Best practice - antenna cable exits at masthead

[Patrick_Seattle]

Originally Posted by Robbie.g

i have had success with a grommet round the hole as the wires enter the mast [to avoid chafe], then supporting the wires with a cable tie attached to the 'lid' of the mast if the hole is on the side, or cabletie the wires to an upstand for the light/wind wand maybe, then sealing around the wires at the point where they enter the mast with silicone.
2 cents delivered
Rob

I was totally going to use grommets, problem is finding ones that are sized to the holes in the mast, the thickness of the wall of the mast and have a center hole that matches the size of the wire you're running. If you have a virgin mast you can control all of this and plan better, but if you have existing holes of various sizes, in various places which means various mast thickness and if your'e using a variety of sizes of wire then finding the grommets is a pain in the stern. This is why I ended up going with the Blue Sea Cable Clams.

The only exception to this was on my spreader lights. Since the wire lays horizontal inside the spreader and the hole was sized to the wire and tight, I felt a a p-clip was good enough there.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/deepplaya/4516325132/

-p

[Douglas]

Hi Patrick , Many Thanks for the photos. Looks like you do very nice work .

I too have a few places on my boat where I use those Blue Sea cable clams, but that white plastic seems to deteriorate (get hard and crack) all to soon, over here in the tropics, so I have been covering them with that self amalgamating tape, for the UV protection.