Thank you John! I am in the same position that you were in. Years ago radio shack had a nice easy piece of plastic called a feed thru tube. Can't find it anymore even on their website! But you certainly have given me some food for thought. Thank You! De John KB8CC
I'm facing a very similar install right now. $85 to get a guy who's done dozens of 'em to drill a hole in your masonry cladding versus Momma's wrath if you screw up learning how? That's a no-brainer. You made the right choice, John.
I always heard wire wool was best to keep critters out, they sell stainless too for just that purpose. You'll find it on Amazon and other places, looks good 😁
Xcluder rodent proof material could be formed into spaces around your cables and wires as they pass to the outside. Providing heat build up is not an issue, the boxes could be stuffed with the same material. Duct seal (Iberville) could be put on the exterior for water leak protection and to to block the passage of air.
That was quite useful information actually. And in particular wrt the contingency analysis / risk analysis with the various hypothetical scenarios you are looking at. So thank you, this info is very hard to come by!. Concerning bugs, maybe some combination of a) steel wool (e.g. for mice), b) small mesh for small insects, c) UV light for no-see-ums... it would burn a little energy but it would create a no fly zone, so to speak ;)
hi John, I used bronze wool, that seems to hold up real well .been a ham quite a while and had all kinds of and antennas.with a mechanical 100 foot roan tower that I had micro switches to collapse it and to lay it down completely...in case of a bad storm......I ran grey schedule 80 (thick ) drilled my brick home and never leaked in all the years years that it was used.......ps my wife enjoyed it too, she is also a ham got her on board real early in our marriage...take care nice video Jon....thanks ray .......N1inv
What you need is called a gland nut. It's a compression type fitting used for waterproof electrical cables. You may have seen them on submersible fountain pumps. Any electrical supply should have them.
When the cable-tv guys need to run through a brick wall, they drill a hole just big enough for the cable through the grout rather than the brick. Easy to make an invisible repair that way, and grout is easy to drill with a hardware-store masonry bit. In a ham application, a hole for the rf cable and one for the ground would work. Since the holes are small diameter, they'd be easy to bug proof as well. Now, for two or more rf cables, installing a pipe as John has here would be essential.
Very good John, you should be on commercial broadcast radio you have a good voice. God bless. Good PVC setup using the corner LB, makes pulling new cable in and out possible with your junction box. As an old EE and power utility CEO i appreciate good work when i see it.
Excellent video. Your installation on the outside is very neat indeed and looks like it was professionally done. I thought, perhaps, that you would have some kind of a box on the inside wall with a coax fitting to connect to the antenna. I don't have brick, but I know that I have to punch a hole through my wall to bring in my antenna coax. I like the idea of placing your lightning arrester inside the box. I was concerned about weather proofing mine with silicone sealing tape. Now I only need to worry about the connection coming directly off of my dual band VHF/UHF antenna. I will be mounting my box and ell connection box where my Internet cable comes into the house. When I had my FM business band radio setup I just had a piece of PVC pipe running through the wall and I stuffed it full of foam to keep the weather and the critters out. I may eventually set up a base station in the kitchen where my FM business band radio sat, but for now it will sit on my desk. Thanks for a wonderful idea of how to make a nice looking installation. "73", KE0WKN.
Thanks for your detailed reply and suggestion about putting a box inside. I think I may do that, it would make things look neater. BTW: The silicon seal is holding up fine. ~John
Instead of the cables running out of the box, couldn't you fit SO239 bulkhead type terminals to it's bottom and plug in your antenna leads to them? Same indoors, fit another box and do the same. Solve water and insect ingress and you can swap antenna leads easily, both indoors and out.
You could use some copper wire to seal those holes instead of silicone if you want (or a combo of both). I keep mice and wasps out with copper wire. (Copper, because steel wool rusts and decays more over time).
Shove in some fiberglass insulation then some brass or bronze wool. The critters won't eat through the wool and the fiberglass will restrict the airflow. Don't use steel wool -- it will rust.
