I have a cool widget in my setup that I haven’t detailed beyond a small paragraph on my Rover page. I presented the question, “How do I get so many feed lines out of the car and to the roof?” As many new Rovers often do, my first execution was to simply feed the coaxial cables into the car through a rear window and seal it using a piece of pipe insulation, shown here. I saw how others had used a piece of wood, much like what might be used in a home window. I didn’t like that at all. It didn’t take long for me to conclude that I wanted something that’s both better looking and durable enough to last in the elements during extended use.
Soon thereafter, I created a pass-thru with 3/16″ HPDE (plastic) that mimics the shape of the window and has weather-sealed Type-N connectors, making the setup completely modular and easy to remove. I chose the HPDE because it’s black, textured on one side, and easy to cut with a jigsaw and contour with a belt sander. My first setup relied on a “rain deflector” at the top and then I experimented with a “car door edge guard“ and some Eternabond tape at the window. The tape was left over from a previous project. The tape did not touch the glass; it sealed the HPDE and edge guard. The pass-thru was easy to remove and store inside.
Unfortunately, the tape got sticky in the summer heat and it didn’t do a great job of keeping the HPDE on top of the glass without slipping to one side or the other. I needed a better way to keep the HPDE from slipping. I also decided to remove the rain deflector so that the door’s factory seal could do its job better. I stuck with the 3/16″ HPDE as the main component in the pass-thru, but I added a pair of 1/8″ HPDE strips to sandwich the main pass-thru on either side of the glass. That did the trick! I drilled holes about ½” above the main HPDE (no contact with the glass) and then holes on the thinner sandwich pieces to match. The sandwich sheets are Gooped to seal the bolt holes and to seal them to the main sheet.
Like the previous project, this pass-thru is easy to remove and install, with the main trick being to carefully position the glass without triggering the power window’s anti-pinch feature. Coincidentally, the window stalled perfectly in the up position while making this video. I haven’t moved that glass since March 2024 and I have no regrets about it! 😀 The pass-thru has eight ports and still allows use of the rear door so that I can access the refrigerator, toolbox, or whatever else I may have just inside the door. I use right-angle Type-N adapters inside so that I can continue to use my factory privacy screens (not shown). I’m sure that I could eliminate a tiny amount of insertion loss by removing the adapters, but I like the fashion sense of what I’ve done… for now, anyway.
I can see the evidence of tiny water leaks when I wash the car or perhaps after a torrential downpour. This occurs at the front and rear edges of the glass/HPDE union where I did not seal the pass-thru perfectly. I have opted against sealing with RTV since I like being able to remove the pass-thru when I feel the need. If I were to guess, though, I suspect that the water drops evaporate before ever reaching the bottom of the door. Oddly enough, I could not reproduce the leak without a bit of pressure from the garden hose. Rain alone does not produce fresh spots on the glass. Here’s a photo that has nothing to do with leaks!
Updated tower (September 2025)
I keep telling myself that I’ll stay with only the “low four” VHF/UHF bands of 50, 144, 222, and 432 MHz, but I could go a little more insane than my current level. HAHA! The pass-thru panel could easily be used to rove with eight Yagis for 50, 144, 222, 432, 902, 1296, 2304, and 3401 MHz. I guess it depends on how successful I become at VHF contesting and how ambitious I want to be with my pursuit of more contacts, points multipliers, and installation challenges with extra equipment in my small car. Ray Novak of Icom recently asked, “Why don’t you have an IC-905?” Well, money is the first answer. With that said, an IC-905 certainly would consolidate a lot of equipment, feed lines, and power cables!
Feel free to post questions if I have missed anything. Learn more about my pass-thru panel in this video.
This is the Way,
Scott, KE4WMF
