38 | BOATINGMAG.COM | MAY 2018CONNECT SIGNAL
WIRES Two of the remaining
three pigtails are used to connect
the signal wires to the existing
kill switch on your boat. To deter-
mine which two, visit fellmarine
.com for a wire schematic for
your engine brand. For a Mercury
Marine engine, connect the xHub
gray wire to the black/yellow wire
leading to the Merc kill switch;
connect the xHub orange wire to
the black wire leading to the Merc
kill switch. To retain the function-
ality of the safety-stop lanyard,
leave the existing wires connected
to the kill switch, but “T” into
them with xHub wires.INSTALL THE xHUB
Select a spot near the wheel
and cut a standard 2^1 / 16 -inch-
diameter hole, making sure you
have clearance behind it for the
6 1 / 2 -inch-long xHub antenna (it is
fl exible and can bend slightly).
Remove the xHub nut and attach
the antenna to the back of the
unit. Feed the antenna into the
hole and place the xHub in
the hole, making sure the gasket
rests between the xHub and the
dash panel and that the battery in-
dicator is at the top. Hand-tighten
the xHub nut from behind. Attach
the fi ve-pin connector cable to the
back of the unit.TEST THE SYSTEM Test
while tied to a dock. Turn on the
engine. If you wired the system
to the existing kill switch, pull
the lanyard to ensure it works.
Reconnect the lanyard and restart
the engine. Submerge the xFob
Multifob in the ocean or lake, or
walk with it until the engine stops.
The xHub will light up red and
emit a sound signal to indicate a
man overboard. The automatic
override function will engage six
seconds after the signal is broken,
and you can restart without con-
necting an xFob. The engine can
also be stopped by simply clicking
the xFob.CONNECT TO POWER
Take care to turn off the onboard
battery power before wiring the
connector cable to an onboard
power source. The connector
cable has a fi ve-wire color-coded
pigtail. Connect the red (positive)
wire to a stable, positive 12-volt
DC source with a 1- to 3-amp fuse
with either a marine in-line fuse
holder or a fuse block, neither of
which is supplied with the Fell
system. Connect the black (neg-
ative) wire to an onboard ground
terminal. If it is necessary to
extend the positive or negative
wires, be sure to use 16/20 AWG
wire at the minimum.With this system, up
to four xFob Multi-
fobs can be paired
to the xHub at the
same time, extending
safety to multiple
crewmembers. These
sell for $39.99 and
have a 300-hour
battery life. An xTag
accessory ($24.99)
lets you wear it on
a neck lanyard, your
belt or a life jacket.
You can also get the
xBand accessory in
fi ve colors ($19.99)
and three camo
patterns ($24.99) for
your wrist.MULTIFOB
OPTIONS
TIP
TIP
If your boat
has an NMEA
2000 system
already
installed, you
can use this
system as a 12-
volt DC power
supply if you
have enough
power available
to extend the
NMEA 2000
backbone.
Check nmea
.org to calculate
the power
availability in
your system.On boat helms made of
aluminum, the wireless
signal may be degraded.
If the signal is poor, you
can install a separate
external antenna
outside the helm area to
increase signal strength.
To learn more, visit
fellmarine.com.ILLUSTRATIONS: TIM BARKER; PHOTOS: ZACH STOVALL