@@TinkerJohn_W5CYF I wonder what you decided to use, the bronze wool and insulation sounds like a good solution. I just ended up fighting with a mouse problem and the exterminator told us to use steel wood to block the entrance where the little critters got in. I like the bronze wool idea though. I am looking to do something similar to what you did. Currently I just put a small hole through the concrete block wall and into my shack (not brick to worry about), want to make it easier to run a few more coax cables out as well as a ground to my ground rods. I was wondering how you are handling lightning? Currently I keep my antenna grounded when it is not in use and I just disconnect it outside when we have storms in the forecast.
Use expanding foam. It comes in a can with a long 'straw' nozzle. Just push the button like a paint canister then the liquid quickly expands and solidifies. It can then be filed, filled and painted.
If you want to be able to remove easy in the future pack the connections with plumber's putty. I need to bite the bullet and drill my brick also and run some cables through.
John, looks a good job. Here in the UK our weather is different to yours, of course. I wanted to bring (ultimately) three aerials into the shack in an upstairs bedroom. Two long masonry drills allowed me to drill pilot holes and then the main holes, and some 22mm ‘overflow pipe’ (PVC) was tapped into place with a rubber mallet, cemented in place outside, plastered round inside (to repair the plaster!) and the job was done. The holes are drilled inclined downwards from inside to outside, to stop rain running in. So far its served well for 5 years with co-ax, end-fed wires and 300 Ohm ribbon feeder with several aerials. Cost? Just my labour and some bits from the junk box. Enjoy your aerial! BTW, what’s your propagation like just now? here in UK its terrible, hardly makes QRP worth the effort! Cheers and GB, Les g0nmd
Les, thanks for taking a moment to comment. Bands in the states have been really bad lately. However, I've started a little FT8 work and getting a few contacts that way. 73/John
No. You never want to just foam to fill coax for several reasons. First, foam isn't waterproof. It also won't stop bugs/critters. Last, it's a huge pain to remove if you ever need to change a cable. The best option is to use electrician's putty. It's been used by electrician's and telecom companies for years and works great. As an alternative, you can go for steel wool, but it tends to hold water.
I don't know about that ground John. If you get hit by lightning, your inviting a fire right into that closet. You should always shield inside grounds connected to an antenna. I'd get a better lightning arrestor too. You need to ground your rod to the outside electric meter. Make a ground plate connected to the outlet your using for power. That's the safe way.
Hey John, Bryan KG5 out here in El Paso, will be for the time using the MFJ window pass through. I was able to find a minty LDG S943, fiberglass vertical. Cable run to future mount is about 50 ft, do you think I should run ta ground from the radial plate to the 8ft ground outside the passthrough window ?? Thanks for the videos, hope my S9 survives , I'n storms, lots of lightning here, may use a lay down mount
Bryan, thanks for following along. For my application, I tied the ground from the antenna to the main ground rod at the entrance panel of the house. Suggest you take to an electrician for your specific application. BTW: I'm still using an S9 as my portable antenna. 73/John
Thanks John for your reply! There is allot of lightning such as last night around my area so I think a tilt over addition for when not in use. Thanks for the videos! Bryan@@TinkerJohn_W5CYF
@@JeffBeadles Not very flammable when it is compressed, packed tight. But it does rust with humidity. Stainless steel wool is best but hard to find. Most hardware stores carry bug-proof expanding foam,
I would be inclined to drill the hole myself. And wonder if you had a legal or liability reason for wanting the Electrician to do it. Did you need official documentation for it. Or just want the best possible work results?
John save the copper clad board for a radio project and get some copper (or at least aluminum plate) for the ground plane under the lightning arrestor(s). The copper clad won't hold up to lightning.
Alex, thanks for watching. The electrician was called because of wires and plumbing running in close proximity to where I needed the hole...better he hit something than me :) ~John
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Very nice job! Thanks for showing us your installation.
