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Re: Insurance in Europe
Hi Mark, First, Congratulations on your new boat! I’m sure our paths will cross. We plan to leave La Rochelle, headed for the Med in May with our new 50. As for insurance, we did considerable research. We’re interested in a carrier who will work, hard, to make us whole in case of a claim, vs. carriers who work equally hard to avoid paying a claim. Of course, we are interested in not paying the highest premium, too. All this said, in 33 years of boat ownership, we’ve never made a claim. So, after reading dozens of reviews, our favorite was Pantaenius UK. Unfortunately, being a US-flagged boat, they wouldn’t talk to us and referred us to Pantaenius US, not our favorite, but after considerable dialog with our broker, who we’ve known for a decade, we went with them. I did hear good things about Yachtinsure (www.yachtinsure.uk). In which country are you flagging your yacht? ~~~⛵️~~~Matt
On Feb 1, 2020, at 2:28 PM, Mark Dajani via Groups.Io <mdajani@...> wrote:
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Re: SSB Ground
Is your Icom 802 connected to the grounding (the dynaplates), too? If yes, disconnect it, as it may create electronic loops. The experts say, only the tuner should be connected to the grounding,
On my boat (Santorin) AMEL preinstalled a grounding wire for the radio at the navigation table to the tuner in the lazarett for the grounding of the transceiver (the radio). At the beginning I was using this wire to ground my Icom 801. But the experts recommend to not to ground the transceiver. So, I disconnected it. Now, only the tuner in the lazarett is connected to the dynaplates. More infos: https://www.svb24.com/en/guide/ssb-marine-radio.html http://www.sailcom.co.uk/m802/
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Re: Insurance in Europe
Mark & Debbie Mueller
Hi Matt,
We had been insured with Pantaenius US for the last two years with no issues. However, our policy renewal date was January 1 and the new policy conditions that Pantaenius imposed were so onerous and unreasonable that we were forced to switch carriers.
Pantaenius changed the upper boundary of the hurricane box to 35° North, this bisects Cape Hatteras. Our nearest port North then becomes Hampton or Norfolk. An additional deterrent was departing Norfolk on or after December 1; it gets pretty real cold at that time of the year. They also changed the dates of the hurricane season from July 15 – November 1 to July 1 – November 30 with no boundary for the southern end of the box. The change in dates decreased summer sailing season by 45 days if you plan to sail the Bahamas or the Caribbean. They now also require that the “insured vessel shall be secured between two fixed piers or a fixed pier and a bulkhead or two bulkheads; these fixed structures to which the insured vessel is secured must be suitable to sustain the wave action of the NTS. The size of the berth and the manner in which the insured vessel is secured shall be such that there is a minimum of 6 feet of distance between the vessel and each fixed pier or bulkhead and any adjacent vessels or pilings. The insured vessel shall NOT be secured to floating piers or docks…”. I believe you have been at Brunswick Landing Marina in Brunswick, GA; these policy conditions exclude Brunswick as a harbor that has traditionally been very safe during hurricane season. Pantaenius also had an increase in the lightning deductible plus a substantial increase in premium.
If Pantaenius becomes one of your final candidates I would go over the policy conditions very thoroughly. We selected:
YachtInsure Hugo Hanham-Gross Hanham Insurance Agency 843.410.2990 Charleston, SC 29403 -- Mark Mueller Brass Ring A54
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Re: SSB Ground
Herbert, Very good advice. Bill
On Sat, Feb 1, 2020 at 11:03 AM Herbert Lackner <herbert@...> wrote: Hi Joerg, you have the best equipment available installed. all parts are first class.
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Re: Insurance in Europe
Mark Dajani
Hello Matt,
My Name is Mark Dajani, I will be picking up my Amel 60 this June and plan to keep it in the med for a year or so before moving on. I read your entire flow on the boat building process and it was very helpful. the Amel folks have been a pleasure to work with. I am ready to get Insurance, I would certainly appreciate any insights from your experience. Which agency / carrier did you end up with. what would you do differently? thanks so much for any advice you may have. Mark
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Re: SSB Ground
Herbert Lackner
Hi Joerg, you have the best equipment available installed. all parts are first class.
