[Rhodes22-list] radio and speakers

[Alex Bell]

Tom,

Pardon intrusion, but I think you need to rethink mounting an antenna on 
the cabintop. Seems likely that your lines might get tangled on it at 
some inoprotune time. If you don't want to mount the antenna on the 
mast, then consider a rail mont and put it on your stern rail. Best 
place is atop the mast for range but you need extra fittings to allow 
the mast to be removed and cable disconnected. West Marine has 
everything you need to make that work. \

Rummy's trick to drill into fiberglass with tape on the gelcoat might 
work for him, but I don't have as much luck with that. Seems that 
gelcoat gets more brittle with age and as it does, it's harder to keep 
from cracking the gelcoat finish. One trick to keep that from occuring 
is to countersink the hole, which cuts the gelcoat coating back from the 
hole you're screwing into. When the screw bites into the fiberglass, it 
doesn't distort the gelcoat as easily, and usually keeps it from 
chipping or cracking. However, it all depends on the age and thinkness 
of the gelcoat. I've had problems with several boats I've worked on that 
just defied me. I use boatlife calk to fill the holes.

I work on boats and install boat canvas projects, which means that I 
install lots of fasteners and snaps. Some projects have taken between 50 
to 100  snap studs for the complete project. I've had lots of practice 
drilling into someone else's boat. It's always easier than drilling into 
your own boat.

Alex Bell
Blewdaze, Kizmet
New Bern, NC

SVTRITON at aol.com wrote:

>rummy...im mounting on the cabin top so i guess i need 2 inches, right
>tom 
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