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Author Topic: Ideas for Running Coax to Attic in Two Story House  (Read 882 times)

KJ4DMO

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Ideas for Running Coax to Attic in Two Story House
« on: January 25, 2022, 07:16:36 AM »

Hi all,

I have a fanned dipole in my attic that is serving me well for HF bands. I also have a 2m ground plane and a 70cm ground plan hanging up there that also do just fine for simplex and hitting all repeaters.  My "shack" is a corner of one of the upstairs bedrooms, where I spend time when doing all my "radio stuff."

I work from home full time and have always wanted to have a radio in my office on the first floor. I have a dual band VHF/UHF handheld here now with a N9TAXLABS Dual band Slim Jim antenna that works pretty well, although my wife doesn't necessarily like the aesthetics of it hanging from the ceiling.::)  I'm tossing around ideas of how to get coax from the office on the first floor to the attic with as little trouble as possible. Of course putting PVC pipe in the wall and running it up to the attic is an option, but that would be a lot of work - and I'm not sure I'm willing to do that much "renovation"

Q - Does anyone have creative ideas on how to get antenna signals from the attic down to my office on the first floor? If I can figure out how to do this, I may consider moving the whole "shack" down here altogether.

Appreciate your creative brains helping me expand my options!

Thanks!

Steve
KJ4DMO
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K5LXP

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Re: Ideas for Running Coax to Attic in Two Story House
« Reply #1 on: January 25, 2022, 07:22:23 AM »

In several homes and even apartments I've poked holes through the ceilings and floors of closets.  Quick, easy and out of sight.  Easy to patch when the time comes.  In the current shack I have a number of cables that come in from an outside wall and the attic.  The attic lines "drain" down behind a bookshelf out of sight and the shack desk hides the wall cables.  Again, all quick and easy to remove/change/repair when the time comes.

Mark K5LXP
Albuquerque, NM
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AA4PB

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Re: Ideas for Running Coax to Attic in Two Story House
« Reply #2 on: January 25, 2022, 07:37:09 AM »

In my house I have a return air duct that runs from the bottom floor up near the ceiling of the top floor. I have run a fish tape up along side of the duct and used it to pull in wires. For a horizontal run on the first floor there is an air duct enclosed in drywall that I can run a fish tape along side. For access at the ends I cut a square out of the drywall, label and save the piece. Take it to Home Depot to do a color match for paint. Put a piece of wood furring stip across the inside of the hole to support the cut piece. Tape, mud, sand, and paint and you can't tell where the patch is.
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Bob  AA4PB
Garrisonville, VA

KJ4DMO

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Re: Ideas for Running Coax to Attic in Two Story House
« Reply #3 on: January 25, 2022, 07:39:53 AM »

Hi Mark,

This is definitely an option. Sometimes when i sit here in meetings I try to figure out how the upstairs room/walls are aligned with the ceiling and walls in my office. In the upstairs bedroom, I cut a hole in the back corner up into the attic and installed some PVC that I can cap. It currently has coax running through it into the attic for my antennas. 

What I'd really like to do is run wire down in between the walls, but I've never run plumbing or electrical wiring and wonder how electricians and plumbers do it after the fact without tearing out the drywall. I was hopeful for some "electrician's trick" for running wire or installing conduit that is unobtrusive.  8)

Steve
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KJ4DMO

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Re: Ideas for Running Coax to Attic in Two Story House
« Reply #4 on: January 25, 2022, 07:59:45 AM »

In my house I have a return air duct that runs from the bottom floor up near the ceiling ...

Interesting... i'm looking at the air vents now to see if this is an option... Thanks!
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N5WDD

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Re: Ideas for Running Coax to Attic in Two Story House
« Reply #5 on: January 25, 2022, 08:24:43 AM »

Simple Really, Just move your office upstairs to the shack and Bingo! you have a office/shack. 8)
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KJ4DMO

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Re: Ideas for Running Coax to Attic in Two Story House
« Reply #6 on: January 25, 2022, 08:27:15 AM »

move your office upstairs to the shack ...

Yup. I've been taking more meetings up there for sure!  :)  However, I have other reasons for moving the radios to the first floor... some of it has to do with being able to get on the air while everyone else is sleeping.
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K1KIM

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Re: Ideas for Running Coax to Attic in Two Story House
« Reply #7 on: January 25, 2022, 08:44:46 AM »

A few thoughts to keep in mind.....

     Outside walls have insulation and are almost impossible to snake cable through going vertical.

     The loss on 2M and 70cm gets significant with long runs of Coax. The bigger the cable the better.
     IE: LMR400 has less loss than RG-8x etc.

