Gordon, I just went through the process of installing a fixed VHF. I used 4 of the connectors. I used the ones that you solder the tip only. I tested it all out and it worked great. To pass through the deck I ran the coax down the mast and drilled a 1/2" hole through the mast plate and the cabin roof. Using a square burr grinder on my rotary cutting tool I ground out the plywood core and filled the entire thing with Westsystem Epoxy.. After it dried a couple of days I redrilled a 3/8" hole and stuffed the coax along with 3 AWG 14 wire (for the mast and spreader light) down the hole and down through the compression post. I left about 10" of coax and wire coming out of the cabin roof and about the same amount coming out the bottom of the mast. I used a generous amount of boat calk (similar to 4200) in the hole and slathered some up the coax and wires. I then used a wire guard that would normally be used on electrical appliances like power tools and irons that hold the wire up and away from their handles and slid it down over the coax and wires. It's pretty water tight. Joe ----- Original Message ----- From: "Gordon Gilbert" <Gordon@FinancialWriting.net> To: "For and about Montgomery Sailboats" <montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Wednesday, May 27, 2009 9:58 AM Subject: M_Boats: Through-hull piece for VHF coax
I'm preparing to go from a hand-held VHF to a hard-wired unit, and I'm contemplating a couple of ways to lead coax through the deck. Has anyone used the Cable Clams made by Blue Sea Systems? They allow you to put coax with a PL 259 connector through the deck and then apparently seal the cable tight. The benefit, it seems to me, would be using two less connectors, which might improve radio performance (plus make the installation simpler and perhaps less expensive). I'm just wondering how watertight they really are, especially after a few years of opening and closing to pass through the cable when setting up the boat.
Otherwise, I would use one of those long threaded double-female connectors with two nuts (using two washers above and below deck) and a total of four PL 259 connectors. The PL 259 connector brings me to another question: Has anyone used the Shakespeare solderless, crimp-on connectors? Do they provide a solid connection?
Thanks!
Gordon M-17 "Sapphire" Milwaukee
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