How to run coax cable through exterior wall

Now that I'm moved into my first house, I'm wanting to install a antenna(s) and of course need to get the coax in the shack. Does anyone make some sort of a kit for this type of installation? The coax will be LMR-400 and probably a few a runs of it for multiple antennas.

Tim K.

if you want it to look professional, then use the feed thrus listed above. if you don't want to spend a lot of money, then drill a hole large enough to pass them thru and once all the lines are in fill the hole with spray foam. once it cures trim it even with a knife.

Also you can buy nice duct to make it look neat inside if you want.

Buy something simple.... A cable demarc box works great for this and i know a lot of hams and scanner enthusiasts that use one for this.

Keptel CG-1000 WISP Coax NID Enclosure Cable TV Demarc | eBay

I use two of these on my towers, with a grounding plate inside to mount all the lightning arrestors. I have helped a few guys make a nice entry with these, you drill a hole in one of the upper corners for pvc conduit connector using a hole saw, then make a mating hole in side of house, slide a piece of conduit through the wall and seal on both sides and glue on the connector with demarc box attached and screw to wall through the mounting holes. The bottom has foam entries for the cables and will fit LMR400 RG8 sized cables.

Makes for a nice neat entry box, and a good place to ground everything before going into the house.

Otherwise i would suggest instead of spray foam which is a pain if you ever need to remove them or add cables then get a hole saw the same size as PVC conduit, size of your choice, get a length of conduit and get a service entry head, you know what you see on houses with an overhead power entry, that rubber grommet has three holes that will fit coax nicely also, put the entry head on so it faces down and make a drip loop in the coax before it goes up into the entry to keep rain from migrating in. Makes a great weather proof entry.

Before you go and start cutting holes in your walls you might want to take a look at the feedthrough panels that MFJ sells. They're made to fit between the bottom of a double-hung window and the sill below and are made is several configurations.

Another option is to come in under the soffit of the house and in to the attic (if you have one). You might be able to use the vents, or MFJ makes a panel that replaces a vent.

Those panels that go in the window are like an air conditioner, they work but look like crap and make for a leaky window in the middle.

If you going to be in that house for a while do something pro looking and neat.

I appreciate all the feed back on this. I'm leaning towards using an electrical/cable box on the outside of the house to run my LMR400 into, then reduce to a smaller coax to make all the tight bends to get it into the shack.

Tim K.

House Antenna Box and Feeds

Howdy

I a medium size NEMA (outdoors rated) Electrcial type box (the type with little amount of stuff inside the box) you can get at a LOWES or Home Depot. This also gives you good weather protection, room for future cables and grounding protection gear, etc...etc...

Most have a small lock point to keep 'honest people honest' and makes for a good test-point if you run into issues later as well.

The feed thru's as noted by prior post are great or if you have more Coax to feed the PVC works well as always....

Hope this helps.

Thx

Bill

For what it is worth, for a top-notch bulkhead example, check out radioreference member K8PBX setup.

K8PBX Webpage

I used one of DX Engineering's utility enclosures. I drilled a hole through the back of the box and through the wall of the house large enough to pass a piece of PVC pipe into the basement.

Rather than use spray foam insulation to plug the hole, pick up some scraps of fiberglass insulation batting from a construction site and stuff the hole or conduit with that. The fiberglass batting will be a lot easier to remove if you ever need to change the cables going through the hole. But you do need something to plug the hole to keep insects and small critters from using the hole as a gateway into your house.

I used one of DX Engineering's utility enclosures. I drilled a hole through the back of the box and through the wall of the house large enough to pass a piece of PVC pipe into the basement.

Rather than use spray foam insulation to plug the hole, pick up some scraps of fiberglass insulation batting from a construction site and stuff the hole or conduit with that. The fiberglass batting will be a lot easier to remove if you ever need to change the cables going through the hole. But you do need something to plug the hole to keep insects and small critters from using the hole as a gateway into your house.

I bought those exact enclosures for both of my towers. Worth the money for the plate and hardware.

Wanted to bump this up and get some more ideas - I need to do this. Looks like Ill use an outside feed box.

The only thing I'll add is, particularly if you just drill a hole through the wall and shove the coax through, but sure to use a "drip loop".

It's one of those things that is obvious in hindsight.

Make sure that the coax descend to slightly below the entry hole level and then comes back up to the entry. Any water running down the outside of the coax will fall off at the bottom of the bend/loop below the entry point.

The only thing I'll add is, particularly if you just drill a hole through the wall and shove the coax through, but sure to use a "drip loop".

It's one of those things that is obvious in hindsight.

Make sure that the coax descend to slightly below the entry hole level and then comes back up to the entry. Any water running down the outside of the coax will fall off at the bottom of the bend/loop below the entry point.

Very good point! I do that with all my cables.

I will have to take some pictures of what I did and post them, its a work in progress situation but I can at least show what I have got done.

Tim

Please do! I ordered a coax enclosure from eBay last night and am going to start getting everything together to install that.

Equipment used for installation:

Stud finder
5/8" X 12" spade bit
12" X 12" all weather enclosure
1/4" steel/wood bit for pilot holes

Radio equipment:

10" SO-239 thru wall connector
SO-239/PL-259 right angle adaptor

I haven't finished the inside yet. Will update on that.

Tim

I've run coax through thousands of walls.

I got a long drill bit, drilled through the wall (At a slight downward angle so water doesnt run in) stuck the coax through and used clear RTV sealant.

I've run coax through thousands of walls.

I got a long drill bit, drilled through the wall (At a slight downward angle so water doesnt run in) stuck the coax through and used clear RTV sealant.

I wished it worked that easy with LMR-400