Installing vhf antenna thru deck and connectors?

Fred Villiard · Jul 14, 2015

The have them up to 4" long.

Fred Villiard · Jul 14, 2015

Pasternack PE9114 1.99"

CharlzO · Jul 14, 2015

jmczzz said:
No joke joker
That's it! I knew I had seen them like this in the past. So glad they still are available even if pricy. Thank you very much.
James

Fred, The on line chat person said the top one was male. I didn't think he know what he was talking about. thanks for confirming.
James

Same one I used for mine, though make sure it is seated nicely. I have to double check mine, as I've seen water droplets on the inside wiring underneath this, and not sure if it's coming down through the connector itself, or if I missed a spot with the butyl somehow when I installed it. Otherwise, works great, especially when stepping the mast and not wanting to have to get too crazy.

Chief RA · Jul 14, 2015

Looks good James. Was hoping someone knew where to find the long ones! Chief

Jacktar · Jul 17, 2015

Here is a solution I used on last boat. You go to a marine electronics store and they will have several lengths of a bulkhead connector with two nuts (looks like ancor connector from west marine but retails for about 7 bucks). Buy the length you need to allow screwing on a PL259 on each end plus deck thickness and room for a fender washer on each side. The PL 259 in a two pack are around 5 bucks at radio shack. The weather boot for the PL259 is available for about 2 bucks at any RV store they use them for CB. TV etch connectors. They may also have a bulkhead connector in stock to penetrate a RV wall or ceiling. Drill a hole near the mast base plate just big enough to let the connector through, caulk or butyl it under the fender washer on the outside and then thread the nut on outside and inside with another fender washer. Then just make up a double ended coax piece to go from radio to interior end of connector. Note : put the boot on the coax from the mast before you solder in the PL259! All done and below fancy marine hardware costs. If you want to go fancy buy an extra boot, plug the coax end with waterproof caulk and put it on stub when mast is down protect connector from damage. The advantage of this method is the thing is very low rise and reduces toe stubbing on deck when raising lowering mast.

Leeward Rail · Jul 22, 2015

I'm in the process or installing new deck connectors and I'm deciding on which style of antenna thru deck setup I should use.

I currently have both a:

- Cable Outlet (metal fitting with rubber gasket that gets squeezed against a cable) http://shop.catalinaowners.com/prod.php?7498
- 2" long Coax Barrel Connector + DIY washers/rings as Jacktar describes.

The boat came with a Perko cable outlet, similar to the all metal one:
http://shop.catalinaowners.com/prod.php?7505

Cons:
-the rubber dried out and wasn't available as an individual part.
-the shielding on the coax was damaged from flexing at the outlet.

Pros:
-small hole required
-water shouldn't leak though it easily as long as the grommet is tight, due to the mounting flange.

Coax PL-258 Barrel Connector+DIY Washers/Rings:

Cons:
-Larger hole required
-possible leaking through both the connector itself (as Charlz0 may have experienced)
-possible easier leaking where the threaded barrel goes through the fender washer/ring (wouldn't be an issue if a long one with a real integral external flange was available)

Pros:
-Nice and rigid
-cable insulation won't be damaged

I'm leaning towards the cable outlet since I think it should have less risk of future leaks.

Are there any other pro/cons you can think of ?

CloudDiver · Jul 22, 2015

Here is a source I found that has longer bulkhead connectors, 2 inch, 4 inch, even 6 and 12 inch;

http://www.vetco.net/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=72_400_81&products_id=7245

CloudDiver · Jul 23, 2015

If I knew the thread pitch and had the right sized tap I could just cut a square bronze or stainless plate and drill and tap it. The hole needs to be 5/8 so I'm guessing it must be a 1/2" fine thread pitch, but probably an NPT or other specialized pitch apart from coarse or fine SAE fastener thread pitch.

jmczzz said:
I would prefer the Coax PL-258 Barrel Connector+DIY Washers/Rings. Except It does need a larger deck plate that could be butyl sealed to keep it from leaking. To bad just the deck plate isn't sold alone. Defender's barrel is to short and is epoxied to the 258. Anyone know of a supplier for just the deck plate?
James

CloudDiver · Jul 23, 2015

This reference says its 5/8"-24.

http://www.amphenolrf.com/connectors/uhf.html

CloudDiver said:
If I knew the thread pitch and had the right sized tap I could just cut a square bronze or stainless plate and drill and tap it. The hole needs to be 5/8 so I'm guessing it must be a 1/2" fine thread pitch, but probably an NPT or other specialized pitch apart from coarse or fine SAE fastener thread pitch.

CloudDiver · Jul 23, 2015

Check this out;
http://www.amazon.com/Bingfu-Female...F8&qid=1437669400&sr=1-11&keywords=UHF+flange

Leeward Rail · Jul 23, 2015

I bought a "Seadog 329951 Doublee Female Bulkhead Connector"
It's 1 13/16" long and with washers and the included small nuts, it's JUST long enough for a 3/4" thick deck, when using the existing male connectors on my antenna cable.

I made some deck plates but I wasn't totally awake when I made them, so screwed it up a bit.

I had the 2 old Perko cable outlets that I had removed from the boat.
One comparing them to the antenna connector I found that the threaded section was the same diameter. 5/8.

So I thought, "Why not reuse them by drilling the center hole larger so the antenna connector can fit ?"

I drilled a 5/8 hole in a 2x4 and used screws to hold the cable outlet upside down in the hole, then used a drill press to enlarge the hole from the bottom.

I had planned to make the bottom plate with a 5/8 hole so it could slip onto the antenna inside the hull. I HAD planned to make the upper plate's hole smaller so I could tap it.

Brain dead me, used the same bit for both holes, so now they both slip on the connector.:cussing:

Not sure if solder would be strong enough.
Brazing would definitely melt the connector internally.

I'm wondering about JB weld ?

If I can get the upper deck plate to solder or epoxy on, then the upper nut wouldn't be needed which give me a bit of extra length to work with.

Who knows, I my just end up heading down to the marine place and see if they have some thing I can modify that's cheap.

Worst case a stainless fender washer that's drilled for 3 screws, tapped for the connector, and polished would work, but that's a project for another time. At this point I'm using a cable outlet so I can get the boat on the water. To many other projects and I have 1.5 week deadline planned.

With a threaded plate that's also epoxied or polyurethaned onto the connector it should be nice and waterproof with no chance of water getting past the threads.

Edit: As a final touch, something like this would be great...
http://www.sea-dog.com/groups/2231-uhf-cable-cap-chain