The Panbo Forum

Return to Panbo Forum main page »

Managing Coax cable at the masthead
New Topic
RoyHB

Managing Coax cable at the masthead

By RoyHB on Aug 29, 2010 at 6:37 PM 2 Vote 0 Votes

I'm going to be installing some antenna and electrical cables in a Selden mast soon.

I'm curious what people think is the state of the art / best practice for managing the cable exits from the mast at the head. The cables will be run through the neat dual channel that Selden provides.

I've considered:

Smoothed elongated slots cut into the mast (like a smaller version of a halyard exit)

Rubber grommets in oversized holes

Cable glands threaded into the mast section

Cable gland threaded into the cast head fitting

Type N connector feed-throughs in the mast wall

Thanks in advance

2 Replies

  • Dan Corcoran (b393capt)
    Dan Corcoran (b393capt) | August 30, 2010 10:37 AM


    I am a fan of smoothed elongated slots cut into the mast. Good approach for the reasons of minimizing radius bend for VHF wire, simplicity, and nothing to corrode.

    On the deck at the base of the mast, use Blue Sea CableClams to pass cables from mast to deck
    http://bluesea.com/category/9/productline/overview/1
    , especially on the larger cables. This type of gland allows you to pass a connector thru your deck without removing it from the cable. This also allows you to later remove the mast from your boat with all the mast wires and their connectors whole, with the least amount of connectors on each wire end to end.

  • Patrick - sv Deep Playa
    Patrick - sv Deep Playa | August 30, 2010 1:06 PM

    Hey Roy, looks like we haunt all the same sites. I'll post the reply I put on Brion Toss' Spartalk here as well.

    I spent weeks researching this and fretting and asking people and came up with no satisfactory answers. I originally wanted to use a kellum (looks like finger handcuffs) but couldn't come up with a way to attach them. I ended up using cable clams at the exits and securing the wires externally with p-clips and I think they will work out very well.

    If you have the option and can cut off the mast head so you can work inside you will have infinitely more flexibility and re-attaching it isn't that big a deal.

    -p