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This
unusual situation seems to be working out quite nicely. When I ask if
he applies his pastoral counseling skills to the standards building process,
he laughs and says that it might actually work the other way around. However
it works, it clearly works. Among the group of industry experts—largely
electronics dealers—who put together the Installation Standard,
there was some understandable reluctance to share hard-earned technical
knowledge with each other and especially with the so-called “dock
runners” who often undercut their prices. Anderson apparently made
the positive case that detailing the significant system analysis, testing,
and documentation needed for a truly proper installation would give consumers
(and manufacturers) a way to judge what’s actually right and wrong.
In other words, corner-cutting installers are going to have a harder time
getting by, and manufacturers are going to have an easier time troubleshooting
product performance issues. Anderson is hopeful that some may even offer
an extended warranty for gear installed to the Standard.
THE
INSTALLATION STANDARD
So what the heck
is in the Standard? Oh, it’s dry stuff, but it represents thousands
of man-years of real-time experience, going well beyond simple wiring
and mounting usually described in any device’s manual and well into
the subtle territory of peak performance and electronics relationships.
For instance, the meaty section on antenna installation includes the myriad
varieties of coax cable and connectors, how to test for signal loss and
permissible maximums, and suggested horizontal spacing of nine types of
antennas that may be fighting for an effective spot on your cabin top
or arch these days.
The
Standard contains thorough sections about compass and RF interference,
data interfacing, transducer and autopilot mounting, and much more. Throughout
are step-by-step procedures, dockside and underway, for figuring out whether
any new device affects existing electronics, or vice versa. The process
is time-consuming but can eliminate aggravation for boaters and even subsequent
technicians. Say you have an SSB installed one winter, an autopilot controller
rebuilt the next summer, and then at some point realize that in certain
conditions the one can mess up the other. Who figures out which is the
chicken and which is the egg?
The
Standard also lays out excellent documentation requirements. For example,
a technician installing one or many data interfaces should leave the following
aboard the boat: a diagram showing the location of each device, interface
module, terminal block, etc.; lists of input and output setups, wire colors
used, and intended functions; and verification of interface testing. The
value of such material to a skipper learning his system, or a tech trying
to troubleshoot it, is immeasurable.
Then
there are small, smart ideas like cable-tying the blank insert for a removable
transducer right where you need it. I’ve seen this done and appreciated
it; I’ve also searched drawers in delivery vessels looking for the
darn thing so I could clean the speedo. I very much like the notion that
such fairly obvious, but not always executed, details become standard.
Similarly,
I’ve heard some of the tips in this Standard before, and I’m
sure that many installers already know them thoroughly and are doing fine
work. But I’ve also been the recipient of conflicting advice from
different “experts.” The Standard rises to a new level of
veracity because we know that a large, highly qualified group deliberated
over it at length and then committed to putting it out under the banner
of their industry organization. NMEA is also committed to updating these
guidelines on a regular basis. Altogether, I think the Standard will succeed
with its worthy aim, which, in Anderson’s words, is “to give
installers a level playing field and consumers a greater confidence in
their electronics.”
If you’re
a really serious do-it-yourselfer, you can buy the Installation Standard
for $199 ($125 for NMEA members). More likely, you’ll simply want
to ask your electronics professional if your gear has been installed to
the Standard. You might also want to nod with thanks toward Port Clyde,
Maine, and a man who’s pursuing two callings with vigor and skill.
NMEA
Phone: (410) 975-9425. Fax: (410) 975-9450. www.nmea.org.
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