Roy Lewallen wrote:
I wasn't able to find such a thing in the (quite elaborate) electrical
department of a large DIY store. Is this something used in electrical
mains wiring (which is what the DIY store carries), or for some other
purpose?

In this country, it's long been standard practice to bring mains power
into a house via a "weather head", which is a pipe bent into a U shape,
so the wires enter it upward. There's a rubber grommet for the three
large diameter mains wires built in. This is very effective for its
intended use, but not useful for my purpose. I've never seen modern
electrical wiring run directly through an outside wall, if that's the
function of the "gland".

I'll try looking at a large electronics store next time I'm there.


These things have GOT to exist in the USA, but clearly the name is
different.

They are used with metal conduit-and-box wiring systems, wherever you
want to bring a flexible cable out through the wall of a conduit box
with better waterproofing than a plain grommet.

Go to www.farnell.com/uk and search for part # 3034367 - click for
details and this should give a reasonable picture.

The outside of the fixed part looks rather like a through-bulkhead
double female N connector. It goes through the box wall, with some kind
of O-ring seal, and is fixed with a single large nut. The cable threads
through the inside, and is sealed by a rubber ring and a screw-down cap.
Result - a completely waterproof lead-through.

All together now: "Oh, ya mean a [Fill In The Blank] - why didn't ya
*say* so?"

Anyway, the whole point was that these [FITB] things are available in
cheap plastic, and are ideal for getting cables through the walls of
plastic or metal boxes in a totally waterproof way. You can install
in-line connectors on the 'tails' of cable if necessary, and they make a
very easy shape to wrap with waterproofing tape.

This is vastly better than installing chassis-mount connectors on the
box wall, and then trying to wrap tape onto a very difficult shape.


--
73 from Ian G3SEK 'In Practice' columnist for RadCom (RSGB)
Editor, 'The VHF/UHF DX Book'
http://www.ifwtech.co.uk/g3sek