Good luck.  I still haven't found a way to snake a feed line to my garage attic from my 1st floor office/shack without a run of 125'.
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K5LXP

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Re: Ideas for Running Coax to Attic in Two Story House
« Reply #8 on: January 25, 2022, 08:45:19 AM »

Having rewired/replumbed a couple of my homes I am firmly in the camp that concealed utilities are vastly overrated.  If this was "to code" and whatever was there mattered you gotta play the game and fish the stuff through but for stuff like ethernet, coax and control cables, especially ones that are "temporary" like a hamshack, go with the simplest and most direct you can.  No need to put them in conduit or piping, with the closets I don't do anything to conceal them at all.  In the shack, visible cables add to "authenticity".  The more you try to make the installation look "perfect" (in-wall runs, wall plates, bulkhead connections) the harder it will be to change anything later.  Drywall is a quick/easy patch, whatever path that gets you from A to B without having to fish through a wall is the goal.  Even if you have to make a run outside the house and back in that works too and is how all the cable and sat TV guys do it.  If you have to take aesthetic measures to conceal for the XYL that's still better than fishing through walls.  When it comes time to leave just cut and pull, or abandon in place.

Mark K5LXP
Albuquerque, NM
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AF5CC

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Re: Ideas for Running Coax to Attic in Two Story House
« Reply #9 on: January 25, 2022, 08:46:48 AM »

move your office upstairs to the shack ...

Yup. I've been taking more meetings up there for sure!  :)  However, I have other reasons for moving the radios to the first floor... some of it has to do with being able to get on the air while everyone else is sleeping.

Set the station up for remote control.  Then you can operate from the first floor remotely when everyone else is asleep.

73 John AF5CC
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K0UA

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Re: Ideas for Running Coax to Attic in Two Story House
« Reply #10 on: January 25, 2022, 08:59:41 AM »

Some of the "tricks" are careful measurements to figure out what lines up. Often inside walls are hollow without insulation. Although insulation is not the end of the world with a good fish tape and some "fishing" experience and two people, one up and one down.

Drill a 1/2 inch hole thru the plate up in the attic.  Also in hollow walls you can drop a steel ball chain down a hole and find it with even a small hole in the wall below with a magnet on a stick. Flop the magnet around and it will find the steel ball chain by itself. Pull the chain out the hole.

One thing I have used a lot in the past is to take a steel coat hanger and sharpen the end on a grinder of a straight section and drill into the floor right up next to the baseboard. This can be used to punch thru the floor with a tiny hole so you can find in below as it sticks thru. If it is not in a good place, simply pull it out as the hole is so small you can either ignore it or fill with a toothpick.

This hole is strictly for alignment so you can move over 1 1/2 to 2 inches in the correct direction and drill up from below so your hole will will be inside the wall. Now you have an avenue to go from attic to basement with minimal holes and hidden wires.

You will need coat hanger or drop ceiling hanger wire for making a home made tiny long drill, Powerful tiny wall fishing magnet, ball chain or small link chain made of steel. Fish tape, 1/2 inch drill bit, or 1/2 inch paddle bit. Experience and patience.

Good luck, and know "it can be done" and if you know a thing can be done you are half way to making it happen.
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73  James K0UA

K7AAT

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Re: Ideas for Running Coax to Attic in Two Story House
« Reply #11 on: January 25, 2022, 09:02:35 AM »

Another consideration - drill holes in ceiling next to a wall  ( outside or interior )  and run cables  -  then cover the cables on the walls with those aesthetic cable covers.
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WA1UIL

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Re: Ideas for Running Coax to Attic in Two Story House
« Reply #12 on: January 25, 2022, 09:06:40 AM »

All homes have a pluming waste vent usually going from the cellar up thru the attic and out the roof. You can use the chase(space) around the pipe as a way to run cables thru. Older 2 and 3 story homes were built with "balloon' construction which gives you access from attic to cellar in most of the outside wall cavity. Good Luck
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N1IG

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Re: Ideas for Running Coax to Attic in Two Story House
« Reply #13 on: January 25, 2022, 11:27:48 AM »

what radios are currently in your shack?

maybe remote operation instead of moving the radios is an option.
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WB6CVR

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Re: Ideas for Running Coax to Attic in Two Story House
« Reply #14 on: January 25, 2022, 11:48:47 AM »

Decades ago as a college student I had a first floor apartment in a two story building. Right outside of my bedroom windows was a rain downspout that ran from the roof to the alley adjacent to my unit. One night I climbed up some decorative concrete features to the roof. I installed a 40 meter dipole about two feet above the roof and dropped the coax down the downspout. On the ground, I ran the coax on the back side of the downspout (so it wasn't visible) up to the window. There was enough play in the window seal so that the whole thing wasn't visible at all. Something like this might work for you and there are no interior holes or routing issues.

73, Eric
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