Coax for base

[nutcracker]

I Have a uniden 68 that i am running as a base for right now, but the coax i am using is JUNK. Im looking to upgrage to rg8u very soon, the thing is I mostly run barefoot for just local talking, or my 100w driver for talking a little farther. But when the skip rolls every once in a long while, the bigger box comes on and is around 800-900w. So would rg8u be overkill for barefoot talking which is around 50% of the time? I dont want to get coax that will be too small, because in the futer I see some more watts being pumped out. I had a section of lmr 400, but my antenna is up high so I need to get longer coax, and the rg8u is the cheapest coax that can handle about 1600w, or so it says.

[linx]

RG8U may be rated at 1600w, but I bet that's PEP and not RMS. I don't think I would want to run it at 1600w very long.

My favorite coax, by far, is RG-213. My entire base is wired up with Andrews Heliax, RG-213 and LMR-400. The LMR is great coax too, but is more pricey than a high quality RG-213. Like I said on another post, buy good stuff 1 time, and be done with it. You won't have to upgrade a long time. The shield on the LMR is better than the 213, but even the Ultra Flex LMR doesn't move as easy as RG-213. There's also 9913 but that seems like overkill. I like to be able to bend my coax and don't care too much for the solid core stuff. Granted, I do have LMR-400 solid core on my base, but it's on a 2 meter (144+) mhz antenna where line loss is more of a concern.

['Doc]

Determine how long of a run that coax will have to cover. Check a 'coax table' for losses at about 30 Mhz for that length of run. At HF, until those losses amount to about 3 dB or more, they make -no- practical difference. You decide how much loss is worth to you. Then select that type of coax. Unless that run is extremely long, the 'better quality' stuff like LMR, or hard line is an absolute waste below VHF/UHF, except for 'brag-factor'. Suit yourself.
- 'Doc

[Texas Mobil 219]

Belden 9913 solid core work great for base and mobil. Runs about .78 cent a foot. That what i paid anyway.

[nutcracker]

Well, got the 213, so far so good!

[Texas Mobil 219]

Good deal Nutcracker. 213 is a good cable.

[linx]

Well, got the 213, so far so good!

Awesome man. That's great coax. I think you'll be very pleased with it, and it should last for a really long time. I may be wrong but I think the shield on it has a 20 year UV exposure. That's really the only issue you should have...and by then I think you'll have your money's worth out of it, lol.

[nutcracker]

Thats great if it will last 20 years, I had rg58 buried for a few years before and it started rotting, but it was just junk radio shack coax. Another thing I was wondering was should I upgrade my whole coax setup? I ran a 93' run through my yard up a pole with the 213, and the radio has rg8x the whole way up until the meter, then the 213 outside. I got the 213 for the long run so the loss would be low, but would it benefit to upgrade all the jumpers to 213 also?

[drdx]

When it comes to coax, there is no such thing as overkill. Sure, there is a point where the dollar outweighs the loss factor in diminishing return, but a good low loss lmr or belden is even more important on a lower power station where you want the most. You can afford a few watts loss transmitting if you're running a kw, but if you're only running a few watts each watt counts even more and it is one of the only things that help something very important, and that's your recieve. Coax is something that you get what you pay for.

The main exception to this is for a very short run, where good quality is needed but loss is low so a decent RG8x will work fine. Beyond 100 feet, go for the better stuff. Worst case, you've spent what $25 more? That's pretty cheap for piece of mind for a piece of your station that may be there for years. I know that loss is less here in the HF region (3-30mhz) but we're at the top end of that area here at 27mhz. LMR400 around me retail is a buck a foot. For a 100 ft. run, that's $100. Let's say you can save $50 and get cheaper stuff that may cost you 1db. Sure that isn't much but it all adds up, and for the difference you have piece of mind. Maybe that cheap stuff has more loss. Get to the 3db range in loss and that's cutting your transmit, and RECEIVE in half, not to mention the better shielding qualities of better coax that help on a base in terms of intereference and noise. Some things you just can't put a price on. I'd gladly pay $50 per db for station improvement in the antenna department. That's cheap performance no matter what the part of the station and the db in coax works at all wattage ranges on transmit.

$100 bucks for let's say 10 years. That's 10 a year, or about 2.7 cents a day if you ripped it out in just 10 years. That's some pretty cheap performance.

-drdx

['Doc]

Change everything to RG-213? If you want to, do so. Would you be saving anything? I really doubt that. Got a dummy load? Find out for your self. Measure at the end of that RG-8x, then measure at the end of that RG-213. Do the appropriate math and you can find out what you are loosing in both of them. There will be slightly more loss in the RG-8x, but would gining that back be worth the cost? As far as the jumpers in the house, forget it. That RG-213 is going to be a lot more inconvenient that whatever you're using now.
Take a look at the loss figures for any of the LMR coax and compare it with the equivalent 'Belden' coax. The difference is in fractions of a dB per 100 feet. There has to be a whole pot full of those fractional dB losses before even a meter can tell a difference, much less your ears. It's your wallet, treat it accordingly.
- 'Doc