Another new start for Helmsman

Helmsman said:

So to summarize, Use Case, Boat Environment, Equipment, Tolerance for a changing landscape, Cost, and Antenna management are all issues to consider. The solutions range from your cellular phone all the way to satellite internet (a very expensive solution). All dependent upon your use case.

Click to expand...

OK, you have given me my assignment for the next several weeks and I still have to pick out my electronics...and I am very interested in the Vesper Cortex...

Thanks, for giving me a list of places to start!
Rick

Nancy and Rick said:

OK, you have given me my assignment for the next several weeks and I still have to pick out my electronics...and I am very interested in the Vesper Cortex...

Thanks, for giving me a list of places to start!
Rick

Click to expand...

Yep. Ditto on the Cortex. They added the Hailer and loudspeaker functionality in the last few weeks.

rslifkin said:

For what it's worth, I'm still using the included antennas on my router. I figure I'll add an external one when I feel the need (cost). So far, I haven't seen the Pepwave report less than 3 out of 5 bars of signal, even when I've looked while 6+ miles offshore. Even the included antennas inside the boat (mounted fairly high and not near metal) are significantly better than the antennas on a cell phone.

Click to expand...

That is good to hear. Nothing wrong with adding to the system only if necessary. Where do you have your router mounted?

Helmsman said:

That is good to hear. Nothing wrong with adding to the system only if necessary. Where do you have your router mounted?

Click to expand...

I've got it mounted in my salon, pretty much in the upper aft stbd corner. Ignore the sideways picture... The antennas are actually pointing up.

rslifkin said:

I've got it mounted in my salon, pretty much in the upper aft stbd corner. Ignore the sideways picture... The antennas are actually pointing up.

Click to expand...

Thanks. I was thinking about trying the antennas inside the salon and the router in the salon somewhere out of sight. That is encouraging.

More good sites I used.

https://www.technomadia.com/

https://mobilemusthave.com/

https://antennagear.net/

A question for the group. Is anyone planning to install or have installed a stereo in your boat? If so, what kind did you install, and where did you place the speakers?

Helmsman said:

A question for the group. Is anyone planning to install or have installed a stereo in your boat? If so, what kind did you install, and where did you place the speakers?

Click to expand...

Personally, I am waiting on that. Going to take it a step at a time.

Bluetooth portables have become pretty decent, fed by phone / tablet playlists. I'll pick up one of those to begin.

When I figure out what TV might fit, at the same time I'll figure out if a soundbar can work with it, and fit. A soundbar can also pick up a playlist from phones.

I have not done big research on it, but have seen too many references to issues with Fusion. Enough to be cautious. As for speakers, one thing I will not do is cut big holes in teak for in-wall speakers. If I feel the need for more than the above I may hang some cube or small bookshelf speakers on brackets. And figure out the receiver / amp part.

We are not listeners to radio. So that is one part of the picture that lessens any drive toward built in receivers that contain AM-FM-XM.

Part of this thinking comes from easy access to the overhead runs via the ceiling panels on the Helmsman boats. Its easier to address later as wants and needs are more clear. If we really miss more, we'll just add it.

I'll just add this.

If you picture what a good room is like for high quality sound, there is nothing about these boats that fit that bill. You cannot sit on the settee and place speakers forward of you, evenly placed left and right. You have a lot of hard walls and glass. Any speakers behind you will be close to you aft, and far from you forward. Its the definition of a bad room for sound.

Therefore, my thinking at the moment is, just don't try! Go small, inexpensive, and easy. No installations that have permanent repercussions.

Although we have a stereo installed in our boat, we tend to use a bluetooth speaker most, with music from Pandora on our phones. You not only get the music that you want to hear, but there is no installation and the music is portable to any part of the boat.

FWT said:

I'll just add this.

If you picture what a good room is like for high quality sound, there is nothing about these boats that fit that bill. You cannot sit on the settee and place speakers forward of you, evenly placed left and right. You have a lot of hard walls and glass. Any speakers behind you will be close to you aft, and far from you forward. Its the definition of a bad room for sound.

Therefore, my thinking at the moment is, just don't try! Go small, inexpensive, and easy. No installations that have permanent repercussions.

Click to expand...

I feel the very same. We will use the boat for family get togethers out in an isolated cove when not traveling, and to listen to music while on the hook when traveling, which would be about the only times we would have a need for music outdoors. No way was I planning on cutting holes to provide that music. Bluetooth is what I planned, but wanted to hear back whether I was on point with the thoughts.

I personally like having a built in stereo, but my boat was built with one from the factory, so I didn't have to cut speaker holes. I'm a pretty different layout, but I've got a pair of speakers in the salon and a pair on the helm / aft deck. Stereo is nothing fancy though, just one of the marinized car stereos (a Kenwood KMR-D372BT in my case) with an external amp and a satellite radio receiver. Works well and makes it not a big deal to have music on.

rslifkin said:

I personally like having a built in stereo, but my boat was built with one from the factory, so I didn't have to cut speaker holes. I'm a pretty different layout, but I've got a pair of speakers in the salon and a pair on the helm / aft deck. Stereo is nothing fancy though, just one of the marinized car stereos (a Kenwood KMR-D372BT in my case) with an external amp and a satellite radio receiver. Works well and makes it not a big deal to have music on.