Thank you John! I am in the same position that you were in. Years ago radio shack had a nice easy piece of plastic called a feed thru tube. Can't find it anymore even on their website! But you certainly have given me some food for thought. Thank You! De John KB8CC
I'm facing a very similar install right now.
$85 to get a guy who's done dozens of 'em to drill a hole in your masonry cladding versus Momma's wrath if you screw up learning how? That's a no-brainer. You made the right choice, John.
Very economical and clean solution John. Thank you for the video.
Thanks for the clear explanation and video. This is helpful.
I always heard wire wool was best to keep critters out, they sell stainless too for just that purpose. You'll find it on Amazon and other places, looks good 😁
Thanks for the steel wool suggestion. I'll take a look into that. ~John
Xcluder rodent proof material could be formed into spaces around your cables and wires as they pass to the outside. Providing heat build up is not an issue, the boxes could be stuffed with the same material. Duct seal (Iberville) could be put on the exterior for water leak protection and to to block the passage of air.
That was quite useful information actually. And in particular wrt the contingency analysis / risk analysis with the various hypothetical scenarios you are looking at. So thank you, this info is very hard to come by!.
Concerning bugs, maybe some combination of a) steel wool (e.g. for mice), b) small mesh for small insects, c) UV light for no-see-ums... it would burn a little energy but it would create a no fly zone, so to speak ;)
hi John,
I used bronze wool, that seems to hold up real well .been a ham quite a while and had all kinds of and antennas.with a mechanical 100 foot roan tower that I had micro switches to collapse it and to lay it down completely...in case of a bad storm......I ran grey schedule 80 (thick ) drilled my brick home and never leaked in all the years years that it was used.......ps my wife enjoyed it too, she is also a ham got her on board real early in our marriage...take care nice video Jon....thanks ray .......N1inv
Ray, thanks for watching and for the status of your install. Good to hear about no leaks. ~John
What you need is called a gland nut. It's a compression type fitting used for waterproof electrical cables. You may have seen them on submersible fountain pumps. Any electrical supply should have them.
Thanks for the tip!
5:08 you need cable glands. Available everywhere.
Great video John. I have used bronze wool on projects like this with great results. 73 jim
Jim, Thanks for watching and for the suggestion of the bronze wool. ~John
When the cable-tv guys need to run through a brick wall, they drill a hole just big enough for the cable through the grout rather than the brick. Easy to make an invisible repair that way, and grout is easy to drill with a hardware-store masonry bit. In a ham application, a hole for the rf cable and one for the ground would work. Since the holes are small diameter, they'd be easy to bug proof as well. Now, for two or more rf cables, installing a pipe as John has here would be essential.
Todd, thanks for watching and for your comments. ~John
Very good John, you should be on commercial broadcast radio you have a good voice. God bless. Good PVC setup using the corner LB, makes pulling new cable in and out possible with your junction box. As an old EE and power utility CEO i appreciate good work when i see it.
Thanks for following along and for the kind comments.
Roger that John keep up the good work
Excellent video. Your installation on the outside is very neat indeed and looks like it was professionally done. I thought, perhaps, that you would have some kind of a box on the inside wall with a coax fitting to connect to the antenna. I don't have brick, but I know that I have to punch a hole through my wall to bring in my antenna coax. I like the idea of placing your lightning arrester inside the box. I was concerned about weather proofing mine with silicone sealing tape. Now I only need to worry about the connection coming directly off of my dual band VHF/UHF antenna. I will be mounting my box and ell connection box where my Internet cable comes into the house. When I had my FM business band radio setup I just had a piece of PVC pipe running through the wall and I stuffed it full of foam to keep the weather and the critters out. I may eventually set up a base station in the kitchen where my FM business band radio sat, but for now it will sit on my desk. Thanks for a wonderful idea of how to make a nice looking installation. "73", KE0WKN.
Thanks for your detailed reply and suggestion about putting a box inside. I think I may do that, it would make things look neater. BTW: The silicon seal is holding up fine. ~John
Instead of the cables running out of the box, couldn't you fit SO239 bulkhead type terminals to it's bottom and plug in your antenna leads to them?
