Installing vhf antenna thru deck and connectors?

[Maine Sail]

I just use a Scanstrut deck gland like this one. They are some of the best designed deck glands I have found. Just leave a bit of extra cable in the cabin so when, not if, you need to replace the coax PL-259 you just loosen the gland and pull up a few more inches of cable & re-terminate....

Scanstrut Deck Glands (LINK)

 

[Leeward Rail]

Looks like it's great quality.
Unfortunately it would still have the same problem I noted with the original perko outlet I had.

It's leaves a short length of cable flopping around above deck when the mast isn't rigged, and eventually (maybe decades admittedly) that rubber grommet would fail (looks available as a separate part for the scanstrut brand)

My boat already had a barrel connector between the 2 UHF male ends (I assume that other C22 were setup the same way) , so the thought is to simplify the whole thing and eliminate both the short length of cable above deck, and the cable outlet itself, by replacing them with a long bulkhead connector.

Unfortunately the ones with a plate, that we have found, are all to short.

I'm wondering if this method a bad idea ? Maybe that's why the selection is a bit thin, and the cable outlets/gland nuts are so common.

 

[CloudDiver]

The Scanstrut units are nice, but one for the part number shown in Main Sail's pic, its about $45 average across a few online stores.

 

[Leeward Rail]

The Scanstrut units are nice, but one for the part number shown in Main Sail's pic, its about $45 average across a few online stores.

Hehe Try $76 CAD plus shipping from amazon.ca. And that's the plastic version.

 

[jmczzz]

Both Leeward and Cloud are on to the right idea IMO. I like the idea of drilling and taping a SS washer to fit the "Seadog 329951 Doublee Female Bulkhead Connector". I think I will try to get that together. Or if one of you guys is going to get that done I would gladly pay a share of the cost and mailing to get one. Or will get a "Seadog 329951 Doublee Female Bulkhead Connector" and the SS washers and see if my farm machine shop guy can drill and tap them.
James

 

[Leeward Rail]

The issue I see with using washers is that, most washer's I've seen are so thin that they would barely have any threads.
The loads wouldn't be much normally, but kicking it or stepping on it would likely cause problems over time.

 

[Maine Sail]

The concern I have with permanently mounting an SO239 through the deck is that they tend to live short lives in the marine environment. Unlike a PL-259, which is relatively easy to clean, the SO239 just gets replaced.

 

[Leeward Rail]

The concern I have with permanently mounting an SO239 through the deck is that they tend to live short lives in the marine environment. Unlike a PL-259, which is relatively easy to clean, the SO239 just gets replaced.

Yeah, I can see that being a concern. Especially if the boat sees saltwater.
Fairly easy to swap out connectors that are on a loose cable.

Maybe that's why the selection of lengths with an integral plate is so small.
They are likely all meant to go though internal bulkheads and panels where the corrosion risk is less, in spite of some of them being marketed as waterproof.

My big concern with the SO239 setup, assuming a threaded plate was used to minimize the chance of leaks, is that the hole is so big, that it's a pain to get rid of it if you want to later, but a small hole for a cable could be filled easily.
It's a bit of a risky "experiment"

I'm still not 100% sold on the idea and I have a short deadline to get the boat ready, so for now/tomorrow I'll use a new gland nut style fitting like the boat had before.

After the boat is functional again I'll consider the SO239.
Cloud and jmczzz still like the idea, and I may too, so I'll still look for a solution when I have spare moments.