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RadioShack coax

Is radioshack coax good for CB under 1Kw?


  • Total voters
    33
  • Poll closed .

Radio Shack coax makes a good dummy load.
You can give it to the neighbor girl and let her skip rope with it.
You can tow a small car with it if you double or triple it up.
You can use it for a ground wire - maybe.
If you are hard up for making some short jumpers - maybe.
You can hollow it out and use it for siphoning gas - just once.
Sell it for the copper in it.
But DON'T use it with ANY power - or anything more than a VERY short run to an antenna.
Humor...and serious...
 
I've used it in a pinch -- never again. Speaking of pinch, those crimp-on connectors are total junk. Ya get what'cha pay for...

Belden 9913F7: the only way to fly.
 
FWIW
Needed some coax for a new install. Wanted it RIGHT NOW, so went to the 'Shack'. Got 50 feet in a box, assumed it was as good as what I've seen there on a roll. 'Fraid that was the last 'Shack' coax I'll ever get! It is NOT as good as anything they ever had on a roll, they no longer carry Belden/International/whatever.
Had to change my mind about them, oh well. I eventually made it work okay, but wouldn't recommend any 'Tandy' coax at all any more.
- 'Doc

I figure there's more copper in a silver dollar than in the braid of that 50 feet of...stuff.
Assume = an ass out'a you and me. Don't know about you, but hay is starting to look good.
 
Oh, boy.
Here we go again...

Coax Calculator

That is the page for the coax loss calculator. Hams and CB users alike use it to figure out the LOSS in db's for a cable run, how may watts, what kind of cable, and so on.
Assuming that you are using ch 20 most of the time, your antenna match/SWR is 1.2, and you have 600 watts output power with 100 ft of the Radio Shack RG-8X coax - the loss would be:

182 watts!
Yep!
600 watts out of your radio/amp and and thru to your coax to your antenna is only 418 watts.
That's almost 30% loss!

Now, use the coax calculator and see if it doesn't come out the same.
Then, change the cable used to Belden 9913 and see the difference!
There is always going to be loss - even with the best of cable. All you can do is use the shortest amount/length of the best coax you can get. Remember, if you buy/use only as much as the job requires - you cut out more loss even further.

Now, do you still think the Radio Shack coax is worth it?
That answer is up to you....
 
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Rat Shack stuff not even worth while talking about

9913 not bad
LMR-400 ok

I still use my LDF5-50a for HF
try the coax calculator for that ... lol
 
I just wanted to chime in for the cheapskates of America and the "If it ain't broke the don't fix it" crowd. I have been running 50 feet of Tandy RG8 from the early 80's without any problem. Now, granted the stuff was NOS from a auction that came with a 1/2 wave GP. Radio Shack does not even sell this stuff any more. I thought the ends were junk so I had the replaced with new. I have had success running barefoot. The max I have put through it was 150 watts from a 2 pill box.

Secret Squirrel(y)
 
Radio Shack's RG-8/U is the same as any companies' RG-8/U (solid center conductor and 97% braided shield), just twice as expensive. I am still using some of the several hundred feet I bought in the late 70's (sold at $.21/foot - cut at the store from giant spools) Be that as it may, coaxial cable use as a transmission line is very lossy and running long lengths of coax attenuates TX significantly particularly on higher frequencies (the higher the frequency, the more attenuation). I would go with 600 ohm open-ladder line (with a balun) as a transmission line, the balance between the two conductors leads to less loss of RF signal but you risk electrifying trespassing neighborhood kids, but hey, if you are going to make an omelet, you gonna have to break a few eggs, Right?

Joe
 
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The coax they had in the 70's and 80's is not the same type, quality or brand they have today.

I'm sure most are aware of that though so to compare the antique coax of those decades to todays would be like comparing a Cobra 2000 to a Cobra 29 Night Watch Sound Tracker Dale Earnhardt Harley Davidson Bluetooth Edition with a channel kit and a power supply.
 
The coax they had in the 70's and 80's is not the same type, quality or brand they have today.

I'm sure most are aware of that though so to compare the antique coax of those decades to todays would be like comparing a Cobra 2000 to a Cobra 29 Night Watch Sound Tracker Dale Earnhardt Harley Davidson Bluetooth Edition with a channel kit and a power supply.

Yeah, it's like comparing a AK-47 with stamped out parts to a AK-47 with actual machined components - it works but I aint thrill with sticking my clip into it.

BTW, heckler & koch 416 is my weapon of choice with the modified AR-15 as very close second.
 

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