Same indoors, fit another box and do the same.
Solve water and insect ingress and you can swap antenna leads easily, both indoors and out.
Dennis, your suggestion is excellent. In retrospect that is something i would change. ~John
I’d use N type on the outside because they’re weather proof.
You could use some copper wire to seal those holes instead of silicone if you want (or a combo of both). I keep mice and wasps out with copper wire. (Copper, because steel wool rusts and decays more over time).
Thank you for the very informative video. Good work.
Glad it was helpful!
Thanks for the video, that really helps me!
I would think that duck seal would work great and you can easily remove it to add more cable.
Good information John! I have my antenna wires coming in thru the window as well as my ground. Juddie WD8WV
Juddie, thanks for watching and for your comment. ~John
Great ideas, I have been wondering how to do it at my joint. Thanks. + subscribed.
Thank you. Great tips!
Shove in some fiberglass insulation then some brass or bronze wool. The critters won't eat through the wool and the fiberglass will restrict the airflow. Don't use steel wool -- it will rust.
Thanks for the suggestion and head's up on the steel wool rusting. ~John
@@TinkerJohn_W5CYF I wonder what you decided to use, the bronze wool and insulation sounds like a good solution. I just ended up fighting with a mouse problem and the exterminator told us to use steel wood to block the entrance where the little critters got in. I like the bronze wool idea though. I am looking to do something similar to what you did. Currently I just put a small hole through the concrete block wall and into my shack (not brick to worry about), want to make it easier to run a few more coax cables out as well as a ground to my ground rods. I was wondering how you are handling lightning? Currently I keep my antenna grounded when it is not in use and I just disconnect it outside when we have storms in the forecast.
You have the best ideas. 👍
Great job!
Try expanding foam for insulation and bug proofing.
Use expanding foam. It comes in a can with a long 'straw' nozzle. Just push the button like a paint canister then the liquid quickly expands and solidifies. It can then be filed, filled and painted.
Kevin, thanks for the suggestion. I have found that closed cell foam works perfectly, that way I can add coax cable as needed. ~John
If you want to be able to remove easy in the future pack the connections with plumber's putty. I need to bite the bullet and drill my brick also and run some cables through.
Thanks for suggesting plumbers putty. I'll have to consider that. ~John
John, looks a good job. Here in the UK our weather is different to yours, of course. I wanted to bring (ultimately) three aerials into the shack in an upstairs bedroom. Two long masonry drills allowed me to drill pilot holes and then the main holes, and some 22mm ‘overflow pipe’ (PVC) was tapped into place with a rubber mallet, cemented in place outside, plastered round inside (to repair the plaster!) and the job was done. The holes are drilled inclined downwards from inside to outside, to stop rain running in. So far its served well for 5 years with co-ax, end-fed wires and 300 Ohm ribbon feeder with several aerials. Cost? Just my labour and some bits from the junk box.
Enjoy your aerial! BTW, what’s your propagation like just now? here in UK its terrible, hardly makes QRP worth the effort!
Cheers and GB, Les g0nmd
Les, thanks for taking a moment to comment. Bands in the states have been really bad lately. However, I've started a little FT8 work and getting a few contacts that way. 73/John
Thank you for this great video. I think I'll pull the trigger too. NY2CW
John, have you given any thought to another box on the inside.
John, have you given and thought to a second box inside to dress it up some.
I just gotta add the boxes to dress up the outside. thanks for sharing... De WV1Q Al
John, how about squeezing a rubber ball into the tube, then sealing around the ball with silicone? That way, if you had to, you could remove it.
Thanks for the rubber ball suggestion. Surely something to consider. ~John
Would a can of expandable foam work for sealing your conduit? That is what I’m thinking of doing on my new construction home.
