Having a permanent install like that makes a big difference when it comes to setting up a station at a campground. I got really tired of running cables once a week!
Great use of the FME connectors. I think I would have snipped off the connectors on the old cable, taped the new cable to it, and pulled the old cable out, using the old cable as a fish tape.
Very clever use of that cable. In the past, I've used coax with UHF mini connectors. I never told my wife, but I tore out the 75 ohm coax that was used for a TV hookup and replaced it with 50 ohm RG-8x. We stream anyhow with StarLink. The great thing is that I was able to use the waterproof housing and cover on the exterior of the RV that was previously used by threaded the connector for the old 75 ohm coax. As it turns out, a BNC bulkhead was the perfect fit. I did drill a small hole inside the coach and installed another BNC bulkhead. It looks clean. She's never noticed the extra coax connector in the rig.
I've been mulling doing the same thing, my travel trailer has the 75 ohm cable for the commercial FM receiver, and for the rooftop TV aimable yagi, and for a cable TV connection on the side of the trailer. And very, very weirdly, the jack and power socket for the TV are nowhere near the reinforced part of the wall that was noted as being ready for a TV to mount. Thanks Jayco, thanks a bunch. For UHF/VHF I'm very tempted to replace one or the other of these rooftop antennas with a folding dual-band antenna, use the existing 75 ohm cable as a pullstring to bring a 50 ohm cable into the interior, and to patch-up the rooftop with the normal self-leveling sealant. When I recently bought a used radio the seller just threw-in a Diamond X50A though, so I may end up looking at building some kind of foldable mount for it. Difficulty is my trailer doesn't have a ladder and I'd rather not add one if I can avoid it, so I'd need to make it work without having to actually climb up.
A suggestion for cabling labeling as one gets older and vision gets a little worse, instead of text labels with the same color label backing and text color, consider using pieces of heatshrink tubing in different colors. If you're *_really_* feeling fancy, follow the cabling standards color code in this order: blue, orange, green, brown, slate, white, red, black, yellow, violet, rose, aqua. This is the same color pattern used on 12-strand fiber optic cabling and a variant of the color pattern used on 25-pair copper cables, and for much higher strand counts, the binder groups within the cables follow the same color patterns for the groups.
A while ago a Salvation Army member ham rigged a RV in a similar manner. He used barrel connectors(SO 239) at the exterior wall in a utility access like your example. Then runs of coax inside the rig were run behind walls to the rigs installed(remote heads in 2 different places) on a board behind the driver's seat.
I'm the Radio Manager for the BC Salvation Army Emergency Disaster Service. We will be staging a Community Response Unit and converting it to a Mobile Radio Unit. This info comes at a good time
Does any one make a co-ax reel that has automatic return? If so, having that under the sink would be very cool. Also would give you your 5 to 7 wrap choke.
Coming out of the battery box up front, the cable is run under the RV using as much of the original cable path as possible. It comes up under the seat through an existing penetration point that was sealed with expanding foam insulation from the factory. I used a coat hanger to punch through the foam and them fished the power cable through. It's a fairly long run so I oversized the wire one size to try and prevent any voltage loss. It's been that way for almost 2 years and has worked well.
Question...If you were going to cut the end off of the BNC cable, why didn't you just tape it to the new one outside (use it as a pull) and pull it through? Looks like at about 4 minutes in, you used a metal wire as a pull -- same concept, but from the start. Might have saved you a bit of time??
A smarter man would have done just that but it only occurred to me after I had removed the first cable. Too many things going on at once trying to get the shots for the video and accomplish the job :-)
@@KM4ACK Still a great video. I like that you showed the "behind the covers" access anyway. It helps with the questions of what will you find hidden within. Thanks again for sharing!
There is a risk in your install, if the cable is pulled out to run to an antenna that's sitting on the ground, I don't see a tie point where the cable is secured along the run to prevent it from pulling on the jack inside of the RV, and the bulkhead that the BNC coupler is installed into is not really rated for force pulling on it on such a small area. If the cable is running along the ground and someone trips on it then there's a distinct possibility that it could rip that BNC panel-mount coupler right out of the panel, damaging it in the process. Please have a look at recessed panel-mount box to terminate your cables into, something with a large flange around the perimeter to clamp onto the RV bulkhead more securely. Something like the Arlington LVU1W recessed panel-mount low-voltage box would work, you'd probably have to take a blank-plate and modify it to hold these particular connectors, but it would prevent damaging the RV and the cables wouldn't intrude so badly to the calves of the person sitting in that dinette seat. Probably would also be a good idea to install some kind of cable ties along the path inside the RV where possible to structures that could take the force. I recommend using double-sided velcro since it can be removed without cutting if something needs to be added or the cable removed entirely.
Having a permanent install like that makes a big difference when it comes to setting up a station at a campground. I got really tired of running cables once a week!
Totally agree!
Great use of the FME connectors.
I think I would have snipped off the connectors on the old cable, taped the new cable to it, and pulled the old cable out, using the old cable as a fish tape.
