Every now and then a need for a tool not on hand occurs, or
a required part isn't available for a repair. Then the
proverbal light bulb appears over one's head (homage to
Edison no doubt). Today I was running some RG8/U into my
attic crawl space to access a conduit into my shack. I drilled
a hole into the roof overhang and pushed the cable into the
hole. As Murphy would have it, the end of the cable being pushed
into the hole was the end wound onto the core of the spool, so the
cable was very 'springy' resulting in it all bunching up right
at the hole inside the attic. When I climbed into the attic
I couldn't reach the cable, it was sitting in a coiled up bunch
at the wall. No way I was going to be able to crawl the distance
and reach out to grab the cable.

Now for the macgyverism ....
I found a 6 foot piece of left over 1/2 pvc pipe and a 3" U-bolt.
I attached the u bolt to the end of the pipe with electrical tape
and used the new tool to reach and hook the coax.

Ok, I'm sure we've all come up with these macgyverism's from time
to time. Anybody care to share their brainstorms...?

I'd have pushed the coax into the 6 foot 1/2" PVC pipe. Then I'd have
inserted the PVC into the hole under the eves and into the attic. From the
attic I'd have retrieved the end of the 1/2" PVC and slipped it off the
coax. Thus, ending up with the coax in my hand and ready to pull and feed
into the conduit. Not sure that the hole under the eves would have allowed
1/2" clearance - but might have worked. Just a variation on your theme.
Roger, KL7Q

"Ken Scharf" wrote in message
. ..
Every now and then a need for a tool not on hand occurs, or
a required part isn't available for a repair. Then the
proverbal light bulb appears over one's head (homage to
Edison no doubt). Today I was running some RG8/U into my
attic crawl space to access a conduit into my shack. I drilled
a hole into the roof overhang and pushed the cable into the
hole. As Murphy would have it, the end of the cable being pushed
into the hole was the end wound onto the core of the spool, so the
cable was very 'springy' resulting in it all bunching up right
at the hole inside the attic. When I climbed into the attic
I couldn't reach the cable, it was sitting in a coiled up bunch
at the wall. No way I was going to be able to crawl the distance
and reach out to grab the cable.

Now for the macgyverism ....
I found a 6 foot piece of left over 1/2 pvc pipe and a 3" U-bolt.
I attached the u bolt to the end of the pipe with electrical tape
and used the new tool to reach and hook the coax.

Ok, I'm sure we've all come up with these macgyverism's from time
to time. Anybody care to share their brainstorms...?

Stand by for the next episode of How to do it yourself.

Roger and Ute Brown wrote:
I'd have pushed the coax into the 6 foot 1/2" PVC pipe. Then I'd have
inserted the PVC into the hole under the eves and into the attic. From the
attic I'd have retrieved the end of the 1/2" PVC and slipped it off the
coax. Thus, ending up with the coax in my hand and ready to pull and feed
into the conduit. Not sure that the hole under the eves would have allowed
1/2" clearance - but might have worked. Just a variation on your theme.
Roger, KL7Q

"Ken Scharf" wrote in message
. ..

Every now and then a need for a tool not on hand occurs, or
a required part isn't available for a repair. Then the
proverbal light bulb appears over one's head (homage to
Edison no doubt). Today I was running some RG8/U into my
attic crawl space to access a conduit into my shack. I drilled
a hole into the roof overhang and pushed the cable into the
hole. As Murphy would have it, the end of the cable being pushed
into the hole was the end wound onto the core of the spool, so the
cable was very 'springy' resulting in it all bunching up right
at the hole inside the attic. When I climbed into the attic
I couldn't reach the cable, it was sitting in a coiled up bunch
at the wall. No way I was going to be able to crawl the distance
and reach out to grab the cable.

Now for the macgyverism ....
I found a 6 foot piece of left over 1/2 pvc pipe and a 3" U-bolt.
I attached the u bolt to the end of the pipe with electrical tape
and used the new tool to reach and hook the coax.

