the length of the ground connection. The co-ax length is far less important

Jim

[robert sailor]

Jim points are all good. ICOM supplies a cable for their SSB's that is 6 feet long and you can buy an optional one up to 9 feet I believe, they don't recommend anything longer between the radio head and the radio chassis however we used a 12 foot extention and still get very good performance from ours.

[tdalke]

Thanks guys for all the input. I'll be looking to put it closer to the batteries. Now for the real adventure of making a spot!

[tdalke]

Does it matter if the transceiver is mounted horizontally or vertically? The manual says nothing about the mounting it in any particular way besides the distance from the batteries shouldn't extend beyond 20'.

[Rick]

Place the transceiver wherever it is convenient the cable length is irrelevant to the tuner only from the tuner to the drive point of the antenna is important of course the tuner ground length and connection point is important

[Rick]

Do not power the transceiver from your electrical panel go directly from the battery through a fuse with an appropriate size cable for the length of the Run to be unit

[Rick]

Orientation of the transceiver is irrelevant upside down is just fine or otherwise

[Rick]

If you use an SWR meter on the transceiver you might want to make the coax connection to the tuner a half of wavelength at the most critical frequency of use for the SWR to be valid even if the cable becomes much longer to do so

[Rick]

Obviously if the critical frequency is at 40 meters a half wavelength there will work just fine at 20 meters at least in the ham bands

[toddster8]

I found the perfect spot for the main unit was in a corner of the under-settee locker.

But then... I found I had a moral objection to putting a piece of potentially critical electronic safety equipment below the water line. So I screwed it to the underside of the chart table. This required moving the fluxgate compass a safe distance away.