Drilling hole through outside wall

[K7IOA]

I too start from the inside, drilling a hole into the sheet rock then through the wall leaving the drill bit sticking out so I can find it on the outside.  After I have found where the hole is, I use a hole saw that will allow a big enough hole for my coax or whatever I want to run through the wall without problems.  I do the same thing then on the inside, then run an old hanger through to tape the coax to and pull it through.  To cover the outside hole I take a small piece of plywood that is big enough to cover the hole, drill some 1/4 or 5/8 inch holes for the coax or wires to sit in.  I then slice this piece of plywood in half so that I can connect the bottom half on the lower part of the hole, place the coax in the small hole, then connect the top half in place so that it matches the bottom.  Seal with silicon, paint to match, and everything is cool.  Easy to remove and add more holes if needed.

[LA9XSA]

You might consider adding an entry box and lightning protection.

[WI4P]

Actually, to prevent problems trying to snake or push the cable through, you can drill through the center of the stud.  You can probably get grommets to make a finished look from Radio Shack or fsrom a cable installer.  Otherwise a little caulk will work fine.

Good luck with your project.

John

[KD2AXK]

Take note of all of the above posts, very sensible advice.
I did not take it two years ago, when drilling a hole in the roof space, hit an electrical cable, created a short term spark transmitter,
and put my foot through the ceiling when jumping back.
It sounds like a bad comedy spoof, but a lot of my life has turned out like that.

Safety first, always.

73s - Rob

That will cost me some time to clean the coffee out of my keyboard, thanks a bunch.
I remember my first experience with AC power when I got my first house.  Being a farm kid and not very
attentive when dad was telling me stuff I didn't learn much about electricity except that which pertained to automotive electrical systems.
Imagine my suprise when I discovered the black wire in my house wasn't a ground I could just grab and shove back in the box.
Should have listened to dad when he told me to trip the breakers before I worked on changing the lights out. Live and learn, hopefully.

[K1CJS]

If you're going to have any more than a couple of cables/coaxes run out of your shack, the best bet is still a hole through the wall and a hood type (not a louver type) dryer vent on the outside.  You do NOT have to have a four inch hole to use one of those, a couple of one smaller holes or a two inch will work just fine.  The dryer vent hood is just to keep out the elements.  Stuff the hole with fiberglass insulation or steel wool to keep out the varmints.

You can either replace a cellar window (if you have a cellar) with a piece of plywood or drill right through the wall to get the cables into the house.  If you do have a cellar, you can route the cables to your operating position downstairs (if the shack is upstairs) and have a neater shack appearance for the XYL's approval.

[KL3HY]

Stuff the hole with fiberglass insulation or steel wool to keep out the varmints.

I am going to be doing this very thing as I'll be moving to a new house soon.  I was wondering about using that expanding spray foam stuff though, instead of fiberglass insulation or steel wool.  My worry is that the foam is usually urethane based (I believe--I may be wrong) and I'm wondering if that might harm coax sheath.  Anyone know if that might be the case?

Thanks,
Mike

[K1CJS]

No, it won't harm the coax covering at all, but it will stick to it, and it does not come off easily at all.  No matter what you do, you'll be scraping the covering if you want to get it off.  The other problem with expanding foam is that once it's been applied, you can't easily get it out of the way to run other wires or cables.  Then you have to re-apply it, and if that's done a couple of times, you've got more of a mess on your hands trying to get it out because it's expanded so much.

That's why I recommend the fiberglass or steel wool.  Varmints won't like to touch either one and it's still easily removed and reinstalled if you want to run another cable.

Whichever way you decide to do it, good luck--and 73!