Swing arm mount for GPS

[HeaveToo]

I just had a thought....
What if you made doors for the drop in hatch board.  You then mount the unit to the back of the door.

Yes, it wouldn't work in foul weather, unless you have a bimini, dodger, and connector like I have on my boat.  Still, the idea of the swinging door may be a cool one if it was done right.

[cdflan]

Used a Majestic TV Swing Arm and replaced their mounting plate with a sheet of aluminum bent out at the bottom to forma a shelf for the VHF charging cradle and cut a hole to mount the GPS on the left.  Stores against bulkhead when not in use and swings into the companionway when underway.
http://s866.photobucket.com/user/cdflan/media/120_zps941f2da6.jpg.html]

[cdflan]

Here's the unit stowed.

[rbh1515]

Here is the swing arm I got.  These are RAM mounts.  I think I will attach a nice piece of wood to the inside of the companionway, and then screw the mount onto that.
I'll get some other mounts also, so if I want to attach my iPhone I could do that.  The torqeedo outboard I am getting has Bluetooth and an app that gives you lots of info,
so I may want to attach the iPhone on there sometimes.
Rob

[rbh1515]

Finally got my GPS swing arm installed:
Rob

[rbh1515]

Couple more pics with the GPS attached.  I also have an attachment for my iPad mini with Bad Elf.  With the GPS attached, I still have plenty of room to go below without swinging it in.  I can also use the GPS mount for my iPhone.
Rob

[nreamer]

rbh1515, What did you do to secure the wooden mounting plate to the fiberglass bulkhead?  I see no through bolts.  I assume you used epoxy.  How did you clamp it while it cured?  Does it look like it will hold up?

neil

[sawfish]

I bought an aluminum flat screen bracket from amazon(http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000WWK16O?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00)
and drilled holes in the mounting plate to match the mounting pattern on my plotter/sounder.It swings into the companionway for use and folds back inside to stow.
One more option...

[rbh1515]

rbh1515, What did you do to secure the wooden mounting plate to the fiberglass bulkhead?  I see no through bolts.  I assume you used epoxy.  How did you clamp it while it cured?  Does it look like it will hold up?

neil

Neil,
I used a Loctite product that is polyurethane based (no screws):

To keep the wood attached, I used blue painters tape till the glue cured.  Then I screwed the swing arm on to the wood.  The wood seems pretty secure (fingers crossed).  The local hardware store recommended it, and it is waterproof!
Rob

[capt_nemo]

rbh1515,

Nice clean installation - well done.

And yes, there are several products out there in hardware stores that appear to be useful adhesives. Waterproof is definitely a plus!

Let us know if you use it for other applications which might be more of a test of its holding power STRENGTH.

capt_nemo

P.S. It would not be too difficult to design and fabricate  DOORS for the companionway like I did for my Sun Cat (now owned by neil). My design did not require drilling a single hole in the boat and is removable. Has both Plexiglas and screen inserts.

[nreamer]

Rob,

Thanks! Do let us know if the board does any naughty things, like fall off!  I have a feeling it will probably be just fine.  Just went out and looked at the product sheet on that adhesive.  It does look perfect for this application.  I recently used a different Loctite adhesive for a totally different application and am really, really impressed.  (concrete to concrete on a small retaining wall). 

neil

[rbh1515]

Capt. memo,
Those are beautiful doors!  My boat came with white poly doors, so it would be easy to make some wood ones.
Rob

[Mas]

Mine is a RAM mount.  I did build the baseplate for the instrument myself.  It works fine, keeps the GPS out of the weather when the boat is not in use or in the evening on overnight cruises, has enough room that you can get by it to get in our out of the cabin and can be articulated in every direction for best vision.

Hello Brackish, am in the middle of planning a bunch of possible winter projects. gunna clearly think about funding but would like a Char-tplotter to augment my very rusty 25 yr old piloting skills. Only ever used paper charts, heck Loran was cutting edge back then!

Like the idea of being able to view inside cabin and also from companionway. Have two piece Lexan drop boards so could use it with one or both in place if needed. Well thats my plan anyway! Do you have pics of the inside attachment and what it looks like folded so in cabin? Also any hope of a model number? It looks quite sturdy and very accommodating in it's articulation. Btw, you ever get the ice bucket mount?!

[Mas]

Finally got my GPS swing arm installed:
Rob

Hello Rob, Clearly fishing for mounts that seem to match my hopes for installation. what is the make and model of the mount you are using? Along with the one Brackish shows they are the two most likely to match our needs.

thanx much,
No Mas

[brackish]

No, I never got the ice bucket mount but not a bad idea.  A picture of the mount inside the cabin.  In my case the GPS chartplotter I got was meant to mount on a flat horizontal surface, so I cut a piece of 1/4" aluminum to the exact profile of the GPS base with a hole to attach it to the RAM mount.  Ram-109V-BU vertical surface base, Ram-109-1APU bent 6 inch swing extension arm with 3" bolt.  They also sent me some extra stuff that i needed to mount my baseplate and didn't charge me for it.  Bought it from Express Mounts, USA, total delivered cost 48.36.  You might check Ebay, I backed out of the bid on a couple that went for close to new price but you never know what you might find.