Click to expand...

I had the same on my previous boat. The sound quality was excellent, and is what drove the question. I just don’t think we need the power of a built in, higher amp stereo. Though whatever Bluetooth speaker I buy will need to be capable of playing music loud enough for thirty somethings playing behind the boat on the few occasions we do that.

Anyone planning or using a Sirius XM receiver? For weather, or music?

Helmsman said:

I had the same on my previous boat. The sound quality was excellent, and is what drove the question. I just don’t think we need the power of a built in, higher amp stereo. Though whatever Bluetooth speaker I buy will need to be capable of playing music loud enough for thirty somethings playing behind the boat on the few occasions we do that.

Anyone planning or using a Sirius XM receiver? For weather, or music?

Click to expand...

I do have SirusXM for music and on the boat, it's great. Realistically, power-wise, my stereo is massive overkill. But the built in setup is simple. Nothing to move, set up, plug in, etc. Want music, just push the power button and it's there. The only time it gets turned up beyond a tiny fraction of its capability is when I'm working on the boat on land, I'm down at ground level and there's nobody else around. Power draw is surprisingly low as well. At normal listening volume, the stereo draws 1 - 1.5 amps total, including the external amp.

I have Sirius in my car but don't bother with it on the boat. I have a few different bluetooth speakers. Suggest you get one that is waterproof and floatable if you are going to use outside the salon or cabin. At home I have a JBL Xtreme, older model of this link below. I recommend it if you want good sound, high volume, and long battery life such as 30-somethings playing off the back of the boat. I use it working outside on the house or cars, etc. For just the 2 of us on the boat and just want a little background music, a much smaller speaker is fine.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08NLPX4C...-542737553.1639505713&tag=shopperz_origin1-20

backinblue said:

I have Sirius in my car but don't bother with it on the boat. I have a few different bluetooth speakers. Suggest you get one that is waterproof and floatable if you are going to use outside the salon or cabin. At home I have a JBL Xtreme, older model of this link below. I recommend it if you want good sound, high volume, and long battery life such as 30-somethings playing off the back of the boat. I use it working outside on the house or cars, etc. For just the 2 of us on the boat and just want a little background music, a much smaller speaker is fine.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08NLPX4C...-542737553.1639505713&tag=shopperz_origin1-20

Click to expand...

We have six of them around the house. A BOSE, a SONY, an Harman Kardon and a couple of others. I would rank them this way for sound quality. The SONY, then HK, then BOSE. Thanks for the tip. I will look at the link.

Just FYI, I find that Bose are way over-rated for speakers. I had them for home theater and they were terrible. The Polks and Boston Acoustics and SVS I have now are better value and much better sound. Bose is a very strong brand and people assume they are great, I imagine it was from some great designs from many decades ago. The one place where Bose excels today is noise-canceling headphones and ear buds. I haven't found any that can match them for noise cancellation and they are great for air travel.

backinblue said:

Just FYI, I find that Bose are way over-rated for speakers. I had them for home theater and they were terrible. The Polks and Boston Acoustics and SVS I have now are better value and much better sound. Bose is a very strong brand and people assume they are great, I imagine it was from some great designs from many decades ago. The one place where Bose excels today is noise-canceling headphones and ear buds. I haven't found any that can match them for noise cancellation and they are great for air travel.

Click to expand...

I have found the same with the BOSE. The first BT I ordered ended up with failed BT after about two years. The second has a battery issue so we keep it plugged up all the time which lessens it’s usage. Sound was pretty good on both.

Hey, would one of you "build in progress" folks please help me resolve my question about what is between the forward port side wall of the pilothouse and the aft wall of the forward head? There is some space between those surfaces as both sound hollow (especially the wall in the head), but no way to know how much space.

Even more important than how much space is between those walls is how do you access it? I want to mount a towel bar in the head, but need to access the inner space to secure the nuts on the towel bar studs.

My guess/hope/suspicion is that there is access behind the mirror that seems to be standard in all Mariner 37/Helmsman 38 versions. I get that Scott does not want to share photos that may reveal trade secrets, but can one of you help me answer that question without cutting into my boat?

HeadedToTexas said:

Hey, would one of you "build in progress" folks please help me resolve my question about what is between the forward port side wall of the pilothouse and the aft wall of the forward head? There is some space between those surfaces as both sound hollow (especially the wall in the head), but no way to know how much space.

Even more important than how much space is between those walls is how do you access it? I want to mount a towel bar in the head, but need to access the inner space to secure the nuts on the towel bar studs.

