HAM RADIO - Coax Cable Choice - Save Money by choosing the Right Cable!
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- Опубликовано: 31 янв 2022
- Ham Radio enthusiasts need coax cable, often quite a lot of it. Make the right choice for your needs. Don't spend more than you need to. Peter, G3OJV, takes a look at the options, with a bit of humour added to take the boredom away!
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Thanks for another informative video Peter, and for the history lesson. What got me going was the nixie tube frequency counter just to the left of the FM transciever. I still have mine and it still works, a wonderful piece of kit.
Fascinating information that does connect the dots on things I never knew.. My Father served in the radio corps in WW II, and had told me of some of these facts. Thanks again, Peter
Holy crap. I was searching for some basic info on which coax to use. I feel whole now. lol. What a fantastic video on so many levels. Thanks for doing this.
Love these videos. Very informative 👍👍
Glad you like them! 73 Peter
Looking forward to your more complete review of the X6100, it looks very good on initial impression.
Good vid. as usual....loved Radio Shack
Glad you enjoyed it
Super helpful thank you! I’m completely new to radio but fascinated and am building a house. I’m planning to put an antenna in the attic but not sure what kind nor how long the run will be but we are working on the prewire…assuming 30-40 meters to get the cable down to the basement equipment room. In that case would you recommend the high-end coax just to be conservative?
I have not seen these coaxial cables in the USA. An interesting review. Thanks.
NOQFT
Liked the video as always but... Would have liked a quick chart of cables we use here in the US like RG58, RG8x, LMR400 etc that matched up with the ones use featured. OH! I assume you may have noticed the title is about ciax. Thanks for your hard work on these videos. Cheers
Hi Kirk, yes I did spot the error and have corrected it. 73 Peter.
informative Peter, now subbed 👍
Thanks for the sub! Take care. 73 Peter
One of my neighbours in the 1980s was a BBC engineer and a GM4. He ran his HF antennas on TV coax and his home made linear had Belling Lee connectors on it. I used TV coax for HF when I was a teenager. TV coax was better quality then of course, but I remember always running molten wax into the airspaced dielectric to stop water getting in. I don't know if it was bad or good, but it worked.
you should always but the best you can. otherwise, you will waste your money.
@@brian.7966 As a teenager in 1981 it was make do and mend. The cheapest 2m handheld that wasn't crystalled was £159. That's £648 in today's money.
RG6 has a good reputation these days. In fact, for VHF/UHF after I built a new antenna, all I had in the house was some satellite TV coax, 75 ohm. I ran some in just to give the antenna an initial try. It worked so will I've stuck with it, run from my FT-991.
Peter, are these coax cables at all similar, or corresponding, analogous, to the coax available in the U.S.A.? These are very different from what I know of. I have never heard of these cables here in the U.S. I should also say that I am a new ham. So there's a lot more to learn for me. Many thanks for your excellent teaching videos.
Bob W2YBK
I think these cables are mainly marketed in the EU. I am sorry, I am not familiar with USA cables but you should, be able to get the soecs. on the web, 73 Peter.
Using LMR-400 for VHF/UHF - RG213 for HF - LMR-240 for Portable - JEFA TECH and MPD Digital suppliers here in USA. Too many quirky defects in Xiegu, Baodung Chinese radios in my experience. ICOM IC-718 and YAESU FT-891 are refined outstanding radios without quirks, rather rock solid dependable performance. End of Story
Tge same criticism was levelled at Japanese products back in the 1960s. Thanks for watching. 73 Peter
Nice data on the cables...
Check the Aeroflex5 data, I think you have the 2m/70cm figures transposed 2.26db for 144 Mhz and 1.78dB for 432Mhz.
Connectors yes well they are the real issue. Regardless of Utube the number of people who cannot put on a connector is staggering. 99% of all antenna issues I have looked at for people have come down to PL259's
One friend who was having issues-- I pulled the 259 which came off the end of the cable with almost no effort at all.
There are better 259 connectors which are compression based and that avoids the need to solder on the braid. But even the centre needs a good powerful Iron to get a good joint, especially on the heavier cables.
I tend to use N type wherever possible, even for HF. (Compression 259's are a fairly recant development)
I usually also use self amalgamate tape on the connectors just to make sure, and I've cut tape off connectors I made up over 20 years ago and they still look like new.
Choosing the right cable is a very good starting point, but termination of the cable is I think even more important.
Andy
Will do
Andy... you are dead right. PROPER termination, of whatever type connector is CRUCIAL. Messi and Paoloni in Italy will provide you with any type of coax cable you need... terminated with whatever connector you want. As a ham for about 30 years I always did my own cable terminations... but each and every Messi cable comes with a Lab test certificate. So you know is is about as good as it can be,. I find that a high wattage soldering iron for the center connector... especially on the 13mm cables, is most important. I finally settled on an ERSA 150 watt unit.... my smaller units would just not hack it. Even so.... at times... even with 30 years experience... I have still managed to screw up the terminations.