Of course you can check it with an SWR meter, but I am not sure if that will help you identifying the problem. Your antenna tuner (if it works fine) will make sure, that you the SWR is good, even if your antenna is not transmitting. In our typical boat installations the tranceiver will see a nice tuned antenna, even if it is just a piece of wire, because the antenna tuner simulates a nice tuned antenna to the tranceiver and the power might be used to heat up the tuner and not to escape through your antenna into the air - excellent SWR but nothing transmitted. But the SWR meter would help you in finding out if your tuner is working fine. Can you hear your tuner working? It should "click-click-cklick..." when you change to a new frequency and transmit a low power signal for tuning. the relais inside make some noise when they try to "tune" the antenna to a new frequency that the tuner has not stored in his memory. I assume the setup of the tuner and the tranceiver has been checked. You shall also set the AT140 in the IC-M802 initial setup as your tuner, you can also activate automatic tuning. to summarize: * check if your tuner settings are ok (I am sure they are) and that the tuner is tuning. If you have a SWR meter check that . * make sure your existing ground is working by cleaning your dynaplate and make sure connections are good, no other grounding is necessary (see Oliviers post), do not connect your tank * check if the GTO15 wire from the tuner to the antenna is free from any other stuff and that it is as short as possible * check your antenna contact and make sure the antenna is away from other stuff that hinders transmitting (eg. I use an isolated backstay on starboard, but have to make sure that the the mizzen boom is on port when I transmit...) * if nothing helps from the things above you should ask a local expert to check your installation (using a SWR meter, but also trying to find out what energy is really transmitted at your antenna, there are several options to do that) what I would not recommend without help from an expert: * changing your grounding * opening the tranceiver and trying to fix something there I am sure your problem can be solved relativ onsite easy by someone who is familiar with SSB installations on boats and who has the instruments to check it best wishes, herbert SN120
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Re: SSB Ground
Thanks again everyone for your advice. To respond to a few questions, I have the ICOM M802 with the AT140 tuner. For the cable between the transmitter and the AT, Amel/Pochon installed RG213 and I replaced it with Aircell 7. Antenna cable was something indeterminate but I replaced with GTO 15. I'm turning off the solar, refrigerators and some other things that interfer like the inverters. Would it be sensible for me to use the services of someone who knows how to interpret the results of an SWR meter after I've checked all the other things mentioned above? Cheers Joerg
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Re: Santorin C Drive leaks
Jean-Pierre Massicotte
Hello Volker, unfortunately you will have to change the seals to remedy this problem. Normally when we change the seals we also change the wearable bushing. All available thrue Amel S.A.V. Santorin where produced with 2 différents Amel transmission, one small in aluminium or the same as SM in cast Iron. You need to know before ordering parts. Regards J P Massicotte, SN 51, Vanille
On Sat., Feb. 1, 2020, 06:46 Volker Hasenauer, <volker.hasenauer@...> wrote:
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Re: Santorin C Drive leaks
Herbert Lackner
Hi Volker,
Amel uses now SAE90, 15/40 is also ok, but no ATF! ATF is used for the gearbox, not for the drive. herbert, SN120
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Re: SSB Ground
Herbert Lackner
Alan, good video! thx.
SSB installation and troubleshooting is sometimes tricky. I made my engineer's degree in electronics and telecommunication and are an active HAM radio user since many years, but - even beeing a kind of professional in this area - it took me some time to get my installation working fine. There are quite a few factors that might influence transmitting, also outside the active HF elements (e.g. compressor of the fridge...:-) ). most important - imho - , if the ground is ok, are "connections", good soldering at the connectors and the right cables, and understanding that the antenna starts at the tuner :-) fair winds, herbert, SN120, OE3HLA
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Re: Santorin C Drive leaks
Volker Hasenauer <volker.hasenauer@...>
Hi Arnold, thanks for the Info! So far my plan is to suck out as much as I can from the reservoir and/or gearbox and refill with clean oil.... Wish me luck for good wind so the engine will not been used that much, cheers , Volker Aquamarine(Santorin 027) currently Borneo/Malaysia
On Sat, Feb 1, 2020 at 6:57 PM Arnold Mente via Groups.Io <Arnold.mente=me.com@groups.io> wrote:
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Re: Santorin C Drive leaks
Hallo Volker,
attached you will find the manual and drawing for the C-Drive!! The oil is the same as for engine 15/40!! You must lift out for repair the seal. Best Arnold SY Zephyr SM 203 Am 01.02.2020 um 11:46 schrieb Volker Hasenauer <volker.hasenauer@...>: Dear Amel Owners,