My guess/hope/suspicion is that there is access behind the mirror that seems to be standard in all Mariner 37/Helmsman 38 versions. I get that Scott does not want to share photos that may reveal trade secrets, but can one of you help me answer that question without cutting into my boat?

Click to expand...

Don't know, and can't know with no boat yet to check out myself, but here's a few ideas:

1) Contact Scott. He's very approachable, knowledgeable, and helpful.

2) Remove the headliner in the stateroom just forward of the head doorway. Peer in, looking aft and see what you can see. Get one of those snakes with a camera at the end and see what that tells you.

3) Is there any vision UP the wall cavity from below, in the engine room?

4) There is a drawer under the chart table to port of stateroom companionway. Can you remove the drawer and see if the area behind it yields any clues?

5) There is an overhead light in the head. Can you remove that, and use the snake camera to look aft? The wiring for that was run from somewhere, does that path create clues?

HeadedToTexas said:

Hey, would one of you "build in progress" folks please help me resolve my question about what is between the forward port side wall of the pilothouse and the aft wall of the forward head? There is some space between those surfaces as both sound hollow (especially the wall in the head), but no way to know how much space.

Even more important than how much space is between those walls is how do you access it? I want to mount a towel bar in the head, but need to access the inner space to secure the nuts on the towel bar studs.

My guess/hope/suspicion is that there is access behind the mirror that seems to be standard in all Mariner 37/Helmsman 38 versions. I get that Scott does not want to share photos that may reveal trade secrets, but can one of you help me answer that question without cutting into my boat?

Click to expand...

The pictures of my boat show the teak surrounding the bathroom in place. I don’t see any fiberglass in there yet. As we move forward, if there is a picture that would help, I will tell you what I see. If you send an email to the email listed on the site, I am pretty certain you will get a call back from Scott or Van.

What I would do is drill out the plug,then unscrew the screw. The screw will tell you something. Then drill a bit larger hole and flashlight to see what is behind it.

My suspicion is that it may be a slight opening between the teak and the fiberglass.

FWT said:

Don't know, and can't know with no boat yet to check out myself, but here's a few ideas:

1) Contact Scott. He's very approachable, knowledgeable, and helpful.

2) Remove the headliner in the stateroom just forward of the head doorway. Peer in, looking aft and see what you can see. Get one of those snakes with a camera at the end and see what that tells you.

3) Is there any vision UP the wall cavity from below, in the engine room?

4) There is a drawer under the chart table to port of stateroom companionway. Can you remove the drawer and see if the area behind it yields any clues?

5) There is an overhead light in the head. Can you remove that, and use the snake camera to look aft? The wiring for that was run from somewhere, does that path create clues?

Click to expand...

Excellent ideas. Scott is very approachable, knowledgeable, and helpful, but much less so after discovering that we did not buy our Mariner 37 from him. I don't fault him for that, mind you. He bought Mariner, but not our Mariner.

The inspection camera idea is especially good. It just made the top of my off season to do list. Hopefully I will find a suitable gap that means I have to pop those plugs out and remove the mirror to install the towel bar!

Hull No. 50, "Alba Bella" is out of the mold. What a great Christmas present.

Doug_Snider said:

Hull No. 50, "Alba Bella" is out of the mold. What a great Christmas present.

Click to expand...

Merry Christmas! That is awesome to hear.

Doug_Snider said:

Hull No. 50, "Alba Bella" is out of the mold. What a great Christmas present.

Click to expand...

Big news Doug. Congratulations!

Doug_Snider said:

Hull No. 50, "Alba Bella" is out of the mold. What a great Christmas present.

Click to expand...

How exciting!

I think Tom and Jill are up next!

Next up?

Helmsman said:

I think Tom and Jill are up next!

Click to expand...

Thanks all.. congrats Doug! Once we hear were in, we will let everyone know. That'll be our Christmas Present!

Our latest - ordered the 10' Bullfrog dingy for the top and purchased with Echomap UHD 74SV and GT56UHD transducer.

Onto clearing my head about Simrad, Furuno, Garmin for the 38 after reading dozens of reviews, comments and make a selection. Was hoping to go to the Seattle boat show this year, touch and feel and decide, but we decided to pack the camper and head south for a few months, Southwest > Baja etc. I dont think there are allot of Marine electronic stores to compare in Nevada>Arizona> Baja

I pretty much grew up on Garmin and all of my boats/devices have been that platform, but I see advantages regarding other systems. Should make that decision soon.

Doug_Snider said:

Hull No. 50, "Alba Bella" is out of the mold. What a great Christmas present.

Click to expand...

Congrats again Doug. When did you go into the molds, and do you have an updated timeframe when your vessel will arrive in Seattle?

- Tom

We received the first photo of the hull being prepped on October 22. The first photos of the hull out of the mold arrived on December 21. We haven’t bugged Scott about the delivery date but we’ll probably check in with him after the holidays. The good news is that the cargo ships anchorage in Long Beach looks much less congested than a few weeks ago. Hopefully that means the container ship flow is improving. The Omicron surge is another potential delay.