Drilling thru the side on the RV

[saarf]

Originally Posted by CAG

I would not drill in the side of my Greyhawk. If you need to come in with a cable or other wire why not come in the enclosure that already has an opening from the bottom and go in from there. Do you not have an underside inlet for water, coax or other such?

Seems like a messy way to come in with a coax. Just me.

I agree with coming up thru the floor.
If you are stationary, why not just bring a slide in a few inches to poke the wire inside, then run the slide back out. I do this in my motorhome. The edge around a slide usually has rubber so should not damage the cable.

[Scoutmaster253]

Originally Posted by brooklynchuck

whoa - this is perfect! thank you thank you thank you! ordered!

c:

Let us know how it goes. Pictures would be great.

[jimmoore13]

This is a "gland." https://www.amazon.com/Link-Solar-We...68524188&psc=1 Find one with a single gland mounted on the box.

These are designed to allow attachment to a smooth, flat surface with enough sealants to absolutely guaranty no water penetration around the base. The gland itself is the compressible rubber gasket that the wire goes thru. When you tighten the gland, the rubber seals around the wire jacket. Furthermore, when installed properly on a side wall, you point the gland(s) downward so that any water dripping along the wire and hitting the gland is headed toward the ground.

It's fair to note that one can install a gland on the roof of the RV, and with the gland(s) pointing horizontally and properly tightened around the wire jacket, there will be no leaks.

From there, the hole you drill through the sidewall, whether metal or fiberglass, will be buried under the gland "body" and sealed extremely well.

Note that any kind of sealant applied around a cable will quickly discolor and look like hell. I ran power cable from my battery bank thru the diamond plate rock guard and in to an inverter. The diamond plate prohibited the use of a gland like the one shared. I sealed it with silicone, and it looked like crap after just a few months. It didn't leak, but it was ugly. The location, down on the rock guard, was often dirty enough to disguise this eyesore, but you get the idea.

[RichCarter]

If I read your post correctly, you're wiring in a cellphone booster, not a TV booster, yes? A cellphone booster would use 50-ohm cable, probably RG58-U. Your TV cable is 75-ohm cable. If you use cable with an improper impedance, you'll get signal loss. I don't recommend using the existing TV cable for this.



I've heard of others who have run the cable through the refrigerator vent on the roof so no hole was needed. I'm considering doing the same with my cell booster. Right now, I put it on a tripod and set it up a fair distance from the camper. I've also considered cutting the booster cable and putting an SMA barrel connector through the wall. That sounds like a lot of work however.



The reason for the booster is the poor cell signal I get inside the camper. I think the aluminum siding is degrading the signal. I don't remember needing this in my previous camper that had laminated fiberglass walls.

[Baldfacemt]

We have a 29 mv and we drilled a small hole by the stairs and ran the coax down the wall(stapled on) and through a small hole in the floor. Then we ran the coax behind the steps and into the compartment next to the steps. With a 50 foot coax there is about 40 feet coiled up in the compartment with the stand for our dish. Hubby strapped the cable on to some frame components so it didn't drop down while traveling. Works great. Open the compartment hook up the dish and your all set...I would not drill any holes in the sides...

[RobLO]

Why not use an existing path like the fridge vent, then route cable through holes made only on the inside. You would only have the antenna mounting plate to weatherproof.

[pconroy]

Originally Posted by brooklynchuck

What kind of drill bit would you recommend to make a roughly 1/4" hole for a cable entering the side of my Greyhawk?

C:

You can see the varying responses on the willingness of others to punch a hole in their RV.




Lot's of people do, lot's of people won't.


I was able to route my Weboost cable across the roof and down the 'fridge vent. The benefit of putting the amp there also was easy access to a 12V source.


I'll offer up one other suggestion and that's just about every other wire from the roof goes over to the ladder and down. I've mounted a 2" PVC pipe to act as a conduit to the ladder. Painted to match.



The wires go down the conduit, then under the rear bumper and come back up thru the flooing into the "basement". I felt much better about punching and sealing a hole in the wood there.

[GeorgeP]

There's a very nice "grommet" in the cable tv section of Home Depot or i suppose Lowes. It is used by cable tv installers to go through the wall of a house. It looks like a flanged bearing--cylinder with a disc on one end. Push thru the hole, size appropriate, cut off inside at wall. Seal with stuff as above. Silicone would work. Put vanity plate over inside.

[Grumpy]

Originally Posted by GeorgeP

Silicone would work.

NEVER on the outside of a RV. GEO-CELL or QUAD SEAL only

[PaulB12]

Lexel will work too.
PaulB12

[brooklynchuck]

Well, here I am almost a month later, and I've bought everything to do the dirty-drilling-deed, but... I can't bring myself to put a hole in the side I'm attaching a pic of the roof. You can see how I've used quick-ties to secure the cable from the mobile signal booster across the length of the roof. From there, I just have it run thru the little overcab window. Even thru the wind and rain that hit the east coast over the past two weeks, it hasn't been a problem, so I'll just leave it like this while driving - and not put a hole in the side until it's a last resort

Thanks again for all the advice and recommendations, and merry Christmas and happy holidays!

