I was going to order 50' of Belden 8262 but it looks like its being discontinued according to AES.
Which coax do you recommend?
I'm going to be installing it in about a 15'-20' length. Its going to go through the wall, and directly onto the roof where the Antenna will be mounted.
What frequencies do you plan on using it for?Originally Posted by K9CCH
All the world’s a stage, but obviously the play is unrehearsed and everybody is ad-libbing his lines. Maybe that’s why it’s hard to tell if we’re living in a tragedy or a farce.
Right now I'm strictly 2/70cm, no HF yet. And it will be a while before I can even begin to think about an HF rig.
9913 and LMR-400 are good choices. Although you're not really using a long run of coax, might as well use quality cable.
Performance characteristics of widely-available coax
Encrypt everything. Even if you have nothing to hide. It increases the noise floor.
Ah! Spank you very much.
8262 looks to have pretty poor characteristics for VHF/UHF. I use LMR-400 for anything above 50MHz myself although for that short run you could probably get by with something cheaper. Consider using N connectors on your outdoor connections as well. They're waterproof and are a better impedance match than PL-259s.
All the world’s a stage, but obviously the play is unrehearsed and everybody is ad-libbing his lines. Maybe that’s why it’s hard to tell if we’re living in a tragedy or a farce.
If I'm not mistaken, I'm using the Belden 8262 for VHF/UHF/HF runs at the moment. I got a 500ft spool for a song ($10), so it was a no-brainer to use.
If I were paying full price, I wouldn't use it (It's mainly used for cable TV installations if I recall the research I did), I would use something that does VHF/UHF better. HF, it's almost a non-existent loss, but those higher bands, you're looking at a 0.5db/10 ft loss (Again, off the cuff).
Even for a shorter run, I'd pick something a little better, if you're paying full price. If you're getting it like I did, go ahead and use it until you get a better deal on something better.
LMR-400 at the minimum.
Look at the cost this way... better to spend a little more NOW to get quality coax (and 8262 is not known to be a good V/UHF coax), than to have to rip out the coax used, throw it away, and then replace it with the good stuff. Consider the "cost" of your time & effort as well, especially if you may have to "undo" and then "redo" the job.
One suggestion: As long as you're drilling a hole for coax, drill an extra one or two. Saves time in the long run, do it while you have the tools handy. Now, if you can get one at a hamfest, you could mount a "long barrel" (12 inch to 18 inch double-female SO-239) for future use, or even just put a short run of coax there (I would put a baggie and a lot of tape around the outside connector to protect it from the weather)
You may not have HF today, but you might down the road. Or have a need for another V/UHF band. etc.
Just a suggestion.
“Nobody is going to feel sorry for us. 90% of the people don’t care, the other 10% are glad it happened.” — Clint Hurdle, 2019
BAN THE DH!
Fudd's First Law of Opposition: If you push something hard enough, it WILL fall down.
Teslacle's Deviant to Fudd's Law: It goes in, it must go out.
"The 2020 election wasn't stolen, and speaking the truth is only a crime in countries ruled by tyrants" - Liz Cheney
“Nero fiddled while Rome burned. Trump golfed.” — Bernie Sanders
I don't care for stinkin' coax.
And yes, it works very well on VHF/UHF, you have to mind some issues. Low loss, arguably better than hardline. Biggest issue is it's a bitch to use on rotatable antennas. But a low loss balun with short runs of the expensive coax is a good solution there, at least through the VHF regions. Matching UHF is trickier, but do-able.
Another thing to consider is quad shield RG-6 75 ohm cable. It's very cheap, and low loss. All you have to do is make a short matching section of 50 ohm coax, using "the good stuff". This is done very easily with an antenna analyzer. Many of the RG-6 quad shield cables can handle a surprising amount of power, check the specs.
I have a bunch of surplus RG-6 quad shield that I got for free. Hams like free..
"Where would we be without the agitators of the world to attach the electrodes
of knowledge to the nipples of ignorance?" ~ Professor "Dick" Soloman
Im not drilling anything. The satellite dish is directly above the room that the radio will be going in. And there is already coax running from the dish to the room. But it's Cable TV coax installed for our modem. We've since switched companies and now that we have Uverse those lines aren't used anymore. I'm just going to pull it out and replace it.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote