Advice on running wire from attic antenna to basement

Status
Not open for further replies.

static-line

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Aug 21, 2008
Messages
9
I am wanting to put my antenna in the attic and run the wire from it to my basement. Any advice?
 

kb2vxa

Completely Banned for the Greater Good
Banned
Joined
Mar 22, 2005
Messages
6,100
Location
Point Pleasant Beach, N.J.
Call an electrician, he has the knowledge, experience and tools for running wires inside walls without wrecking the house or uglifying the outside of it with big black wires. If you listen to these guys your mommy will throw you out of the house. (;->)
 

Thayne

Member
Joined
May 1, 2002
Messages
2,145
Speaking as an electrician, just for a coax you can often drop about a 10 foot piece of sash chain or small jack chain down alongside the plumbing vent stack, if it comes out in the basement where you can see it. Then tape your coax to the chain & pull it up--My mommy never noticed when I did it :)

Take a LED flashlight up there and take a look next to the vent pipe where it goes down thru the wall.
 

static-line

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Aug 21, 2008
Messages
9
Speaking as an electrician, just for a coax you can often drop about a 10 foot piece of sash chain or small jack chain down alongside the plumbing vent stack, if it comes out in the basement where you can see it. Then tape your coax to the chain & pull it up--My mommy never noticed when I did it

Thanks for the advice, but.......How do I find the plumbing vent stack?
 

kb2vxa

Completely Banned for the Greater Good
Banned
Joined
Mar 22, 2005
Messages
6,100
Location
Point Pleasant Beach, N.J.
First look on the roof or in the attic over the bathroom. It's a 3 or 4" diameter vertical pipe that goes straight down to the main sewer line in the basement. That's how the stuff from the toilet gets there without getting stuck and the gas is vented out through the roof. That's why they're also known as stink pipes.

You may get lucky and have enough clearance around it, plumbers aren't carpenters and tend to cut sloppy holes but then maybe not. Depending on how many floors you're going through sash chain may not cut it. While chain is dirt cheap I use the electrician's friend, a big roll of fish tape. Unlike chain that tends to bunch up and tie itself in knots the thin, semi rigid steel tape can be maneuvered but often with frustrating difficulty. Don't expect it to go straight through on the first try but you'll get there eventually. OOPS, it just won't go past that whatever it is one floor below, a little wall surgery to get my hands in there is needed. Darn, this gets nasty doing it for a living but I digress so the best of luck to you, just don't forget to duck.

Then there is my motto; If at first you don't succeed use a bigger hammer. If all else fails explosives usually work.

Uh oh here comes mommy, gotta run!
 
Last edited:

static-line

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Aug 21, 2008
Messages
9
Ran wire from roof through by dryer vent to basement

Ok so I didn't put my antenna in the attic, but on the roof. Its a Radio Shack antenna. The 25.00 small antenna. Not the Discone but the next version down. Its about 25-30 ft in the air mounted to a vent pipe on my roof. I ran the wire down the roof, down the house and in next to the dryer vent.
To make a long story short ---that antenna is attached to my desktop scanner in the basement. I have a portable scanner also in the basement with a cheap dipole that I bought on ebay---and they seem to be picking up the same amount of traffic. The portable scanner antenna is just hanging off a nail in the basement. Whats the deal?
Again the roof antenna is approx. 25 feet above the basement. I dont understand how they can be picking up the same when one is 25 feet above the other and one is underground.
 

jdebona

Member
Joined
Jan 22, 2007
Messages
47
Location
Fish Hawk, FL
I am wanting to put my antenna in the attic and run the wire from it to my basement. Any advice?

I have an HVAC unit in my attic, and there is a chase that runs all the way down one end of the house to the basement for the condensation pipe. I was able to run several pieces of cat. 5 and coax up it with minimal effort and a $40 fish tape from Home Depot. You can find it in the electrical supply section. You can probably do this with any duct or pipe that looks like it would run all the way down. Start in the attic. Run the fish tape down your path. Go down to the basement and bend the fish tape around the cable. Tape it very well with electrical tape down a few inches of the cable but try not to add any bulk to the cable. Go back to the attic and pull your cable up by reeling in the fish tape.
 
Last edited:

Mikey54

Member
Joined
Nov 2, 2007
Messages
19
Location
Ontario Canada
Ok so I didn't put my antenna in the attic, but on the roof. Its a Radio Shack antenna. The 25.00 small antenna. Not the Discone but the next version down. Its about 25-30 ft in the air mounted to a vent pipe on my roof. I ran the wire down the roof, down the house and in next to the dryer vent.
To make a long story short ---that antenna is attached to my desktop scanner in the basement. I have a portable scanner also in the basement with a cheap dipole that I bought on ebay---and they seem to be picking up the same amount of traffic. The portable scanner antenna is just hanging off a nail in the basement. Whats the deal?
Again the roof antenna is approx. 25 feet above the basement. I dont understand how they can be picking up the same when one is 25 feet above the other and one is underground.

A couple of reasons. Looks like you bought the most inexpensive antenna you could find, and you don't say what type of cable that you are running. If you have 50' of RG58, and a couple of connectors and a cheap antenna, the dipole may be doing just as good a job. Antenna's have different amounts of "gain" depending on their design. Some work at different frequencies than others. Cables and connecters have losses as well. A better antenna with some low loss cable will show an improvement.
Good luck
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top