Buck wrote:
On Fri, 21 Apr 2006 13:38:30 GMT, "west"
wrote:


I am trying to gather ideas on how to have my coax cables (4 so far) dressed
to enter my house from the various antennae. 2 of the coaxes have "N"
connectors and 2 have PL-259 connectors. I would like to address lightning
safety (Florida) as a primary consideration with a clean professional look
as the secondary consideration. The house has a typical stucco/concrete
block exterior, with a stud/dry-wall interior.
How do you address this issue? Can you describe your setup? Thank you.

Cordially,
west
AF4GC




I have used several approaches. In raised houses, I have used the
floor as an entrance for the feed lines. In my current location with
a slab-floor, I feed the leads behind the vinyl siding and enter the
home though a wall outlet with two SO-239 feed-thru connectors in the
plate. The wires go into a CATV cover that happened to be on the
house already, where it is grounded to the ground-rod used for CATV
and the electrical panel. From there, my coax is run along the ground
at the edge of the house to a point at which I plan to setup a
vertical antenna during those times I wish to use it. When not using
it, I will remove it and place it back in the garage. (we have
neighborhood covenants ).


In a previous home, I drilled a hole in the bottom of a closet corner
(inside near the wall so it won't be seen by someone casually looking
into the closet) and run my cables under the closet door to my rig
which was on a table next to the door. A 3 inch piece of PVC pipe
stuffed with plastic and foam sealed the weather and bugs out. When I
left, a wood disk was glued and nailed into place so the hole was not
obvious or offensive to the landlord when I left.

I am currently working on a different kind of 'flagpole' hidden
antenna idea for this location so I can temporarily install dipole
antenna(s) as desired without upsetting the neighbors.

I hope this helps.

73 for now


I raise the bottom sash of the window and install a metal plate across
the opening.
The sash must be sealed to both the plate and to the upper sash to
prevent leaks. The plate itself is connected to the main shack ground
just outside. Bulkhead style connectors both UHF and N are used for the
coax leads. I used an octal socket for the rotor cable and an F
connector for a power lead to a mast mounted 432 preamp. The point is
that all the connections can be easily removed if there is lightning in
the area. I did the same things some years back for my Dad's house in
Florida; unfortunately this was after having some lightning damage.

In his previous house with cinder block walls, we put a piece of pipe
right through the wall with a downward facing elbow outside. Leave a
drain loop on the coax and seal the pipe with insulation to keep out the
bugs.
John