With more and more marinas making both telephone and cable television service available to each slip, boat owners are able to take advantage of these luxuries with built-in TVs and phones even on small boats. But cords and cables running on and off the boat are unsightly as well as dangerous. The solution is to install a waterproof marine telephone and cable TV inlet so the wiring inside your boat stays perma-nently in place and connecting the dock cables is simplified.

Step 1: For this example, the Marinco chrome inlet (Model PH6444TVCR) is selected. It combines both TV and phone connectors in one fitting with a spring-loaded snap lid for protection. Plan the installation beforehand, so that the inlet will be convenient to the dockside connectors. At the same time, decide how the in-boat cables will be routed, and remember that the coax cable for the TV requires gentle bends rather than the sharp turns that can be used on the phone cord. Be sure your drill is grounded, and use a 2 1/2-inch hole saw to cut a neat opening for the inlet box (check inside first for wiring or other dangers).

Step 2: Place the inlet fitting in the opening and align it so that it's square. Using the fitting as a template, mark the mounting-hole locations with a pencil. Remove the inlet fitting, pull off the yellow waterproof boot, and put the fitting aside for the moment. Drill the mounting holes using a 1/8-inch drill bit. Thread the internal phone and TV wiring through the hull opening from the inside, and slide only the telephone cable through the yellow waterproof boot, making sure it is going from the small opening toward the larger. Slide the mounting gasket for the inlet fitting over all the wiring.

Step 3: Remove about 1/2 inch of cable insulation off the end of each telephone wire using an electrician's wire stripper. Be very careful, because the strands are extremely fine and telephone reception can be affected if the strands are damaged. If your inside telephone cable has two wires, connect the red wire to the terminal marked "R" (ring) and the green wire to the "T" (tip) terminal. If you have four wires, snip the black wire short since you won't use it, and then connect red to "R," green to "T" and yellow to "GR" (ground) in the center. To prevent corrosion, leave the yellow protective cap over the coax fitting if you aren't installing TV at this time.

Step 4: Press the waterproof boot over the telephone junction box and make sure it is firmly in place. If you are installing a coaxial TV cable, remove the yellow protective cap and tighten the coax cable in place. Position the gasket and align the inlet fitting with the pre-drilled screw holes. Use No. 8 stainless-steel screws to install the inlet fitting. If your marina telephone cord uses a modular RJ-11 phone jack, you'll need a Marinco telephone adapter (about $45) to plug into the inlet fitting. Less expensive is replacing the modular jack with a Marinco male telephone connector (about $15).