C:

[Wireless Mike]

Originally Posted by brooklynchuck

Ha

The thing is, it's for a mobile signal booster cable, so it's slightly smaller in diameter, and I can't repurpose the existing coaxial plug. With the antenna on the roof, I have to get the 25' cable to an interior box that also has to be connected to 12V power (and be as far from the antenna as possible to avoid the signal interference). Anyway, the one spot that works is in the front of the cab by the TV.

All this to boost the signal on the road. When I'm set up camping, i can just run it thru the window.

Thanks for your advice and thoughts

C:

I hope the outdoor antenna is a directional one. Omnidirectional on both ends will often cause oscillations if not enough separation between them & an RV does not offer enough distance to provide sufficient separation. A directional antenna will need to be redirected at each campsite however.

[RichCarter]

Originally Posted by Wireless Mike

I hope the outdoor antenna is a directional one. Omnidirectional on both ends will often cause oscillations if not enough separation between them & an RV does not offer enough distance to provide sufficient separation. A directional antenna will need to be redirected at each campsite however.

I have an omnidirectional cellphone booster. The interior box transmits a very weak signal. As long as the external antenna is extended a dozen or more feet from the camper it seems to work well. You must be pretty close to the inside box for it to work however because the inside booster is very week. I put the outside antenna on a tripod and set it up once the camper is setup, running the cable through a window. The tripod antenna mount is a lower height than the location I put the inside antenna. The signal pattern of the outside antenna is fairly flat. The inside antenna is low gain so it has a wider pattern but as I said, it's a very weak signal. I guess the bottom line here is to move the antennae around a bit to get best performance.



I bought the necessary connectors and wall plate to cut the cable, install a barrel connector in the wall plate, crimp new connectors on the cut cable, and run the cable through the wall; all to avoid leaving a window cracked open. The wall plate is just a TV wall plate. The SMA barrel connector is the same size as the TV connector so it would fit. It's a lot of work for something that would work fine running the cable through a window. I'd need to fish the coax cable and power cables through cabinets as well as crimp the new connectors. I don't use it underway so there is really no need to permanently mount it on the roof.



There is some advantage to being able to move the antenna around outside to get best signal. I only need it at some fringe area campgrounds so I'll see how this all works out before spending a bunch of time on it. I guess it would be a lot easier to avoid cutting the cables and just run the coax through a hole in the wall and mount the damn thing on the roof. As I said however, there is some advantage to being able to move the outside antenna around rather than commit to a permanent roof location.

[brooklynchuck]

Originally Posted by RichCarter

I have an omnidirectional cellphone booster. The interior box transmits a very weak signal. As long as the external antenna is extended a dozen or more feet from the camper it seems to work well. You must be pretty close to the inside box for it to work however because the inside booster is very week. I put the outside antenna on a tripod and set it up once the camper is setup, running the cable through a window. The tripod antenna mount is a lower height than the location I put the inside antenna. The signal pattern of the outside antenna is fairly flat. The inside antenna is low gain so it has a wider pattern but as I said, it's a very weak signal. I guess the bottom line here is to move the antennae around a bit to get best performance.



I bought the necessary connectors and wall plate to cut the cable, install a barrel connector in the wall plate, crimp new connectors on the cut cable, and run the cable through the wall; all to avoid leaving a window cracked open. The wall plate is just a TV wall plate. The SMA barrel connector is the same size as the TV connector so it would fit. It's a lot of work for something that would work fine running the cable through a window. I'd need to fish the coax cable and power cables through cabinets as well as crimp the new connectors. I don't use it underway so there is really no need to permanently mount it on the roof.



There is some advantage to being able to move the antenna around outside to get best signal. I only need it at some fringe area campgrounds so I'll see how this all works out before spending a bunch of time on it. I guess it would be a lot easier to avoid cutting the cables and just run the coax through a hole in the wall and mount the damn thing on the roof. As I said however, there is some advantage to being able to move the outside antenna around rather than commit to a permanent roof location.

Wow, that's the kind of quality install I'd like to do, but can't find the time with the kids. The omnidirectional is working well for us - i'm getting 5 bars now even in places where I was roaming prior to turning it on.

The SureCall I bought came with two interior antennas: one little whip one that's meh, but also a pad-shaped one that you put your phone on top of that works like magic.

Cheers!

c:

[brooklynchuck]

At long last! Capt Bill and others will be happy that I finally solved this WITHOUT drilling.

Everything was fine with the signal booster cable coming in thru the overcab window, no leaks even with crazy storms we had last month (and power washes!).

BUT I finally had a day to myself so I hardwired the signal booster into the tv winch's DC power. Then I looked at that white antenna cable and knew it was time.

I had got a piece of advice on the cable just a week ago: thread it thru the slide-out -- which of course everyone knows BUT -- I never knew that you do this with the slide HALF out! Duh, right? Hey, always learning. And it was pretty simple. I ended up poking a hole in one of the rubber exterior seals to get the positioning right,but it worked!

No drilling!

Pics attached. Thanks again for all the advice along this journey