cable tv inlet

[bigbill]

where is the inlet for cable tv on a 53my or 58yf? mine is not wired for cable. is it next to the power inlet? that would be the most logical place. can i remove one of my 50 amp 125volt inlets on each side and put the cable inlet there? thanks, bigbill

[Timeout]

I didn't see any sense in the expense or space required for a marine cable inlet. I just drilled a small hole in the panel to accept a standard cable union (one side is longer with a nut for fastening to a panel). Cheap and easy and works fine. If it gets corroded, 50 cents and 10 minutes and you're back in business. The gold plated unions shouldn't corrode.

[egaito]

It is generally located below the shore power inlets ,with the telephone connection. If you have a telephone only connection, it's easy enough to replace that with an inlet that has both. If not, I agree with the above.....the hole is about 3/8".

Do go with gold plated if you can. It shouldn't be an issue with cable, but if you're going to run satellite, understand that there is power transmitted through the cable to power the LNB, which in my experience has proven to increase corrosion and decrease the life of the fittings, particularly in a salt water environment.

[TopHattandTails]

Just did this. Marinco makes a dual cable & phone plate as well as a single cable inlet (single cable is $58 more than dual at WM). If you don't use a hard wired phone connection to the boat (new invention called cell phones exist), pull 1 phone inlet, cap the phone wires, install the single cable connector (the more expensive option). The existing hole is not big enough to allow the combo fixture to mount. So either your into drilling or use the single fixture. You'll still have phone on the other side - just in case the CDMA system is turned off one of these days!

[egaito]

Just did this. Marinco makes a dual cable & phone plate as well as a single cable inlet (single cable is $58 more than dual at WM). If you don't use a hard wired phone connection to the boat (new invention called cell phones exist), pull 1 phone inlet......!

I thought the old phone jack was useless as well, until we installed DSL.

[MikeP]

Our 53 had the phone connector at the power panel but no cable connector. I just ran the internal boat cable to the existing phone connector and now connect the outside cable to the boat using a 3 ft "pigtail" that has a normal cable connector/extension on one end and the connecter that hooks to the boat's phone jack on the other end. That way there's no need to buy anything except the phone connector for one end of the cable and no work required to replace anything. . I like it also because it's easier to connect than a screw-on cable connector and, since it's a twist-lock connector, it won't pop out like the push-on cable connectors.

[bigbill]

when ya'll say "at the panel" where is this? my power inlets(2 -125v, and 1 125/250v) are mounted half way up the boat on either side below the hand rail, just forward of the gate. thanks, bigbill

[TopHattandTails]

Mike - are you saying that you have a "cable conversion wire" that goes from the cable (RJ6) to the traditional "phone" connection? So that all you do is connect the pigtail from the cable to the existing phone hookup on the exterior connection plug? If so, where can I get one of those magical pigtails?

[JimmyB]

Billy:
I have cable, Seal-Tite connectors and tools to put cable in. Lemme know if you need them. i may also have an amplifier. I just don't know where it is.

Jimmy

[Trojan]

My phone and cable are together in a connector the same shape and size as my 125 v cable plugs. It looks just like my power plug with a screw on cap. Using a cable not intended for RF can degrade your signal and pick all kinds of interference. I would be surprised if Boat US didn't have a nice waterproof connector for cable. They use coaxial cable for a reason. Any cable connector not sealed from the environment will corrode. Unless its silver coated.

BILL