No. You never want to just foam to fill coax for several reasons. First, foam isn't waterproof. It also won't stop bugs/critters. Last, it's a huge pain to remove if you ever need to change a cable. The best option is to use electrician's putty. It's been used by electrician's and telecom companies for years and works great. As an alternative, you can go for steel wool, but it tends to hold water.
I don't know about that ground John. If you get hit by lightning, your inviting a fire right into that closet. You should always shield inside grounds connected to an antenna. I'd get a better lightning arrestor too. You need to ground your rod to the outside electric meter. Make a ground plate connected to the outlet your using for power. That's the safe way.
Thanks for posting John. Is that coax going to an HF antenna? Which type of coax are you using? 73.
Thanks for watching the video. I don't recall the actual number but it was RG8 rated for underground use. ~John
Thank you for the great videos sir, big help with the brick house I just bought. Thank you for taking your time to make all these videos! 73 KI4ZDD
Well John, you forgot to add how you got mama to say okay to all of this. lol,,,They can be funny about this kind of stuff.
Carl, Made a follow up video just for you! ;-) ~John
Total Boss!
Great idea.
Thanks for watching. ~John
Hey John, Bryan KG5 out here in El Paso, will be for the time using the MFJ window pass through. I was able to find a minty LDG S943, fiberglass vertical. Cable run to future mount is about 50 ft, do you think I should run ta ground from the radial plate to the 8ft ground outside the passthrough
window ?? Thanks for the videos, hope my S9 survives , I'n storms, lots of lightning here, may use a lay down mount
Bryan, thanks for following along. For my application, I tied the ground from the antenna to the main ground rod at the entrance panel of the house. Suggest you take to an electrician for your specific application. BTW: I'm still using an S9 as my portable antenna. 73/John
Thanks John for your reply! There is allot of lightning such as last night around my area so I think a tilt over addition for when not in use. Thanks for the videos! Bryan@@TinkerJohn_W5CYF
6:45 Expanding foam?
Yup, then seal with caulk and paint.
I'm not commenting on the feed threw , they are all good ideas I just shoved steel wool a cheap way. Double O steel wool
Brass wool is a better idea. It doesn't rust.
What size holes/grommets did you use on the bottom of the box where the coax first enters?
I used silicon to seal the bottom of the boxes. It's still working fine.
What type coax are you running through the box? Have you added more coax since you installed the box?
Thanks for following along. As I recall, this was using RG-8X; it's been a few years so i may be wrong but it was not as big as RG-400. ~John
Bug out - use steel wool
can I have your reasoning on plugging the coax directly into the box without using a faceplate or keystone connector?
No particular reason. I faceplate would work fine. Where this coax came in, I was not concerned about appearance. ~John
@@TinkerJohn_W5CYF thanks for the reply John
Thank you. Got some good ideas. N0QFT
Steel wool works fb for packing those holes...bugs cant get by it...
Steel wool is very, very flammable. That doesn't seem like a good idea in a firewall.
@@JeffBeadles Not very flammable when it is compressed, packed tight. But it does rust with humidity. Stainless steel wool is best but hard to find. Most hardware stores carry bug-proof expanding foam,
Steel wool, soaked in silicone.
I would be inclined to drill the hole myself. And wonder if you had a legal or liability reason for wanting the Electrician to do it. Did you need official documentation for it. Or just want the best possible work results?
John save the copper clad board for a radio project and get some copper (or at least aluminum plate) for the ground plane under the lightning arrestor(s). The copper clad won't hold up to lightning.
Thank you for the video John, great to see what others are dong, I'm at a loss as to why you called an electrician anyways?
Alex, thanks for watching. The electrician was called because of wires and plumbing running in close proximity to where I needed the hole...better he hit something than me :) ~John
Fill with steel wool
Thanks for the suggestion and for following along. ~John
good demo , fell short by not making a material list thanks..
Thanks for watching, materiel list would depend on your specific wall material. ~John
You need a materials list? Are you blind? He told you everything that you need for the project.
I don't understand why anyone would pay someone $85.00 to drill a hole.