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Well, here is the project that we just finished. This is one of my favorite installs to date.
here is a pic of the helm, the radio boxes had some custom modifications, i will take more detailed pics of them next week.
the drop down box with autopilot head, RD30, VHFs and engine displays.
Port side of tower electronics box
Stbd side of tower electronics box
Salon RD30
Salon entertainment center
Engine room camera
Rackmount electronics in the pantry/electronics room.
and here is my favorite part of the install
it is the lid to the engine room area. flip it up, and you have a furuno monitor, a rd30, and a command mic. you can view the furuno navnet, sounder, radar, PC, underwater camera, and cockpit camera.
Heavy duty shocks had to be installed to support the weight. Teak will be installed in the cockpit to cover up the bolts showing on the top of the lid.
I will be on the boat again next week to take some pics of the rest of the boat.
I almost forgot, here is a shot of the boat, i edited the boat name out.
The hull is a light grey color, and the bottom side of each hardtop is painted to match. its a beautiful boat.
...I find it pointless to mount the cockpit screens under the engine-room hatch. This means in order to view them, the hatch must be open; correct? Having the hatch open while underway will allow spray (especially in a Viking) to get in, and you will be hearing the full bore of the motors....
I would have done it a little differently If I were the owner.
there is a waterproof/soundproof door that seals off the engine room, this is just a hatch that leads to some stairs to get down under the mezzanine and the engine room. i dont think it would be a good idea to run full tilt with the hatch open either way. if they are fishing it will be fine for those speeds.
i'll take some better pics to show you exactly where its mounted, i didnt take these photos.
Nice looking job. I have to agree with Nick on the odd place in the cockpit for the electronics. There had to be a better place. It's so odd there must be a story behind the location .....
Nice looking job. I have to agree with Nick on the odd place in the cockpit for the electronics. There had to be a better place. It's so odd there must be a story behind the location .....
the previous post explains it
just wait for the next job i'll be doing, they want a monitor built into the back of the center helm chair facing forward. that will be a strange installation for sure....
I have to say I'm not impressed with Viking's helm design. I'm really surprised to see that there isn't more room to mount electronics. There's not even enough room to mount the radios on the helm.
Are the engine guages intergrated into the electronic screens?
that is the drawback of having the center mounted console that comes standard on the 68' and 74'.
the 64' has a port mounted console that you walk around on the stbd side, there is much more room on and under that helm for electronics.
the engine displays are mounted in the drop down box. the customer could have gone with smaller monitors and some of the controllers could have fit on the dash, allowing the vhf radios to fit inside the radio boxes. as it is, its not a big deal, as the vhf mics are remoted to the boxes anyways.
God do I love the "money is no object" crowd. Gives me something to shoot for on my next electronics package. Love the mega monitor on the tower. Does it have cameras on the out riggers? You might look into that pop up 42" lcd for the cockpit so that you the owner can watch it from the fighting chair while lounging at the dock.
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36 Luhrs SX CATs
30 Pursuit Offshore CC F225s
22 Blue Wave Extreme Vmax 150
very very nice install. I think the ER door monitor and vhf is an excellent idea. You would use that gear when idling around bait fishing, chunking or swording at night, or on the troll in good weather when the pit crew has time to look at it. Otherwise it would be out of sight. I am contemplating using the same location for a sounder and a wired pigtail remote for the throttle controls to be used when shorthanded (docking manuevers, trolling, setting up lines)
I think that the overall goal with rigs like this is to keep most everything clean, and hidden when not being used. The bridge has plenty of room in my opinion. (most folks would only put 2 big screens on the main panel leaving plenty of room for the other stuff and controllers) Not sure about the RD30 in the salon though...it would seem you could take video out from the furuno box and bring it up on the flatscreen(s) if you wanted that info....and most TVs allow window set-ups and layout. very nice work!
Don't get me wrong.......this is one awesome boat and a goal of mine is to own one within the next 20 year. However, I just don't like the look of the helm with the "hatches" open. It doesn't look clean at all. The lines flat out suck. No offense at all to your install. That looks superb! Viking needs to do better in their layout....I would much rather see a set-up where the entire pod comes up and down instead of those "cheesy" hatches. Even the new big Grady's have a nicer look. This way the lines are " right on" wether the electronics are out or hidden away...............
Am I the only idiot here because I am confused? On these setups where everything is hidden, do you run with all of these hatches open to view the electronics and controls? I love clean lines but how do you run at 30knts with hatches open and blocking your view?
Am I the only idiot here because I am confused? On these setups where everything is hidden, do you run with all of these hatches open to view the electronics and controls? I love clean lines but how do you run at 30knts with hatches open and blocking your view?
--JK
MY POINT EXACTLY....................................
It looks like the big door has a white cover on the inside. I am pretty sure that this would normally not be there and the clear door would be lowered over the displays so that one would not be in the way. But the other two smalls ones...not sure what Viking has in mind there. I think the display down in the cockpit is useless where it is but they get a big A-plus for innovation and at least trying to do something different. As usual, all the work Duct Tape has done looks outstanding. Duct, why don't you wow us and show some pics of under the helm? I'm always impressed seeing all the stuff going on in there on a big convertible.
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Jim Maier | BOEmarine.com | 866.735.5926 x104
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Great work as usual, is that boat at Trump Marina? The 68 Viking is a bad ass boat, but I think in this case the owners made a mistake. It makes a lot more sense to put the screen in the corner by the couch on a swivel, and like others have said run the rd 30 to the tv.
__________________ Jeremy
2004 38 Henriques convertible
jim is correct, the captain has a white piece of vinyl velcroed to the bottom side of the glass covering the helm. you can run with the covers open and see things just fine if you are around 5'10" or more. under that and you may need to get on your tip toes to see over the open door. its not necessary to run with the glass open on this boat, there are only 3 monitors that really dont need to be touched that often.
There are two navnets on the boat, one in the tower, and one for the helm. the controller for the tower is up in the tower box, and the controller for the helm is in the stbd radio box. i will get much better detailed pics tomorrow.
I think the display in the cockpit is in a great spot. usually we mount them on a wedge in the haunch area next to the door on the port side, its not very easy to see over there. as far as a swivel goes, we have only done that one time, it doesnt blend in very well and looks pretty ugly. the way we have it now, its centered in the cockpit and is easily hidden away when not in use.
the boat is in trump marina at the moment, i will be back on it tomorrow to add a hailer horn, mount a wifi antenna, and add a wireless card to the onboard pc. all thats left after that, is to add the furuno sirius tuner whenever they ship.
i will get some shots of the crowded under helm area tomorrow. i wasnt the camera man in these photos so i didnt really get all the detailed shots that i wanted.
as far as the RD30 in the salon goes, he can already view the navnet, pc, sounder and radar on the 42" pop up plasma television in there. the problem is, that you cant run with the pop up television in the up position. that is why they wanted some sort of display to show depth, temp, wind, etc.
Here are the pics of the radio boxes. Both boxes have had the lids modified to open in 2 sections. this way you can run with them open and they dont interfere with the view of the main panel.
This is the port radio box. There is a keypad for the VEI pc running maxsea, a furuno radar controller, a remoted vhf mic, bow thruster, Tricolor LED overhead light switches, and the stock switch panel.
This is the stbd radio box. It was modified to fit the navnet and sounder controllers. there is also a secondary radar controller, sony cd player, moritz display, hydrolic outrigger controls, remoted vhf mic, and 12 volt outlet.
more pics to come, just need to get my camera back.
Viking 68 Convertible Electronics Pics 
