Navico Radar, to splice or not to splice?

[windpipe]

Background: I have a 34 ft monohull. We take the mast down each winter. I am upgrading electronics and radar. I just got a Simrad (Navico) broadband 4G radome, and I am pondering the installation.

I am wondering what is best to do with the mast cable, which is a proprietary bundle of an Ethernet cable and power cables. The cable is 20m (64ft) long out of the box, and I would likely run it through the conduits all the way back to the electrical area near the chart table.

I am thinking of cutting the cable 6 ft or so after it exits the mast support, and splicing on a male and female RJ45 to either end, then using a terminal block for the power cables.

The manual on my Simrad radar reads:

SHORTENING THE CABLE
It is not recommended to shorten the cable, but if it is unavoidable, use the pin-out below to re-terminate the cable with a new RJ45 plug.

One issue is that there is a huge cable gland on the end of the cable that would have to be threaded through the mast support and through all the conduits to get the the electrical area. The gland would have to be taken apart each time the mast is taken down.

But, am I asking for trouble if I cut this cable and create a splice with extra connections?

I need radar to deal with dense fog in the Great Lakes, and I need it to be reliable.

[billknny]

For a splice, there is no need to add matching RJ45 plugs. Any terminal block will do. It's not magic, just regular old data and power cables.

I just cut the wire and then crimp on appropriately sized ring terminals and do it that way. There are connection methods that are more elegant, but what I do works and uses no special tools or equipment outside of normal boat electrical hardware and give me a wire end easy to fish.

[slug]

Sounds good

On big boats the cable is always cut, then reformed inside a junction box

[smac999]

You could also mount the ri10 box at the mast if you have a dry spot. Then run power and network from mast to plotter.

And that becomes the mast joint.

On boats with radar poles I put the ri10 in the laz.

I’m not sure what you mean by big gland. The ri10 box it’s 4 screws then just pulls through it. Takes a min to remove. Only the cable with rj45 is pulled down the mast and into the boat.

[windpipe]

Originally Posted by billknny

For a splice, there is no need to add matching RJ45 plugs. Any terminal block will do. It's not magic, just regular old data and power cables.

I just cut the wire and then crimp on appropriately sized ring terminals and do it that way. There are connection methods that are more elegant, but what I do works and uses no special tools or equipment outside of normal boat electrical hardware and give me a wire end easy to fish.

Thanks. I was planning on ring terminals for the power cables. I already have an RJ45 crimper, so I might go that way, but point taken I could just do crimp terminals for all the Ethernet wires.

[windpipe]

Thanks.

[windpipe]

Originally Posted by smac999

You could also mount the ri10 box at the mast if you have a dry spot. Then run power and network from mast to plotter.

And that becomes the mast joint.

On boats with radar poles I put the ri10 in the laz.

I’m not sure what you mean by big gland. The ri10 box it’s 4 screws then just pulls through it. Takes a min to remove. Only the cable with rj45 is pulled down the mast and into the boat.

Thanks. By gland I mean parts D, E and F. Maybe those are easier to deal with than I am thinking.

I was thinking of tieing the ri10 in to the same Empirbus power lines that feed the other instruments, which is easier to see in the electrical cabinet. Do you think that will be fine? The dang Empirbus programming is a mystery to me. Will I trip some amperage limit if I add all the power lines to an existing circuit coming out of the Empirbus? Or, should I just do the yellow wire to the Empirbus navigation instrument circuit, and then the red and black run to the battery bank with a fuse?

Also, placing the ri10 in my electrical cabinet would mean I could get a shorter Ethernet cable to go from the ri10 to the chartplotter in the cockpit.

[a64pilot]

I know your not supposed to and it’s not professional, but I cut and spliced mine with the telephone wire connectors.
Did that a few years ago and so far it’s been fine.

