Drilling a hole.

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sureshot
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Drilling a hole.

Post by sureshot »

Might sound daft, but i don't won't to wreck a upvc double glazed window frame.
So are there any glaziers out there ? I need to keep a fitted PL259 plug (moulded on) to a RG58U SO239 magmount. Wanting to drill a hole through the plastic and avoid any metal structures, if i need it sealed in the future I'll just use RVT silicone in white.
Hoping a glazier could point me in a direction so as to drill an 18mm hole in the corner of the window frame. Avoiding metal structures with in the frame.
Any advice appreciated. :)
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ch25
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Re: Drilling a hole.

Post by ch25 »

I would drill through the wall.
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Re: Drilling a hole.

Post by Kaliphan »

Cheaper then replacing the sealed unit

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Re: Drilling a hole.

Post by MrWeetabix »

I agree..... drill the wall. I'd loan you my 1 inch drill bit (oooh matron) if you were local. Its a perfect size for RG213 with a PL259 on the end. Then I use silicon sealant to close the edges, both internally and externally. :thumbup:
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Re: Drilling a hole.

Post by mrpsychopath »

Would it not be better just to drill big enough for the cable, and put plug on after. Much smaller hole.
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Re: Drilling a hole.

Post by The Collector »

Some frames don't have reinforcement in them at all (cheapskates!) but most decent ones do, either aluminium or sometimes steel. They don't usually go right into the corners though if there are, but 18mm may be close to the edge of them.

I fit hundreds of additional locks to poor quality or broken upvc windows in my job and they're hit & miss whether there's metal to get the screws to bite into, which is great if there is. You can't tell so start off with a tiny drill bit. You may have to drill say a tiny 2mm hole and see if you come up against anything metallic...it'll be tough and possibly a bit springy as the metal tube flexes as you try and drill into it. Then widen it carefully a few mill's at a time, say 2mm, 6mm, 10mm, 13mm, 18mm. If you only drill the inside to check first, you won't have to worry about water getting in if you can't get 18mm.

As another post said, drilling out a 7mm hole, feeding the co-ax through and then soldering a PL plug on is the best option.

Remember to put a little "drip-loop" of co-ax on the outside to help avoid water running down it and straight into the frame..even if it does get sealed with silicone sealant.

Also note, if your window has a 10yr guarantee on it, you will be invalidating it by "modifying" it, ie drilling into it.

Hope that helps a bit.
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Re: Drilling a hole.

Post by sureshot »

Cheers guys for the reply, high rise, bit iffy drilling the wall. It's more than 18" thick as well. There is a 7mm hole there already, I was worried I'd screw up the swr by cutting the fitted plug off. Although I'd only be losing a few tens of mm.
Cut it and feed it through and resolder plug, or just go for it with 18mm drill bit...
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ch25
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Re: Drilling a hole.

Post by ch25 »

18" is nothing ;) Get proper drill and do it. I worked as CCTV engineer and drilling through 1m thick celling was nothing serious :)
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Re: Drilling a hole.

Post by sureshot »

Well I made a slight mess off the hole, steel structures inside it. Nothing damaged, Just cosmetic. Nothing some white sealant can't fix. Ended up cutting the plug off, resoldering a new plug. Doing the swr was a fiasco first time round. It's so much easier with a full size Homebase antenna.
I was using a solarcron tri load on an old metal safe, bolted to a steel speaker stand. Just use your imagination :lol: :lol: So I had an idea (they can be dangerous) To try a Sirio 4000 on an SO239 magmount. Having no idea if the balcony would make a good groundplane or not. No drilling allowed for obvious reasons. Bought a piece of galvanised steel plate 300mm x 300mm. Scavenging some old harddrive magnets made it super solid, needed about three drives worth of magnets.
The swr is 1.1.1 lowest and 1.1.9 highest across the channels I'm using. It's no joke doing your swr when your OCD is playing up :lol: :lol: . It's about the best I can come up with from a 14th floor balcony. It works ok I suppose.
Thanks for the suggestions and help. :)
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ch25
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Re: Drilling a hole.

Post by ch25 »

Too close to metal balcony structure.
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Re: Drilling a hole.

Post by sureshot »

ch25 wrote: 20 Apr 2018, 23:59 Too close to metal balcony structure.
Exactly what i thought before i started this idea. It turns out the swr is ok, I've heard most of the locals since its been up. They all give as good, or a slightly better incoming signal. So yes i did think it was going to be a problem. I did have a plan B but at the moment all seems fine. But yes your right, as a general rule of thumb its best to keep the radiating element away from structures.
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ch25
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Re: Drilling a hole.

Post by ch25 »

Dummy load have swr ok too ;)
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Re: Drilling a hole.

Post by paulears »

Small hole, new connector. Done! It's daft to drill a huge hole - especially when that hole is virtually empty, meaning you have to fill it or risk water and insects getting through. Filling a thick wall is also very difficult to do properly, and voids will almost certainly allow water penetration .
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Re: Drilling a hole.

Post by The Collector »

Couldn't you just have stuck the magmount onto the top of the balcony railings as it looks flat? The railings would be your groundplane then (nice and large too).

You could always put a few cable-ties over/around it just in case anything like a bird hit it.
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Re: Drilling a hole.

Post by sureshot »

The Collector wrote: 22 Apr 2018, 14:30 Couldn't you just have stuck the magmount onto the top of the balcony railings as it looks flat? The railings would be your groundplane then (nice and large too).

You could always put a few cable-ties over/around it just in case anything like a bird hit it.
Done that already, headroom restricts antenna length. But swr is reasonable.
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