Getting the Coax into the house

[Old Man]

I am looking for a nice way to get several different coax's into my radio room. Coming in thru the attic is not an option, I need to make this a thru the wall set up without leaving a big hole in the wall. Outside wall is brick.

Anyone have any ideas?

[Night Walker]

Two options come immediately to mind. I'm sure there are more, but I don't know the exact config of your room.

1. Go for broke and drill holes for each antenna line through the brick wall. For each hole, you use a coax bushing/gromment like this:



... sized for the coax you are using, which with a touch of "goop" outside gives you basically an airtight, insect-free set-up. If/when you move, the holes outside are small, can easily be filled, and painted to match the surrounding brick color.

2. If there's an exterior casement window convenient to the set-up, you make a feed-thru panel in a 2x4, and close the upper or lower window half on it. For security purposes, you'll want to drill a small hole and place a locking pin, or some equivalent measure. Each cable feed-thru is an RF "Bulkhead" connector (female-to-female), like this:



I've seen them in lengths up to 6".

HERE is a picture of a rather involved panel, made of metal rather than wood. Your choice. I prefer the wood for ease of drilling. (The foam you see is to support the cables, NOT for insulation!)

Don't forget to check with HAM friends and acquaintances to see how they've done it. There's a lot of experience in the community, and there's no situation you'll encounter that hasn't already been dealt with!

73's!

[Old Man]

I am asking around and finding a lot of good ideas. I thought about the wood under the window, but the window in my radio room is a tip out, not up and down. I am thinking about a small outdoor electrical box feeding all the coax to the room thru a piece of pvc tubing inserted thru the wall. But that is one big hole, and a big drawback.

[Night Walker]

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[kr6ng]

Re: Getting the Coax into the house

As long as you are not going above 6 meters (54mhz), if you can get one coax out of the shack you can use an Ameritron RCS-4 antenna switch which would give you 4 coax cables outside, just a thought

[Night Walker]

Re: Getting the Coax into the house

So... what did you end up doing?

[Old Man]

Re: Getting the Coax into the house

I managed to come thru just at ceiling height in my radio room. Went thru a board located just above the brick and below the gutters, caulked with white caulking and it is barely noticable.
I hold a General Class Lic. and try to cover everything from 2 meters on. But, I am not on the radios much, just can't seem to get as interested as I used to be.

[Herr Walther]

Re: Getting the Coax into the house

I've had many people urge me to get a Ham ticket. I've passed the sample tests numerous times, but I just can't get that interested in talking to strangers as a hobby.

I know more than a bit about radio and I love to listen to my scanner/receivers and shortwave, I used to build my own antennas, and managed RS stores for more than five years, yet I never had the desire to be on the sending end of the radio.

Go figure.

[Old Man]

Re: Getting the Coax into the house

Herr Walther, I used to just live on the radio, stay up all night talking all over the world. Really enjoyed it a lot, but somewhere, I did not lose complete interest, but an awful lot of it. Sometimes I will turn on my radios and listen, but rarely talk much anymore.
I have a close friend that lives about 5 miles from me and sometimes we talk but that is about it. He has a radio room that is just fantastic.