[Gavin Parson Posts: 162 Status: Offline]

Guess I'll have to retake the course, but probably not a bad idea as its probably 10 to 12 years ago I done it.

I think it's 30 years since I did mine

[Al Posts: 881 Status: Offline WWW]

Finally getting close to test flights again.  Only a few small jobs to do now 


VHF now hard wired and the antenna in place and coax fed through to the radio.  I was lucky as after drilling out 4 or 5 pop rivets, on  the duct cover, I was able to partially split the seal along the front of the cover, just enough to get my hand in the void to grab the coax and to feed it through to the plenum. 


Radio all working, except I can't find my VHF licence to get my MMSI number, so at the moment I cant use the DSC.  Guess I'll have to retake the course, but probably not a bad idea as its probably 10 to 12 years ago I done it.

[Al Posts: 881 Status: Offline WWW]

You'll have a little bit more space available to fit it in the Prospector than what there is on a Marlin :-)

[Dave Munday Posts: 182 Status: Offline]

I'm pretty certain that's the radio I have, not fitted yet, hopefully this week with a little luck.

[Al Posts: 881 Status: Offline WWW]

My new marine VHF radio arrived yesterday.  I was surprised how quickly it was delivered, so a big positive to Force 4 Chadlery.


I spent a few hours today installing the new VHF radio and sorting out the wiring.  The radio installation wasn't as bad as I expected.  I have mounted it on the port side of the top shell.  I have taken the live feed to the radio, direct from the newly installed isolator switch, so even if the ignition switch is turned off it has power to the radio while the isolator is in the on position. 


I have also fitted new 170 amp cable from the battery to isolator switch to the starter motor and the battery to engine earth cable in place of the 110 amp cables originally fitted.  The engine now turns over very quickly.  The battery cables were a right pain to replace as not a lot space it slide the new cables in.  The old cables were also covered in sludge/algae due to them being submerged in water.  Really poor design where the electric cables route.

I still have the antenna to mount, but this is proving to be more difficult than it should be, due to the outer thrust duct cover being bonded on with something extremely hard, so I either have to cut an access hole in the duct cover or rethink how to mount the antenna.

[Al Posts: 881 Status: Offline WWW]

Just ordered a fixed Standard Horizon VHF radio & 1.4 metre fibreglass antenna, apparently the radio is waterproof to 4' for 30 minutes with a 3 year waterproof guarantee.

[Al Posts: 881 Status: Offline WWW]

Now that I have established what was causing my engine cranking issues, I can now fit an isolator switch and a marine VHF radio.


While I am at it, I will replace the battery cables from 110 amp that are fitted to 170 amp cables, just to give a little less resistance to the starter motor and engine earth.


To fit a marine radio and Isolator switch I will probably have to move the original switches that were fitted. 


To gain access to those switches, I needed to remove the top cover/shell which is a fairly simple process.  Unhook the throttle cable from the throttle lever.  Slacken the two hex screws securing the handlebar stem to the steering shaft and lift off the handlebars.  Next there are 12 x 3mm stainless hex screws that screw into rubber nuts to secure the top shell to the hull.  The shell then will lift up to give access to the rear of the switches & wiring.