As the build continues, the time has come to start acquiring the items that we are providing for the boat. In particular, the things that need to be fitted to the roof.
These are the sort of things that need to be fitted and have the wiring in place before the insulation goes in and the linings added. In this collection you see here, the large box is the satellite dish. Actually, it is not a dish but, at first site, looks more like a large version of the old “Squarial” – for those of you that remember it. It is a flat panel made up of hundreds of small cells that work together to achieve the same effect.The picture on the left shows what the “dish” looks like when elevated. Normally the unit lies flat along the roof until you power it up. It then elevates and finds the satellite you are looking for – automatically. As you never know quite where you will be moored and hence which way the boat is pointing, this is very useful!
We are adding an ordinary TV and FM antenna as well. The reason for both is that in most places we will be able to receive a satellite signal, but on the “cut” the availability of a good terrestrial signal can be very iffy. Having both also gives us more redundancy. Will be adding a DAB antenna to the list this week. Also in the collection on the right is a roof mounted GPS receiver and a high gain MIMO 4G antenna. As we will pretty much depend on 4G for our Internet connection, it is essential to have a good antenna for the modem/router (a Huawei). Various bulkhead connectors for external USB and LAN are in the bag – one for plugging in things at the stern, should we need to, and the other for connecting a camera at the bow (more of that in a later post).
More items will be acquired in the next few weeks including the stove and the loo. Further fun details on the latter will be posted soon 😉
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