2012 Freedom 307 Radar and Wiring

[jgrady307]

I'm looking to add radar to a 2012 Freedom 307 which has the raised hardtop. Looks like some are mounting at front of hardtop on a raised mounting bracket. I assume wiring is coming in at the navigation light. Any pros / cons on that placement? Also, wondering if you have radar on this boat where it is hooked up to power. Is the radar wired into the fuse block in the electronics box or all the way down to the main fuse panel? Obviously, the fuse block in electronics box would be easier, but I am unsure if wire feeding that box is big enough to handle radar and VHF.

 

[SkunkBoat]

Mounted in front of the bubble with bolts straddling the hardtop frame

The fuse panel under my 265x dash has a short 10awg feed from the power bus and the upper electronics box has a long 10 awg feed from the power bus.
I ran the radar power cable down to the power bus under the dash and used the inline blade fuseholder that came with it.
That connects it directly to the 6 awg that runs back to the battery. This will lessen the voltage drop to other things on my upper and lower fuse panels when I have the radar on.
Did the same for my 2kw sonar.

 

[Ky Grady]

I mounted my Halo 24 in front of the bubble with a BattleWagon custom 4" pedestal with built-in 4° downward tilt. Ran the wire straight out the back and into the radio box with a clam shell filled with silicone to seal it. Ran the wire down the tube to the lower radio box and power was picked up from the panel below the helm.

 

[jgrady307]

Thanks guys. Those pictures are helpful Ky Grady. Did you get power from the power bus under the dash like skunkboat or did you wire it into the accessory fuse panel in that storage compartment forward of the helm? Sounds like the consensus is not to wire it into the fuse panel in the electronics box.

 

[Ky Grady]

Mine is a 228, so I only have two fuse blocks. One in hardtop box and one under helm. I picked up power under helm. My VHF and AM/FM pick up power from hardtop one.