Ok, I'm sure we've all come up with these macgyverism's from time
to time. Anybody care to share their brainstorms...?



1/2" pvc is somewhere between 3/4-7/8" in dia, and I only
had a 5/8" drill bit to get into the attic. So pushing the
pvc into the attic wasn't going to work. I had thought of
that though. At one time someone made a thin wall sleeve for
the purpose of lining holes in exterior walls to push coax
through. If you drill through CBS walls and hit a hollow
pocket you will have a problem getting the coax through
if it curls up inside the pocket, hence the sleeve.
The local ham radio outlet didn't have any of the sleeving
though. (Wonder where I saw it...?)

Ken Scharf wrote:

1/2" pvc is somewhere between 3/4-7/8" in dia, and I only
had a 5/8" drill bit to get into the attic. So pushing the
pvc into the attic wasn't going to work. I had thought of
that though. At one time someone made a thin wall sleeve for
the purpose of lining holes in exterior walls to push coax
through. If you drill through CBS walls and hit a hollow
pocket you will have a problem getting the coax through
if it curls up inside the pocket, hence the sleeve.
The local ham radio outlet didn't have any of the sleeving
though. (Wonder where I saw it...?)

Radio Shack sells something of that sort. It comes with a plug at each
end, with an RG-58-sized hole in the plug. The sleeve itself isn't
_quite_ big enough to pass a PL-259, which I found disappointing.

--
Mike Andrews, W5EGO

Tired old sysadmin

Mike Andrews wrote:
Ken Scharf wrote:


1/2" pvc is somewhere between 3/4-7/8" in dia, and I only
had a 5/8" drill bit to get into the attic. So pushing the
pvc into the attic wasn't going to work. I had thought of
that though. At one time someone made a thin wall sleeve for
the purpose of lining holes in exterior walls to push coax
through. If you drill through CBS walls and hit a hollow
pocket you will have a problem getting the coax through
if it curls up inside the pocket, hence the sleeve.
The local ham radio outlet didn't have any of the sleeving
though. (Wonder where I saw it...?)


Radio Shack sells something of that sort. It comes with a plug at each
end, with an RG-58-sized hole in the plug. The sleeve itself isn't
_quite_ big enough to pass a PL-259, which I found disappointing.

This is amusing , I do this stuff a lot ( Im a cabler and electrian) and
there are better ways to do it , try not to make a simple thing too had
guys .

atec wrote:
Mike Andrews wrote:
Radio Shack sells something of that sort. It comes with a plug at each
end, with an RG-58-sized hole in the plug. The sleeve itself isn't
_quite_ big enough to pass a PL-259, which I found disappointing.

This is amusing , I do this stuff a lot ( Im a cabler and electrian) and
there are better ways to do it , try not to make a simple thing too had
guys .

Would you please enlighten us mere mortals and describe one or more of
your 'better ways'?
--
Bruce Fletcher
Stronsay, Orkney
www.stronsay.co.uk/claremont

I wanted to fish some telephone wire (and later speaker wire for ceiling
speakers) over the suspended ceiling in the lower level of my house - about
25 or 30 feet. The clown that built the ceiling wired the supports at every
corner so the panels cannot be lifted in order to feed the wire through. I
had to cut a couple just to gain access. To feed the wires from one end to
the other was easily done using a 30' tape measure. I extended it out to the
opposite side of the room above the ceiling panels. It is just stiff enough
to hop over obstacles like wires and hangers, ducts, etc.. Once there, lock
the tape measure and set it down. Go to the other end and tape the wire to
the end tab of the measuring tape. Go back and reel it in - helps if someone
else is there to feed the wire. I suppose others have thought of this, but I
was patting my ego on the back the rest of the day for doing this.
-Gizmofiddler

"Ken Scharf" wrote in message
. ..
Every now and then a need for a tool not on hand occurs, or
a required part isn't available for a repair. Then the
proverbal light bulb appears over one's head (homage to
Edison no doubt). Today I was running some RG8/U into my
attic crawl space to access a conduit into my shack. I drilled
a hole into the roof overhang and pushed the cable into the
hole. As Murphy would have it, the end of the cable being pushed
into the hole was the end wound onto the core of the spool, so the
cable was very 'springy' resulting in it all bunching up right
at the hole inside the attic. When I climbed into the attic
I couldn't reach the cable, it was sitting in a coiled up bunch
at the wall. No way I was going to be able to crawl the distance
and reach out to grab the cable.

