Remote speaker location

[Joe Myerson]

Hi all:

While at the Maine Boat Builders Show in March, I purchased a small PolyPlanar waterproof remote speaker for my fixed-base VHF radio, so I would not have to rely on my handheld when in the cockpit.

I've been wondering about where and how to mount the unit, and have come up with two possibilities, both of which would avoid drilling large holes in my boat:

1) Mounting it on a removable drop board in the companionway.
I'm making a short, removable drop board for the companionway, where I will mount my Garmin GPSMap76. Until now, the GPS has been mounted on a flat board that sits in the companionway--and gets kicked occasionally when I or the First Mate climbs below.

2) Mounting it on the aft bulkhead of the cockpit, behind the tiller and wiring it through the port cockpit locker to the lead of the VHF.
The speaker comes with a 10-foot lead, and I'm not sure if it's long enough to reach this location.

Any suggestions or recommendations from other CDers would be appreciated.

--Joe

P.S. Keep those MASTHEAD articles coming!

[Russell]

Do you have a dodger? If so mounting it to the dodger frame works well.

[Joe Myerson]

n/m

[Neil Gordon]

Do you have a dodger? If so mounting it to the dodger frame works well.

Great idea, Russell. $19.95 for a small speaker; $3,000.00 for a dodger to mount it on.

Joe, can't you just turn the volume up on the radio inside the boat?

[Joe Myerson]

Neil,

Nope, the speaker that's part of the radio is not very big. If I turn up the volume, and the wind isn't blowing and the engine isn't running, I can hear the radio. But under those conditions, I'm not likely to need the radio at all.

My handheld usually works, but not over long distances and not when the batteries start to run down. That was what was going on last year when we were trying to keep in touch via VHF on the way from Cuttyhunk to Dutch Harbor. Creme Brulee could hear Liquidity, but you couldn't hear her responses.

Another possible location: The bulkhead to the port of the companionway, next to the depthsounder and knotmeter.

--Joe

[rtbates]

why remote speakers? I've often wondered. Being only 25 feet long I can hear my cabin speakers quite easily from the cockpit..And with any luck the rest of the dock/anchorage doesn't...

[Joe Myerson]

Randy,

See my response to Neil, posted above.

I have trouble hearing the radio from the cockpit if there's any engine noise or a strong wind. Admittedly, I bought an inexpensive radio--although one with DSC capability.

The speaker, on sale at Hamilton Marine, isn't very expensive either.

--Joe

[Dean Abramson]

Great idea, Russell. $19.95 for a small speaker; $3,000.00 for a dodger to mount it on.

C'mon Neil. Be fair. Looking at the entire project, if you add the two items together and then take the average, it's only $1509.97 per item.

[Neil Gordon]

C'mon Neil. Be fair. Looking at the entire project, if you add the two items together and then take the average, it's only $1509.97 per item.

You make a good point, Dean. If I could get a speaker mounting bracket that doubled as a dodger for around $1,500, I'd most certainly go for it!

[Steve Laume]

I never considered a remote speaker. How do you tie it into the radio? It seems like you would be able to hear it better than the one in the radio even if it was mounted just inside the companionway. Does mounting a remote cut out the original?

If it would help me not to space out before the weather forecast I was hoping to hear finally came around I would be mounting one in a heart beat, Steve.

[Dean Abramson]

Joe,

What about building a small box, mounting the speaker in it, then putting it on a swing-out bracket mounted just inside the companionway? Swing it out only when you think you will be using it. I had a Loran and a radar like that on my 25D.

Russell, I like your dodger idea, and might do that now for my stereo system, which I cannot hear well in the cockpit. Even at anchor, if it is loud enough for the cockpit dwellers, it is brutal for anyone in the cabin.

Dean

[Dean Abramson]

...if your microphone does not have a long cable, you are back to square one, unless you mainly want to just listen.

We are the opposite: we hardly ever listen unless we have initiated the conversation, or are expecting traffic.

But maybe a longer cable is no big deal. I have not researched that.

Dean

[Joe Myerson]

...if your microphone does not have a long cable, you are back to square one, unless you mainly want to just listen.

Dean:

The microphone cable is long enough so that it can be accessed from the cockpit. The radio is mounted just to the port of that infamously small and inaccessible sink on the 25D (you'll remember it), and I attached a second microphone hook to the inside of the teak trim for the companionway.

The problem has always been with being able to hear the radio.

I don't want to blast myself or my neighbors with radio noise, but I do try to keep a radio watch, especially when there's a lot of commercial traffic moving along the channel for the Cape Cod Canal.

And besides, at Hamilton's sale, the speaker was under $20.

--Joe

[Troy Scott]

Are none of these VHF radios bluetooth capable?

[Russell]

Are none of these VHF radios bluetooth capable?

My Uniden has a wireless remote ram mic. Though I am normally an icom fan, I bought this radio specificly so I would not have to mess around with cockpit speakers and mic. I am pretty happy with it.