Saturday, March 28, 2009

SSB radio installed


After several days of "bilge yoga" I've got the single sideband radio mostly installed. This will allow us to check in with various cruisers' nets as we make our way down the West Coast. Vicki helped me fish a battery cable under the cabin sole to connect a keel bolt to the RF ground - definitely the hardest part of the installation. Using a temporary "long wire" antenna hoisted via the main halyard. Permanent antenna will either be an insulated backstay or a fiberglass whip. Still need to test the transmission, but we didn't want to leave the marina yesterday.