Now for the macgyverism ....
I found a 6 foot piece of left over 1/2 pvc pipe and a 3" U-bolt.
I attached the u bolt to the end of the pipe with electrical tape
and used the new tool to reach and hook the coax.

Ok, I'm sure we've all come up with these macgyverism's from time
to time. Anybody care to share their brainstorms...?

Gizmofiddler wrote:
I wanted to fish some telephone wire (and later speaker wire for ceiling
speakers) over the suspended ceiling in the lower level of my house - about
25 or 30 feet. The clown that built the ceiling wired the supports at every
corner so the panels cannot be lifted in order to feed the wire through. I
had to cut a couple just to gain access. To feed the wires from one end to
the other was easily done using a 30' tape measure. I extended it out to the
opposite side of the room above the ceiling panels. It is just stiff enough
to hop over obstacles like wires and hangers, ducts, etc.. Once there, lock
the tape measure and set it down. Go to the other end and tape the wire to
the end tab of the measuring tape. Go back and reel it in - helps if someone
else is there to feed the wire. I suppose others have thought of this, but I
was patting my ego on the back the rest of the day for doing this.
-Gizmofiddler

"Ken Scharf" wrote in message
. ..

Every now and then a need for a tool not on hand occurs, or
a required part isn't available for a repair. Then the
proverbal light bulb appears over one's head (homage to
Edison no doubt). Today I was running some RG8/U into my
attic crawl space to access a conduit into my shack. I drilled
a hole into the roof overhang and pushed the cable into the
hole. As Murphy would have it, the end of the cable being pushed
into the hole was the end wound onto the core of the spool, so the
cable was very 'springy' resulting in it all bunching up right
at the hole inside the attic. When I climbed into the attic
I couldn't reach the cable, it was sitting in a coiled up bunch
at the wall. No way I was going to be able to crawl the distance
and reach out to grab the cable.

Now for the macgyverism ....
I found a 6 foot piece of left over 1/2 pvc pipe and a 3" U-bolt.
I attached the u bolt to the end of the pipe with electrical tape
and used the new tool to reach and hook the coax.

Ok, I'm sure we've all come up with these macgyverism's from time
to time. Anybody care to share their brainstorms...?



Ill make it easier next time , in this part of the world certain floor
and wall panels are made crom compressed wood chip , the edges are
grooved and a plastic strip inerted and glued when laying .
The strip is either yellow or red colour delineating hardness and you
need one of these strips which can easily be got from building site
I have several which are about 2.5 mm thick by 12 mm wide and 3 metres
long the rest is structure dependant.
To get a wall socket fitted you cut a suitable hole in the wall on
exterior stuctural walls ( but inside in the drywall)walls , insert the
strip and push up inside the wall between the frame and bricks ,
normally with most apllication it will go easily up and when hitting the
roof fold over into the roof cavity so when drawing into the roof cavity
the wire you attatched is easily pulled into place . On internal walls
you drill down with a special drill , I made several from 10 mm steel
rod with a suitable fitting welded on to hold a 22 mm spade bit , then
drop a weighted string down the hole and measuring with care cut your
wallplate hole , easy huh ? . Getting cable inside the roof if its tigth
is easiest by taping the cable to a 4 metre 20 mm conduite and poking it
across , if poorly accesable lift a couple of roof tiles and off you go
, remember to refit correctly .
It can be very hard work and very hot so be sure to drink lots of
suitable fluids and I have had to save many from roof cavities after
only a few minutesd in our climate . ( Ive seen 79 deg C on a hot day in
a roof)