As to the video... sure... I do partially agree.... but.... while on HF most cables will do fine if the run is not exceptionally long..... you might wish to use different bands at some time in the future. Say you want to run a whisper signal of 200milliwatt to your VHF/UHF antenna. The very best cable you can afford is crucial.... by the time that original 200mw signal gets to your antenna on say RG8... there is nothing left.... of course again depending on the length of the cable.
Even on HF I use a minimum of Messi & Paoloni 7mm cable...(Ultraflex7). All my VHF/UHF cables are the 13 mm Hyperflex and Ultraflex type.
Your point remains so very valid. UNLESS properly terminated... even the most expensive cables like Andrew Heliax are worthless.
I treat every completed connector with CoaxSeal, when attached to its antenna, ... have done so for 20+ years. Even after 20 years... those connectors look like new. Sadly... I have to get it from Amazon USA now... no one in the UK seems to stock it anymore.
Albert. EI7II.
Hi......... I use rg8 for the HF Bands is it any good ( 10 meter run into EFHW ) or should I up grade..............Anyway a good video ....................👍👍 .................
Yes it is. 73 PeterIt's good
The screen is awesome 👍 for this new hf radio Xeigu from China. Not sure about the durability compare to ICOM YAESU or KENWOOD😊... That 50 years clip about the coax is amazing! Have a great day stay safe VY 73 MABUHAY
Thanks for sharing
Are all coax resistant to frequently moving antennas ( beam) especially on VHF and UHF ?
Yes shoukd be no problem, even heavy coax. 73 Peter
Will a 'standard' pl259 be ok for the ecoflex type of coax, or is it recommended to purchase upgraded plugs?
Pl-259 are OK for Hf but you should use N-type for VHF and above.
Peter, some while back you were giving the benefits of a good quality RG58 and saying not to write it off. How much worse than even the smallest of these cables is it?
The 5mm cable is a smidge better, but tge outrr casing is a lot better, and should stand up erll in all weathers.
If a dipole is around 70 ohms I would think 75 ohm cable tv coax would work great?
You are correct. But as the comms standard is 50 Ohms we are stuck with gear and accessories all designed for 50 Ohms.
If you're on a budget go for a hike. Not only gain (S3 every 100 feet of elevation?) but lose weight and get in shape at the same time. Once you reach the summit the 5 watts from your FT-818 will be equal to every lardass with a kW at sea level.
Yes get out into the open air and on the air! 73 Peter
Better still if you can drive there. 🙂
How about cables available in the US?
More difficult because I don’t have access to USA cable although Google should bring up tbe specs.
I've got 50 ft feedline RG8x for HF and it's fine, but did move to RG-213 for VHF/UHF.
Thanks for sharing. 73 Peter
Aircell 5 has less loss on 432 Mhz than Aircell 7 I see, are you sure ?
The values have been reversed and I will correct in next video and put a message below the video.
@@watersstanton ah I should have guessed ok thanks
👍👏👏
Thanks Mark.
Ciax cable.. - och ayeeeeeee tha nooo it`s scottish for coax
The HP-13 power supply, predecessor to the 14. That would be funny running my HA-14 in the car... not. I think I'll stick with just the spark plug leads that came with the car.
I am a believer in you pay for what you get, you buy cheap you get cheap, that goes for radios and coax. if you spend a great deal of money on the radio why be a cheapskate on cheap coax.....
Yes makes sense. 73 Peter
Great video Peter as always, I’m mainly interested in Hf and have always used rg8 I’ve wondered about upgrading purely for better shielding in hope of decreasing noise levels , in reality do you think the quality of shielding helps this ? Thanks de 2e0nbk
Frankly no! Bad shielding might, but unless you have a more lossy coax or not happy wth the outer casing, stick with it. 73 Peter.
@@watersstanton thanks again cheers
Much better cable than the US LMR stuff.
My advice would be, do not go on RUclips to find out how to install a coaxial plug. Have you seen half the videos on this? I saw one where I thought it must be a prank. But no, it was so idiotic that he was further confident to make an instructional video on it and put it up. Most vids are either wrong or display poor practices. One I pointed out that he assembled a compression type plug in the wrong order (part in the wrong place) and he didn't even reply. This is because they simply want hits. He was praised by many who said they're going to buy some tomorrow and install them. I contacted him again to stress that he should take the video down as many are going to mess up their installation. No reply or action, and you see, these plugs were new to him. He pretended to be an expert on probably his second installment of the plug. If they're going to say install an Amphenol PL259 for RG58, look up their detailed instructions and diagrams.
Coax is a waste of $ and power. Best to use a more efficient balanced feedline like 4” open space feeder typically ends up around 580ohm with .02% loss. Copper thhn coated wire is cheap as chips, and so are most manual balance tuners
What anout Yagis, VHF, mobile, portable, erc. etc. …..
@@watersstanton yes vhf & unbalanced antennas do run into issues but I prefer balanced resonant antennas for best efficiency
Xeigu= Z~eye~gu
Well China students seem to have a different view on this. I guess the western world will make their own minds up. 73 Peter.
I have the Xiegu new Firmware installed today, love your videos .73 m0fxb
Glad you like them! 73 Peter