[CaptNemoO2]

When I installed the radar (Raymarinr Quantum 2) in my friends boat last spring, I used shielded jacks, plugs, and stranded network cable. I used the OEM cable down the mast, leaving the proprietary plug on the radome side alone. Once inside the boat, I put the RJ45 plug on that, and power went to a terminal strip. For the runs inside the boat, I used the shielded Cat7 cable with both ends cut off. From the mast connection, it was one continuous run to the chartplotter. I put the shielded jacks on both ends, this way if anything gets replaced, it's easy to just unplug. This all keeps the shielding in tact how it was designed, as improperly grounded shields will act as an antenna picking up noise, especially when running parallel to power. If you're jack and plugs end up being next to metal, wrap them in something insulating to prevent potential ground loops. You also want to make sure to use stranded network cable since it is more flexible. The majority of network cables are solid conductors. I also installed a hailer and electric air horns under the radar. (Why do no sailboat manufacturers design for horns? You can buy a brand new 60 foot boat, and still have to use a crummy can of air!)

[smac999]

Originally Posted by windpipe

Thanks. By gland I mean parts D, E and F. Maybe those are easier to deal with than I am thinking. .

yes the cable with rj45 just pushes through it as you connect it to the box. the rubber ring is split and wraps around cable so the end does not pass through it.

[smac999]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

I know your not supposed to and it’s not professional, but I cut and spliced mine with the telephone wire connectors.
Did that a few years ago and so far it’s been fine.

I do this with the navico ethernet cables (round yellow connectors) when running them through holes, since there is no ends available. it's always worked.

[tekdiver]

Originally Posted by CaptNemoO2

When I installed the radar (Raymarinr Quantum 2) in my friends boat last spring, I used shielded jacks, plugs, and stranded network cable. I used the OEM cable down the mast, leaving the proprietary plug on the radome side alone. Once inside the boat, I put the RJ45 plug on that, and power went to a terminal strip. For the runs inside the boat, I used the shielded Cat7 cable with both ends cut off. From the mast connection, it was one continuous run to the chartplotter. I put the shielded jacks on both ends, this way if anything gets replaced, it's easy to just unplug. This all keeps the shielding in tact how it was designed, as improperly grounded shields will act as an antenna picking up noise, especially when running parallel to power. If you're jack and plugs end up being next to metal, wrap them in something insulating to prevent potential ground loops. You also want to make sure to use stranded network cable since it is more flexible. The majority of network cables are solid conductors. I also installed a hailer and electric air horns under the radar. (Why do no sailboat manufacturers design for horns? You can buy a brand new 60 foot boat, and still have to use a crummy can of air!)Attachment 210199Attachment 210200Attachment 210201Attachment 210202

I love it when you guys put pictures in your posts makes it much easyer to understand what your talking about!

[Suijin]

I have the same system and cut mine, put male R45 plugs on and join them with a coupler. No problem.

The gland is not a big deal to take apart, so that's an alternative. I only cut mine as the plug is too large to fit through some cable conduit in the cabinetry on the way to the electronics cabinet.

I've not seen any impact on performance.

[bobmcd625]

As others have said it's quite easy to cut and reconnect using various connectors. I did it with success and I am a rank amateur electrician. My only advice is to be very careful to match the wire colors if you patch in a section of Cat 5,6 or 7 cable. The radar cable colors are not the same as the standard Ethernet cables.

[phantomracer]

Originally Posted by windpipe

Thanks. By gland I mean parts D, E and F. Maybe those are easier to deal with than I am thinking.

I was thinking of tieing the ri10 in to the same Empirbus power lines that feed the other instruments, which is easier to see in the electrical cabinet. Do you think that will be fine? The dang Empirbus programming is a mystery to me. Will I trip some amperage limit if I add all the power lines to an existing circuit coming out of the Empirbus? Or, should I just do the yellow wire to the Empirbus navigation instrument circuit, and then the red and black run to the battery bank with a fuse?

Also, placing the ri10 in my electrical cabinet would mean I could get a shorter Ethernet cable to go from the ri10 to the chartplotter in the cockpit.

When I installed my radar, I did not use the big gland cover. I just have the network plug. It is in a dry area. Not worried about it. You do not fish the big plastic cover. you put it on after everything is installed

If you can fit the network plug through the hole. you should be fine.

Mount the RI10 near the mast. I just coiled the extra cable inside the mast. Plug the network cable, power wires from the mast cable into the RI10. I ran the power and Navico Ethernet cable from my plotter to the RI10. This makes it easy to install and remove the mast each season.