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Coax best price?

Se7en

Se7en

Well-Known Member
Jun 27, 2010
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Ca
I need to pick up 75' (feet) 23m+/- of LMR400 for UHF VHF antenna X300A. Also my radio uses STUPID so239 and i was wondering if its better to go with N connectors on the Coax and just use adapter on the radio pl259 to N? obviously i should order the N antenna and not UHF type:unsure: but would like the least amount of loss:censored:
 
Last edited:

That is a good antenna.
I used to use the Comet GP-9.
Replaced it last year with the Diamond X6000a
Has almost same gain on 2 meter & 70cm
However also adds 23cm band.

I recommend Putting it as high up as you can ofcourse..
Mine is on roof of 3 story building with a chimney mount
But added a 10 foot Mast
( think i may add another 10 ft or 24 ft mast to it )

Now to your Question
75 feet is Not too far a run.
However you are using UHF
as such you may want to consider Heliax 1/2 inch
( i use 1 & 7/8 inch for VHF through UHF )

However i am using about 135 foot run of feedline.

If you can.. use the N connection.
It offers better connection
is more water resistant
(not much difference realized inside though unless your radio takes N connection )
 
KingCobra_CDX882 said:
That is a good antenna.
I used to use the Comet GP-9.
Replaced it last year with the Diamond X6000a
Has almost same gain on 2 meter & 70cm
However also adds 23cm band.

I recommend Putting it as high up as you can ofcourse..
Mine is on roof of 3 story building with a chimney mount
But added a 10 foot Mast
( think i may add another 10 ft or 24 ft mast to it )

Now to your Question
75 feet is Not too far a run.
However you are using UHF
as such you may want to consider Heliax 1/2 inch
( i use 1 & 7/8 inch for VHF through UHF )

However i am using about 135 foot run of feedline.

If you can.. use the N connection.
It offers better connection
is more water resistant
(not much difference realized inside though unless your radio takes N connection )
Click to expand...
hi, had to hop on a desktop to reply, mobile takes too long (small letters).
Andrew Heliax? isn't that a little bit of overkill? Looking at my pricing its about 110$ usd for the lmr400. How much is the Heliax? my FTM-350AR uses a SO239 (STUPID), if i could id remove it toss it in the trash and put in a N plug but can't void the warranty. my current install is one of these as well: Edit: http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/antsup/2750.html
 
Somewhere on here is a discussion about UHF versus type N connectors. We pretty much beat that one to death and in the end it was agreed that for normal activity there is absolutely NOTHING wrong with an SO-239 on 2m or even 70cm.The difference between types is a mere fraction of a fraction of a dB. Poor installation of any type connector yields more lose than a normal SO-239. If someone was into extreme weak signal such as EME then it may pay to convert everything, radio, transmission line, phasing cables etc, over to type N as it may account for a whole whopping 1 dB which on weak signal digital modes may make the difference between copy and not. For FM work which your radio is it will make no difference at all. Installing type N connectors on the cable and then using an adapter on the radio is senseless as the adapter will exhibit loss thereby defeating the purpose. When talking about gain/loss differences of something in the order of 0.01 dB each connector it is hard to make up gains one piece at a time.

BTW you are going to have far more loss in your cable than you will ever see in any connector so worry more about the quality of the cable than the single SO-239 jack on the radio. Heliax is the way to go but for most the benefit is far outweighed by the cost. RF Parts has 1/2 inch heliax for $2.65 per foot for less than 100 foot lengths and the connectors are about $35 EACH for new connectors so you can see it adds up FAST. Great if you have the money or a free source of it. I was lucky to have been able to acquire some when some systems were taken out of service and now have enough for four runs of 1/2 inch heliax from shack to tower top but would NEVER consider it if I had to buy everything.
 
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I think LMR-400 would do just fine for how you'd be using it. I also think that used coax isn't the best idea in the world, at least not at the price you quoted. I've seen new LMR-400 for less that that (and bought it).
Those PL-259's work just fine at VHF/UHF. May not be absolutely perfect, but you'll never hear a difference. Wheels have been around for a long time too, and they are stll as useful as they've ever been, you know?
- 'Doc
 
I did more spec reading on a site. I think lmr600 would be better than lmr400?
Thanks ck for the read.
 
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I agree with the LMR600. Somewhere in my ramble above I forgot to suggest it as I was going too. I myself would stay away from used cable. You have no idea if it was exposed to water or anything else.
 
VS,
Dont know where you are located but you cant beat these guys if you are anywhere near by:

JEFA Tech

AT least one of them is a Ham and they have great service. They will also steer you to the correct cable and connectors for what you are doing. They have specs on thier web site. I am only 20 miles form them and I get stuff next day with UPS. Great guys !!!
 
Billk said:
VS,
Dont know where you are located but you cant beat these guys if you are anywhere near by:

JEFA Tech

AT least one of them is a Ham and they have great service. They will also steer you to the correct cable and connectors for what you are doing. They have specs on thier web site. I am only 20 miles form them and I get stuff next day with UPS. Great guys !!!
Click to expand...

Yeap not sure if im close but iv ordered lots of coax in the past from them. Ill check them out for pricing. I didn't get into pricing until I figured out which kinda of coax.
 

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