Hailer Help

S

South lake

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 8, 2011
Messages
222
Fluid Motion Model
C-24 C
So, last year I installed a Standard Horizon 220SW 5" Round Hailer Horn on the cabin roof of the Get~Aweigh and using the jack on the back of my Garmin VHF 200 Marine Radio connected it up. Haven't tried to use it too much but was told that when I would talk on it it sounded like I was under water and very garbled. But I would test it at the dock and everyone said it sounded great. I had my grandson talk to me while I stood outside the boat and it was crystal clear.

So, today I'm on the water and next to a friends boat and try to speak to him on the hailer and he says I can't understand you. So, just for the heck of it I turned off the engine and tried it again and he said it sounded perfect. Ah Ha! So that's the problem. Now, the radio broadcast perfectly well with the engine running so the issue appears only when using the hailer.

Well, since turning off the engine doesn't seem to be a good way to use the hailer I was wondering if anyone on the Tugnuts group of enlightened boaters could give me some guidance on how I might solve the problem and be able to use the hailer with the engine running.

Any and all ideas appreciated.
 
Sounds like your alternator is putting electrical noise on the system.
Not sure why it is not affecting the radio audio also.
Is your stereo music clear with the engine running?
In my case it is the autopilot that puts noise on the radio when receiving, not the alternator - makes the squelch pop in and out, voices garbled.
Is your autopilot powered up when the engine is running? (just a stab in the dark)
In any case, first you need to reroute the wiring bundle inside the helm for the wires going from the back of the radio up to the hailer and move them away from power wiring as much as possible.
Next you may need to put a suppressor (a capacitor) across the output of the alternator.
And you may need a filter choke on the wires to the hailer.

If you need assistance I would go to a car stereo installer and have him look at it. They have a ton of experience in noise on audio systems - much more than the repair shop at the marina.
 
Thanks Denny...

So, Stereo is fine on AM/FM reception, playing Pandora from my iPhone, CD's, etc. Hailer is garbled both with and without Autopilot powered up. Same with Chartplotter and radar. No need to reroute wiring as my radio was relocated to hang under the shelf over the helm some time ago and from there the wires run through the shelf and cabin roof to the hailer.



Mike of Just Dreamin' suggested running some tests with the engine on and off and turning the squelch knob all the way on and all the way off. Again, the hailer is clear with the engine off and garbled sounding with the engine on and the squelch makes no difference.

This afternoon I'm stopping by to talk to a local car audio guy and see if he'll take a look at it. I''m also going to reach out to Garmin and see if they have any advice. Will post what I find out and if/when it gets corrected.
 
Good find Mike. I had intended to attach one from the ham radio world, but then I felt it was a bit too larded up with ham speak for non hams.
At one point I was hot to have a Diesel Duck.
Since then I have been aboard one in Florida and find the vertical ladders to be an issue since I am in and out like a squirrel on speed - but not as nimble.
The flat floor plan of our tugs has me spoiled.
 
Jeff: I'm about to install this same hailer unit on my R-21EC. Did you resolve your problem and if so how ?
 
Barry I have not solved the problem yet. Where I live there are no boat electronics folks to have check this out and my idea to get an auto electronics installer to look at it didn't work out. So I'm going to have the folks at South Shore Marine in Huron Ohio fix it when I take it to them for winter storage.
 
You might consider installing a noise filter in the radio's power line, as physically close to the radio as possible. The Newmar PC-25 is a candidate. Alternatively, you can install a noise filter close tot he alternator (this is a more general solution, as it'll help all the electronics, not just the radio). The Newmar 150A is an example. Both are available online and are reasonably simple to install.

Jeff
 
Jeff:

I installed this same Hailer on my R-21EC yesterday. All went well. However, when testing it I find the hailer is not that loud. How loud should this hailer be ?

The 'Listen' aspect is working as I can hear dogs barking and the sound of cars going by as I have the boat in my driveway.

Using the PTT to hail does not seem to generate a lot of volume IMO. Maybe I have to tweak some configuration to get more volume out of the hailer. I was expecting it to be much louder.

Thoughts ? Thanks... 🙂
 
On my Garmin, the volume knob raises the volume of the radio speaker in the cabin, the channel knob raises and lowers the volume of the horn outside the boat.
 
OK Jeff.... I'll try that.... thanks. 🙂

[EDIT]
Yep.... Hailer volume working AOK. It's pretty loud (which is what I wanted) when I set it to MAX. :lol:
 
South lake":1la6rrxh said:
So, last year I installed a Standard Horizon 220SW 5" Round Hailer Horn on the cabin roof of the Get~Aweigh and using the jack on the back of my Garmin VHF 200 Marine Radio connected it up. Haven't tried to use it too much but was told that when I would talk on it it sounded like I was under water and very garbled. But I would test it at the dock and everyone said it sounded great. I had my grandson talk to me while I stood outside the boat and it was crystal clear.

So, today I'm on the water and next to a friends boat and try to speak to him on the hailer and he says I can't understand you. So, just for the heck of it I turned off the engine and tried it again and he said it sounded perfect. Ah Ha! So that's the problem. Now, the radio broadcast perfectly well with the engine running so the issue appears only when using the hailer.

Well, since turning off the engine doesn't seem to be a good way to use the hailer I was wondering if anyone on the Tugnuts group of enlightened boaters could give me some guidance on how I might solve the problem and be able to use the hailer with the engine running.

Any and all ideas appreciated.
Click to expand...

FYI... I checked out my Hailer over past weekend and with the engine running on my R-21EC the Hailer's sound to my dock helpers was clear and fully understandable. My Hailer works perfectly.
 
with the engine running on my R-21EC the Hailer's sound to my dock helpers was clear and fully understandable. My Hailer works perfectly.
Click to expand...

Small boat with a BIG sound. You da man BAY-REE!

😎

dave
 
Barry, what cable did you use to connect the hailer to the radio? I used a cable I had laying around. It had an RCA plug on one end and I cut the plug from the other end and connected the wires to the wires coming from the hailer. I'm wondering if that might have something to do with my issue.

Right now I'll pull the boat around October 19th and take it to South Shore Marine at Lake Erie for service and winter storage. Fixing the hailer will be on my list of things for them to do but I could try a different cable if that might be the issue.
 
FYI...

I need to check for sure.... but this is what I did.

I did not use any other wire(s) beyond what came with the Garmin VHF 200 and the Hailer. The Garmin radio included a RCA cable and I simply joined the Hailer two +ive/-ive wires to the Garmin supplied wire with RCA plug and made the connections water proof. My Hailer sits on top of where the radio is positioned under the cabin roof. Thus the Hailer wire was long enough and no extension/additional wire was required.

Post back what you discover is your problem.
 
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