Ridesteady installed!

[dels]

I am so happy to finally be able to report that I was able to install my Ridesteady today! Having been one of the first to buy during this year's group buy and being out for a few months due to a pacemaker implant... it feels good to finally have gone through the install!

Just like everyone else reported, the install itself is straight forward and very well documented in the nice binder that ships with it. The only thing I had a small hesitation was what port to connect between the two throttle nodes... until I found out that the STB unit only has one port... lol!

I followed the instructions closely, read twice for every step of the way and it worked perfectly the first time. I got a GPS signal and the RPM showed up on the display.

I decided to mount in in place of the crappy stock stereo as I:

• was getting low on space in the panel
• didn't want to get rid of the RPM gauges
• had a perfect excuse to replace the stock stereo unit with a Fusion MS-BB100V2, which is awesome in itself, completely hidden and can be controlled via the Simrad MFD

The first surprise I had was that the hole was a little too small (about 1/2") so I circled the display unit with a marker then used a rotary tool with a sanding belt attached to it to make the hole bigger. I had taped around the hole with masking tape to be sure I wouldn't go too far and also used the shopvac while grinding the fiberglass away so the dust was minimal.

I decided to leave the GPS unit inside the helm compartment and used a very involved zip tie set up to secure it in place!

Here are some pictures of the install, can't wait to take the boat out next time and actually water test this awesome unit!

 

[dels]

Thanks to @Ridesteady for the awesome product

 

[Ridesteady]

Awesome write up, thanks much @dels !!!