Yep, that would have been the smarter way to get it done
Very clever use of that cable. In the past, I've used coax with UHF mini connectors. I never told my wife, but I tore out the 75 ohm coax that was used for a TV hookup and replaced it with 50 ohm RG-8x. We stream anyhow with StarLink. The great thing is that I was able to use the waterproof housing and cover on the exterior of the RV that was previously used by threaded the connector for the old 75 ohm coax. As it turns out, a BNC bulkhead was the perfect fit. I did drill a small hole inside the coach and installed another BNC bulkhead. It looks clean. She's never noticed the extra coax connector in the rig.
I've been mulling doing the same thing, my travel trailer has the 75 ohm cable for the commercial FM receiver, and for the rooftop TV aimable yagi, and for a cable TV connection on the side of the trailer. And very, very weirdly, the jack and power socket for the TV are nowhere near the reinforced part of the wall that was noted as being ready for a TV to mount. Thanks Jayco, thanks a bunch.
For UHF/VHF I'm very tempted to replace one or the other of these rooftop antennas with a folding dual-band antenna, use the existing 75 ohm cable as a pullstring to bring a 50 ohm cable into the interior, and to patch-up the rooftop with the normal self-leveling sealant. When I recently bought a used radio the seller just threw-in a Diamond X50A though, so I may end up looking at building some kind of foldable mount for it. Difficulty is my trailer doesn't have a ladder and I'd rather not add one if I can avoid it, so I'd need to make it work without having to actually climb up.
A suggestion for cabling labeling as one gets older and vision gets a little worse, instead of text labels with the same color label backing and text color, consider using pieces of heatshrink tubing in different colors. If you're *_really_* feeling fancy, follow the cabling standards color code in this order: blue, orange, green, brown, slate, white, red, black, yellow, violet, rose, aqua. This is the same color pattern used on 12-strand fiber optic cabling and a variant of the color pattern used on 25-pair copper cables, and for much higher strand counts, the binder groups within the cables follow the same color patterns for the groups.
Thanks so much for sharing this. I was just wondering about how I could run coax in my RV this afternoon. Very timely!
My pleasure!
A while ago a Salvation Army member ham rigged a RV in a similar manner. He used barrel connectors(SO 239) at the exterior wall in a utility access like your example. Then runs of coax inside the rig were run behind walls to the rigs installed(remote heads in 2 different places) on a board behind the driver's seat.
I'm the Radio Manager for the BC Salvation Army Emergency Disaster Service. We will be staging a Community Response Unit and converting it to a Mobile Radio Unit. This info comes at a good time
Great info, TNX!
Great ideas I might be able to adapt for our trailer.
Great info 👍
Does any one make a co-ax reel that has automatic return? If so, having that under the sink would be very cool. Also would give you your 5 to 7 wrap choke.
Excellent Video. I have a 19FD and would like to know how you did the wiring to the battery from there. I definitely will do this to my rig.
Coming out of the battery box up front, the cable is run under the RV using as much of the original cable path as possible. It comes up under the seat through an existing penetration point that was sealed with expanding foam insulation from the factory. I used a coat hanger to punch through the foam and them fished the power cable through. It's a fairly long run so I oversized the wire one size to try and prevent any voltage loss. It's been that way for almost 2 years and has worked well.
@@KM4ACK Thank you for your reply.
Question...If you were going to cut the end off of the BNC cable, why didn't you just tape it to the new one outside (use it as a pull) and pull it through? Looks like at about 4 minutes in, you used a metal wire as a pull -- same concept, but from the start. Might have saved you a bit of time??
A smarter man would have done just that but it only occurred to me after I had removed the first cable. Too many things going on at once trying to get the shots for the video and accomplish the job :-)
@@KM4ACK Still a great video. I like that you showed the "behind the covers" access anyway. It helps with the questions of what will you find hidden within. Thanks again for sharing!
Brilliant! 73!
Thanks :-)
Need idea very neat idea
There is a risk in your install, if the cable is pulled out to run to an antenna that's sitting on the ground, I don't see a tie point where the cable is secured along the run to prevent it from pulling on the jack inside of the RV, and the bulkhead that the BNC coupler is installed into is not really rated for force pulling on it on such a small area. If the cable is running along the ground and someone trips on it then there's a distinct possibility that it could rip that BNC panel-mount coupler right out of the panel, damaging it in the process.
Please have a look at recessed panel-mount box to terminate your cables into, something with a large flange around the perimeter to clamp onto the RV bulkhead more securely. Something like the Arlington LVU1W recessed panel-mount low-voltage box would work, you'd probably have to take a blank-plate and modify it to hold these particular connectors, but it would prevent damaging the RV and the cables wouldn't intrude so badly to the calves of the person sitting in that dinette seat.
Probably would also be a good idea to install some kind of cable ties along the path inside the RV where possible to structures that could take the force. I recommend using double-sided velcro since it can be removed without cutting if something needs to be added or the cable removed entirely.
I did go back and add several cable ties under the seat to prevent stress on the connectors.