The last time I gave you an update on my home shack, I was running piping for the radon mitigation system in my basement. Well, I finally put the (hopefully!) finishing touches on that part of the project!
All that was left for the radon system was to install the manometer on the inside piping (that's the u-shaped thing with the liquid in it, that tells you if the fan is running), and to order and install the fan on the outside of the house. A weatherproof single gang box and switch, some conduit, and some liquid-tight, did the trick to polish this off:
All that was left for the radon system was to install the manometer on the inside piping (that's the u-shaped thing with the liquid in it, that tells you if the fan is running), and to order and install the fan on the outside of the house. A weatherproof single gang box and switch, some conduit, and some liquid-tight, did the trick to polish this off:
I still have some grading to do along this side of the house from the addition we did, so don't judge my dirt and leaves too hard :-) With everything wired up and the final bits and pieces in place, it was time to turn the breaker on, and then throw the switch, so that I could say (to the tune of the well known Bob Dylan Song) "The radon my friend, is blowin' in the wind. The radon is blowin' in the wind."
With the fan running, I turned my attention back to the inside of the basement, where me and my trusty caulk gun went all over the basement sealing every crack and expansion joint we could find. All that's left now is to let the system run for a couple of days, and then conduct another radon test to see if I'm done, or if I still have more work to do.
Some Other Stuff Too
The radon system isn't the only thing I worked on in the last few days. I also pulled the service cable from the main breaker panel in the house, to my new shack. After weighing cost, distance, current requirements, etc. I ended up deciding to use 2-2-2-4 cable, protected with a 90 amp breaker. This kept the cable from being too obnoxiously large, while giving me more than enough capacity for the demands that will be on the panel in my shack. The next step for this will be to sheath the run that will be exposed in the shack with EMT.
In addition to this real work, I did some "planning" work as well. Before I close up walls I want to run some coax and wire in the general direction of where the eventual tower will be. Trying to guess how much wire you'll need in the future is almost always bound to leave you wishing you had done more. Conduit is a great thing, but in the area were I need to run it, I have some restrictions on sizes of what will fit. After getting some feedback from the twitter crowd, here's what I think I'm going to shoot for:
Luckily, if I find in the future that I missed something, I will still be able to add to this - it will just require a much longer run around the side of the house.
If you have any input or thoughts for me, please feel free to share them! It will probably take me a couple weeks (or a month...) to round all this stuff up and find the time to get it pulled into place. Till then, have a good one!
In addition to this real work, I did some "planning" work as well. Before I close up walls I want to run some coax and wire in the general direction of where the eventual tower will be. Trying to guess how much wire you'll need in the future is almost always bound to leave you wishing you had done more. Conduit is a great thing, but in the area were I need to run it, I have some restrictions on sizes of what will fit. After getting some feedback from the twitter crowd, here's what I think I'm going to shoot for:
- 4 runs of LMR 400
- 2 empty conduits. One inch is all that will fit in the one section, but at least it will be there for whatever comes up in the future.
- 1 multi-conductor control cable (for rotors etc. in the future)
- 1 network cable (just in case I want to stick any Ethernet devices up there)
- A couple of strategically placed access hatches
Luckily, if I find in the future that I missed something, I will still be able to add to this - it will just require a much longer run around the side of the house.
If you have any input or thoughts for me, please feel free to share them! It will probably take me a couple weeks (or a month...) to round all this stuff up and find the time to get it pulled into place. Till then, have a good one!
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