Coax question - Ham Radio

[KelloggKid]

Wanting to start bringing my HF rig along when we go camping. Scratching my head and wondering how best to get the antenna feed line into our trailer. Would love to hear what creative ideas others have come up with.

[rmkrum]

The control unit for my Yaesu FT-857 is on the desk in the rear of my Airstream. Main unit in forward wardrobe closet. Extension cable fished under the galley cabinets and shower after much cussing.

Have two coax feed-thru fittings run into the refrigerator compartment just aft of the wardrobe. To hook up I just open the fridge door. Patch cables as desired to the main unit inside the wardrobe. Have a permanent VHF/UHF whip on the roof with its coax run down the solar combiner box into the top of the wardrobe to the main unit area as well.

[grumblin]

Originally Posted by rmkrum

The control unit for my Yaesu FT-857 is on the desk in the rear of my Airstream. Main unit in forward wardrobe closet. Extension cable fished under the galley cabinets and shower after much cussing.

Have two coax feed-thru fittings run into the refrigerator compartment just aft of the wardrobe. To hook up I just open the fridge door. Patch cables as desired to the main unit inside the wardrobe. Have a permanent VHF/UHF whip on the roof with its coax run down the solar combiner box into the top of the wardrobe to the main unit area as well.

Great ideas. In my home shack I have a window pass-through with a bunch of bulkhead connectors. I'm assuming I can just do the same with the trailer except use one of the access doors to attach them do (like the refrigerator door). I can't WAIT to see the look on my wife's face when i whip out the drill and take it to her new toy

[rmkrum]

My fridge doors are plastic, so I have mounted the coax feed throughs in the common wall between the wardrobe and the fridge compartment out of the weather. Someday when I have lots of spare change I’ll get the stainless steel doors and stove vent hood.

I just open the upper fridge door to get access. DW doesn’t even know the feed through is In there. She doesn’t worry about holes in aluminum as long as they are tidy. I’ve added solar panels, power inlets, and the like.



Front power inlet for the propane powered Champion 3400 dual fuel inverter generator that lurks in the truck bed. That’s a relatively new hole.

[grumblin]

Originally Posted by rmkrum

My fridge doors are plastic, so I have mounted the coax feed throughs in the common wall between the wardrobe and the fridge compartment out of the weather. Someday when I have lots of spare change I’ll get the stainless steel doors and stove vent hood.

I just open the upper fridge door to get access. DW doesn’t even know the feed through is In there. She doesn’t worry about holes in aluminum as long as they are tidy. I’ve added solar panels, power inlets, and the like.

Excellent idea - just pop the door open and attach - and nothing exposed to the outside, no aluminum cutting!