I bought my Santorin (027) 3 month ago and getting her ready for the first move - from the port I bought her to my home port in Langkawi/Malaysia. Its a trip of approx 1200 Nm - but round Singapore where authorities are very particular. I checked many systems already and mostly they are in working order, however the C Drive reservoir has signs of water in it,so its obvious that the seal on the shaft has not doing well. I have 2 questions at the moment: 1. what oil is needed for the C Drive - I presume ATF? 2. any idea to reduce the water/oil mix and top it up with clean oil? - there is NO possibility to haul out the boat where she is and I need to move her in this condition..... l hope the wind is with me and I do not need to run the engine too much...but there is a big chance that my luck is not always with me.... Any suggestions are most welcome! Volker Aquamarine/Amel Santorin (027) currently Borneo/Malaysia -- SY Zephyr SM203
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Re: Santorin C Drive leaks
Volker Hasenauer <volker.hasenauer@...>
Dear Amel Owners, I bought my Santorin (027) 3 month ago and getting her ready for the first move - from the port I bought her to my home port in Langkawi/Malaysia. Its a trip of approx 1200 Nm - but round Singapore where authorities are very particular. I checked many systems already and mostly they are in working order, however the C Drive reservoir has signs of water in it,so its obvious that the seal on the shaft has not doing well. I have 2 questions at the moment: 1. what oil is needed for the C Drive - I presume ATF? 2. any idea to reduce the water/oil mix and top it up with clean oil? - there is NO possibility to haul out the boat where she is and I need to move her in this condition..... l hope the wind is with me and I do not need to run the engine too much...but there is a big chance that my luck is not always with me.... Any suggestions are most welcome! Volker Aquamarine/Amel Santorin (027) currently Borneo/Malaysia
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Re: SSB Ground
Herbert,
Here is some good basic info regarding using an SWR meter... https://youtu.be/qSea5FjcTDE Cheers Alan Elyse SM437
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Re: SSB Ground
Wolfgang Weber <webercardio@...>
Testing with SWR- Meter from exampel Diawa is an easy test or look for help by a local HAM-radio Club. Try to google your Location and Ham-radio Club. Wolfgang Do8ww SY Elise Amel 54#162
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Re: SSB Ground
I would test the SWR (stand wave ratio) of your system. It tells you how much energy which is going out is reflected. With a device like this: (there are others which can do the same)
https://www.radioworld.co.uk/daiwa_cn-101l_meter_1_8-150mhz And by the way: do you speak loud and clear when you transmit, and close to the microphone... ? 😉 Did you mention what type/brand of SSB you have?
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Re: SSB Ground
Herbert Lackner
Joerg,
* what cable did you use for connecting the antenna with the tuner? should be a GTO-15 and no coax / copper cable. This is sometimes the problem. * make sure that this cable is away from other metallic objects and that it is as short as possible, it is already part of the antenna - and the area where most of the power is transmitted * connection from this cable to the antenna (and tuner) is critical! minimum resistance necessary! checking/measuring/testing the system (standing wave ratio etc.) needs some specific technical HAM radio knowledge. herbert, SN120
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Re: SSB Ground
Thanks very much everyone for responding. I had thought I would disconnect the tank from the common ships ground and connect it to the SSB ground. I have been checking my connections since the boat was new in 2016 and replaced the cable from the transmitter to the tuner, replaced the antenna cable from the tuner to the whip - connection to the whip was not good, replaced the cable connecting the Dynaplates to the tuner with copper tape. All these things have made a difference between nobody hearing me to people now hearing me ok some of the time. But as I said in the original post, I still often have the situation where I can hear another boat quite well yet they cannot hear me. This indicates to me that my transmission isn’t as good as that of the other boat. I have been told that the whip antenna is not as good as the insulated backstay on most boats in low frequencies - the MedNet mostly operates on the 6 MHz band. So that may be one reason. Dave, many thanks for sending the troubleshooting articles. What instruments do I need to test the system?
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Re: Changing engine bearings Amel Mango Perkins 4.236
Ellen Cahill
Hi Frederic,
Did amel supply these parts for you? I'm hoping to replace the same mounts in the coming weeks as the engine is out of our Mango. Thanks, Ellen
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Re: SSB Ground
Herbert Lackner
HF shall do no harm neither to the Amel bonding system nor to all connected metals, even if transmitting with high power. It is the DC connection that has to be avoided, and this DC connection will be created by attaching tuner ground to the bonding system. To avoid that this connection has to be "DC separated" by capacitors (HF coupling capacitors, bunch of them soldered together), then the bonding system can be used as a nice HF ground without negative impact. Only if there is no dynaplate!
herbert, SN120
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