If I can ever escape this HOA and get to a property that I can install a base antenna I'm going to run my coax through some cheap PVC pipe. More expense, but hopefully fewer surprises from tree rats.
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M104C Project
- Thread starter TimmyTheTorch
- Start date
Yet another reason why i recommend hardline. U
It is a neglige cost difference that pays enormous dividends far less loss, better connectors, squirrel proof. You could use 1/4 hardline if you wanted.
To put it in comparison, belden rg213 is 1.35 a foot, i bought ldf4-50a for a whooping 1.65 a foot ... Its a no brainer.
Rg213 loses 30% of its power on a 100ft run . 1/2" hard line loses something like 8%. It literally gives you back free watts.
It is a neglige cost difference that pays enormous dividends far less loss, better connectors, squirrel proof. You could use 1/4 hardline if you wanted.
To put it in comparison, belden rg213 is 1.35 a foot, i bought ldf4-50a for a whooping 1.65 a foot ... Its a no brainer.
Rg213 loses 30% of its power on a 100ft run . 1/2" hard line loses something like 8%. It literally gives you back free watts.
Shadetree Mechanic
Delaware Base Station 808
Not trying to hijack the thread, but where does a person get hard line and connectors?
I got the coax entirely off the ground, cleaned out the spots where the casing had been chewed through, covered them with liquid tape and then after that dried, covered the spots with Temflex rubber splicing tape. So far, so good with the RF problem being fixed. I was able to make several contacts to England, Ireland, California and Florida and had great sound on the monitoring radio too.
So it looks like having a section of coax lying on the ground with exposed shielding in contact with the ground messes up the works a bit. Or it's just a coincidence that the problem went away after fixing the coax casing. I did not make any other changes.
I did end up ordering two new 50 foot RG213 coax to replace this patched coax before winter.
But before I do that, I need to weld up a removable joint brace to put where the first 11' section of mast joins the second 11' section. It is already internally reinforced but when I was raising the setup, I was not comfortable with how much it still gave. So time for an external brace made from two 2" wide by 1/4" thick pieces of 48 inch long steel angle iron. I am going to weld on multiple tabs on each one and drill a hole in each so I can use grade 8 bolts to basically have the mast as the hot dog and the angle iron as the bun surrounding and supporting the joint. Plus I haven't been able to play with the welder for a while, so that's a factor too!
So it looks like having a section of coax lying on the ground with exposed shielding in contact with the ground messes up the works a bit. Or it's just a coincidence that the problem went away after fixing the coax casing. I did not make any other changes.
I did end up ordering two new 50 foot RG213 coax to replace this patched coax before winter.
But before I do that, I need to weld up a removable joint brace to put where the first 11' section of mast joins the second 11' section. It is already internally reinforced but when I was raising the setup, I was not comfortable with how much it still gave. So time for an external brace made from two 2" wide by 1/4" thick pieces of 48 inch long steel angle iron. I am going to weld on multiple tabs on each one and drill a hole in each so I can use grade 8 bolts to basically have the mast as the hot dog and the angle iron as the bun surrounding and supporting the joint. Plus I haven't been able to play with the welder for a while, so that's a factor too!