RAM Mike Installation

[Julian Elliott]

All,

One of my summer projects is to move my Icom RAM microphone on my Navpod housing at the helm. The shielded cable assy between the remote mike and the base VHF has moulded connectors (9-pin).  With the many cables present in the binnacle tubing, there is no way to pull the bulky connector of the one-piece cable/connector assy thru the tubing.  Has anyone successfully cut and spliced this cable?  If so, how?  I have a note in to Icom, but I already suspect their answer.

Thanks,

Julian

[n624ma]

I did this on my last boat for the same reason.

This is NOT for the faint of heart or those without patience. The wires are SMALL and delicate.
you will need to fold the conductor over the insulator to get a good grip in the terminal strip.

I used a Radio Shack plastic project box to hold a "Euro" style terminal strip (Small wire size, 12 connection I think. One of the Radio Shack boxes is a perfect match). I had it installed for 6 years with no problems. I put the box below deck, used vinyl grommets that fit the O.D. of the wire and when I removed it to move it to the "new" boat everything was clean and corrosion free at the splice.

[Ron Hill]

Guys : With the new AIS & DSC radios it might be more prudent to just install another VHF at the helm area and have the redundancy of 2 VHFs on-board. 
A thought

[Julian Elliott]

I did this on my last boat for the same reason.

This is NOT for the faint of heart or those without patience. The wires are SMALL and delicate.
you will need to fold the conductor over the insulator to get a good grip in the terminal strip.

I used a Radio Shack plastic project box to hold a "Euro" style terminal strip (Small wire size, 12 connection I think. One of the Radio Shack boxes is a perfect match). I had it installed for 6 years with no problems. I put the box below deck, used vinyl grommets that fit the O.D. of the wire and when I removed it to move it to the "new" boat everything was clean and corrosion free at the splice.


===================
Hmmm...  Icom confirmed that this is possible, but is difficult.  Says that several of the wires are individually shielded, which sounds like a mess to deal with, given the size of the individual wires.  Did you find this the case, or is there just one shield for the cable?

Your use of a terminal strip is what I was planning to use.  The external housing from Radio Shack is a good idea; environmental protection plus strain relief.

[n624ma]

Yes. there are a couple of individual shields. My background is aircraft maintenance and Avionics so sub 24 gauge shielded wire is is nothing new to me. I simply kept the wires as short as possible where the shield was removed and had good results.

Not hard just a fussy job.

[Momentum M]

Julian, we both got a boat from the same mold...we're 6 numbers apart.
Here's a picture of the installation of my Ram...no Merritt because it was installed by the dealer but as you can see it's feasible.
Hope it helps a bit.

[Momentum M]

I just found a picture showing how it's mounted on the tubing.  It's a black plastic box that is slit in two halves...that are screwed together on the post.  Then the clips that come with the mike is attached to that box.
It does the job.  No merit because the dealer installed it for me but I suspect that the wire wasn't cut...but if you like this idea I could check it out more carefully next time on the boat...let me know.
I'll also take specific pictures of my installation since the one I'm putting on were taken for other purpose.
Cheers.

[Julian Elliott]

Interesting to note your installation is located in the engine pod at the helm vs. the instrument pods at eye level, which I was planning.  However, I'll look at that possibility this weekend.  If it is suitable I avoid a big project, would be a reasonable compromise.

[Roc]

My RAM mic is mounted on the port side of the cockpit, right above the manual bilge pump cover. 

[kevMar]

If you have a ray marine wheelpilot as your auto pilot be careful where the cable is run . Keep 3 ft away from the flux compass !!  it happen to me my auto pilot would not work, My wife suggested that i check the ram mic as that was the newest install So what does she know???   well she was correct i disconnetd the ram mic cable from the back of the VHF radio and the auto pilot was up and running again !!!!    guess i should listen to her oncein a while ....

[skyward]

My RAM mic is mounted on the port side of the cockpit, right above the manual bilge pump cover.

Hey Roc, do you have a picture of this installation?

[Roc]

Here is the best picture I can find.  You can see right along side the manual bilge pump, there is the microphone clip. Right below the clip, you can see the top part of the input to screw the microphone cable.  Over the input, there is a rubber cap when the cable is not attached.  That area is perfect for grabbing the mike while at the helm.  It seems to be a good place.  That's where the dealer installed the RAM Mike.  Also, running the cables to that area is easy.

[Geoffreykwright]

My old Standard Horizon VHF died and I bought a new one (SH GX2200 w. AIS).  The old RAM Mic was mounted on the pedestal beside the chart plotter.  I had thought about swapping the RAM Mic, but the wiring was different.  I thought it too difficult to fish the new wires through the binnacle tubing.  Like one of the other respondents to this post, I chose to mount the new RAM Mic on the port side, aft of the cockpit locker close to the manual bilge pump cover.  It was SUPER easy to fish the wiring thru and SUPER easy to mount the new RAM Mic interface.  The old interface is still mounted beside the chart plotter...it really does not bother me and dont see the benefit in trying to remove it and cover the resulting hole.

Hope this helps.

Geoffrey Wright
Sundowner III (Hull 1494)

[Roc]

The nice place where mine is mounted is when you grab the mike, the cable is off to the side.  If it's mounted on the binnacle, the cable has to wrap around the wheel.  Mounted on the coaming keeps the cable out of the way of the wheel. 

[Ron Hill]

Med : Like I said above you need to see the face of the radio if you want the new (great!!) capability in AIS & DSC !!

A thought