Hole in the roof for my aerial. (1 Viewer)

[Rincewind]

Hiya,
I'm new to this, but I needed to buy a motorhome at short notice, so I could start a new job upcountry.

So, I now own an old (1994) VW T4 'Swift Royale'.

I'm pleased with it so far.

One of the things I did to improve things, was to buy a telly.

To get a signal, I bought off ebay a secondhand 'model number 6701' which is a directional antenna, with a separate amplifier.

I'm pleased to say this works well.

The thing is, at present I am parking at night and travelling to work the following morning. As it stands, that means fastening/unfastening the aerial every day, as I route the coax on the outside of the van, which is a bit of a chore.

What I intend doing, is drilling a hole in the roof of my moho, to put the pole through, then affixing a bracket to the inside of my wardrobe.

Easy enough so far.

As the antenna is directional, I want to be able to rotate the pole from inside the van, to align the antenna on the outside, to suit my new parking position each evening.

Again, not much of a problem.

The problem: How do I make it weatherproof, but still able to rotate?

(I'm thinking of some kind of silicon grease filled thingummy?)

Any Ideas would be much appreciated (I'm on a bit of a tight budget).

Thanks.

 

[f6c]

Welcome aboard

 

[Zains Pops]

HI and welcome

You need an Ariel designed for motor home use. There are loads on the internet each with there own story, we use a Status one which came complete with mast support bracket and roof seal sleeve and gasket.
Call Johns Cross and talk about your issues..that's what I did and it's all worked well ever since

Ps join MH Fun and he'll give you a discount,,,!

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[pappajohn]

By 'join' zains pops means pay your subs and become a full member....
£15 per year and we'll worth it.

 

[Rincewind]

Thanks for the replies,

It's good to know that this is a forum which responds.

I'm an engineer, and an unfortunate symptom of this is that I like to take what I have, and make it work (regardless of better options)!

I'm thinking to drill the hole in the roof, put the supplied pole into a bracket in the wardrobe below (I will make the bracket, the one supplied with the aerial is 90 degrees out).
I think then to possibly drill a hole in some aluminium plate, 0.5mm over the pole size, with a second plate drilled approx 3mm bigger below this, with the lower plate being around 2.5 mm thick.
Greasy string to take up the gap between the two, and act as an upper bearing and seal.

I've talked myself into the answer to my own question (a bottle of home brewed Nebbiolo has helped).

Cheers

 

[scotjimland]

Pole gland Broken Link Removed

Vision plus spares Broken Link Removed

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[Rincewind]

Cheers for that scotjimland, interesting links, the pole gland/gaiter sleeve thing would have been just the thing.

I've made something now, similar to how I described it, but using an 'O' ring instead of greasy string.

I just hope it works

 

[Rincewind]

I should also have added, I wanted the pole to go up and down, as well as rotate, hence the 'O' ring (I can't see how to edit posts) ;-)

 

[pappajohn]

Holes in roof and home made seal.........
A recipe for future leaks.

How are you going to stop the aerial weather-vaning in the wind...an O ring won't stop it and it needs to be held in ANY direction.

You would be far better off using the proper thing which is designed to grip the pole both vertically and rotationary...and of course, provide an effective and reliable seal.

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