Final Draft Electronic Upgrade

[hatchetjoe]

I’ve gotten behind on my updates on Final Draft. On the trip home to St. Marys, GA the depth finder proved to be very intermittent. In our dark water a depth finder is essential for me since you can’t look at the water and tell if you are in 18” or 18’. The boat also needed a coat of bottom paint. My other issue was the electronics box at the helm. Maybe I’m the only one who is bothered by the box blocking a lot of the view from the helm seat, but I doubt it. So, I had it hauled out and along with the bottom paint and some maintenance it got new electronics.
For those who are interested, here are some before and after pictures of the electronics upgrade. The new unit is a Simrad NSS9 Evo3 paired with an Airmar B75C 20 degree transducer and a Broadband 4G radar. The MFD is mounted on a RAM ball bracket. I like the more open view from the helm seat. I admit I would like to add a second 9” MFD but since I’ve blown the budget already that will have to wait. I also have some holes to patch from where the old electronics box was screwed to the headliner and I made and installed covers to the access holes in the liner.

[Nancy]

The view didn't seem that obstructed until I compared the new one. Nice improvement! Very clean-looking.

As for obstructed views, I've seen a lot of helms where instruments are mounted on the dashboard. The people who do that must be tall. It would be a non-starter for me at 5'2".

[Norseman]

The view didn't seem that obstructed until I compared the new one. Nice improvement! Very clean-looking.

As for obstructed views, I've seen a lot of helms where instruments are mounted on the dashboard. The people who do that must be tall. It would be a non-starter for me at 5'2".

I got a 10”chartplotter on top of the dash.
Not a problem seeing over it: Sitting down it obstructs visibility only to the Starboard Bow Cleat. If I need to see between the house and the bow I stand up or lean forward.
The compass however is obstructed 100% Will have to move it, or get a smaller one for a different location. On the list of things to do..

[hatchetjoe]

I looked at several posts of mounting a MFD on or above the dash. Several looked very nice and I carefully considered them. But, rebuilding the whole dash would have required more work than I wanted to do at this time. The ceiling mount was quick, easy and inexpensive.

As you mentioned your viewpoint depends a lot on your height. I'm 6'2" and the box was right at my eyelevel. If there was room to install a seat with a height adjustment it wouldn't be a problem but there isn't room for that either.

[Bounty Hunter]

looks like a good improvement.

i am looking at installing simrad gear in the next few months - bracket mount overhead like yours - how did you find running cables across the top of the windows - enough room to pull the plugs through?

[hatchetjoe]

I admit, I had a professional install the upgrade. I worked with him on most of it to reduce the time he charged and to learn how the wiring was run and where the connections are to things like the autopilot and compass.

To specifically answer your question, it depends a lot on what is already on your boat and how much wiring is run through different areas. There were some very tight spaces. For example, to get the transducer connector up from the bilge into the side panel and then to the top channel, we cut two pairs of lighting wires to get them out of a hole. This gave us just enough space to run the transducer connector through and then we put the lighting wires back through and spliced them back together. Not ideal but better than trying to cut a new hole where there was very little space and a lot of other wiring.

Of course there were already power wires going to the right location. It also helped to have an existing hole through the side of the headliner channel just before the turn is made to the front of the liner. That allowed pulling some slack cable up before going around the turn and to the final opening to the MFD.

I'm sorry I can't be more specific but each of these boats have undergone a variety of additions and subtractions which makes it a challenge to predict exactly how much space you will have.

[Bounty Hunter]

Thanks mate - I've spent the last week installing all new simrad plotter, radar and autopilot

Mousing the cables through for an overhead mount didn't pose too many problems

I'll put a post up of the final result next week