B&G Vulcan 7 installation - Mk I

[derekb]

Another little project completed this week... when I purchased my '86 Mk I it was fitted with a set of Navman instruments, all of which were dead, except the depth display at the nav station. In fact the instruments may not have been completely dead, but these old Navman displays had a problem whereby the connector for the flat ribbon cable from the PC board degraded and so the screen would just be blank. I looked at fixing these displays, but they were all very old so I decided to replace all the old instruments and sensors with an NMEA2k network, new sensors and B&G displays.

The most visible change is to remove the dead instruments at the helm and replace them with a Vulcan 7 touch screen chart plotter. A new depth/speed sensor has been already been installed, and I have a new wireless wind wand (yet to be installed) for the mast-head. Plus a cool new AIS-enabled VHF radio (B&G V-60B) yet to install.

The old instruments were in a smallish pod, here's how it looked from one of the photos from before I purchased her:


I was particularly taken with the clean and simple chart-plotter installations by RC (https://marinehowto.com/chart-plotter-mount-for-edson-pedestals/) and so I was looking at how to replicate Rod's approach with a small horizontal "shelf" on which to mount the Vulcan 7. I need to remove my entire pedestal to repaint the thing and replace the engine controls, so I was figuring I would need to wait until I had the pedestal removed before doing this job.

But as I looked at the brackets holding the old instrument "pod" I realised I could add a vertical Starboard plate and attach the Vulcan 7 to that.

Here's a view showing the Starboard plate attached using the old brackets:


And here's how it looks from the other side:


And finally, out for a sail on Corio Bay with the new chart-plotter providing me with charts and GPS-fed data.


I haven't finished installing the N2K network yet, so the Vulcan 7 is only displaying charts plus data from its internal GPS, but that's already a thousand times better than a set of dead 80's instruments!

[Ron Hill]

Derek : A VERY nice installation!!

A thought

[ewengstrom]

Nice clean installation!!! We have the same unit on Ohana and I absolutely love that thing, I did get a deal on a angled pedestal guard so I just ordered a NavPod for it but that install is pretty slick.
Please report back regarding the functionality of the wireless masthead wind instrument. I've heard mixed results regarding it working correctly (connectivity issues) so if yours works well, that might tip me over the edge as far as adding it.

[Wurlitzer1614]

Derek-
Thank you for the inspiration. We're installing one of these on our MK I as well. As I've been waiting for the weather here to stay above freezing, I've been pondering how I'll go about attaching it to the original guard. I started with your design,, but after weeks of an agonizingly long and cold spring, it has evolved into the pictured monstrosity. Based on your experience, what do you think about the screen viewing angle? Sitting and standing sight lines are shown in the right view. Thanks!

[Noah]

Nice rendering! Regarding the multi-"holder" rack, you are either an avid fisherman or very thirsty...or both.

[Wurlitzer1614]

Picture 3 kids ages 1, 3, and 5 with their water bottles rolling all over the cockpit, pulverizing all of the snacks they've dropped into a fine sand-like consistency  Cup holders are a must this season.

[derekb]

Based on your experience, what do you think about the screen viewing angle? Sitting and standing sight lines are shown in the right view. Thanks!

Trevor, I don't have a protractor on the boat, so my guess is that the screen is about 35 degrees from vertical. It's definitely steeper than 45 degrees. But since I'm using the B&G mount, my screen is also adjustable.

[Wurlitzer1614]

Derek-
Neither my wife nor I are tall so 27 degrees ended up being the angle that works for us. I finished the installation of ours on Saturday.

If anyone is interested, I'd be happy to share the CAD files.

[Noah]

Trevor—very nice! What are those two big polished stainless "knobs" located on either side?

[Phil Spicer]

Trevor, nice design, beautiful work. From the looks of your hardware, the 3 little ones are not going to break anything.
Very robust. Did you make all the parts?

[waughoo]

Thats nifty!!!  So cool to see the level of detail (drain holes in drink holder bottoms).

[Wurlitzer1614]

Thanks for the positive comments, everyone!

Noah- When the knobs are loosened slightly, they flip clear of the white Starboard part that the Vulcan is attached to. At that point, it can be lifted off the four pins and stored securely off the boat. No tools required and no loose parts.

Phil- I designed the whole thing myself. The two 7ga SS sheet metal brackets were made by one of the sheet metal vendors we use where I work. They cost me $50 each. I programmed all of the Starboard parts to run on our CNC routers. Every other part was repurposed from stock items we buy or have made by the thousands so this entire project was relatively inexpensive in the end. 

[Noah]

Very interesting—a  "removable" set up. Have you thought about, or do you have another bracket and and set of cables run to the chart table, so you can use it down below too? Might be nice to do route planning etc., or in nasty weather??

[waughoo]

On the topic of below deck passage planning... I have a wifi enabled e127 that I keep meaning to try a tablet with so that I can set a route over coffee in the salon before heading off.  I believe the Vulcan shares this capability.