Can I cut the ends off of old cable TV coax and add PL-259 connectors

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It dawned on me I quite a bit of old coax around





Right now I'm in in infancy stage of antenna the goal at the moment is to at least get something outside so no it's not gonna be the ultimate end game set up and of course I like to learn as I go along.

I'm sure many facepalm moments will ensue

Thanks

Oh yeah I reckon there is more than one type of PL-259 I watched this video seemed reasonable

 

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I had a tough time finding these screw together types


But they are available like from a place called max gain

Do you guys like these screw together or the crimp type

 

[AudioShockwav]

Technically, yes you 'can' use 75 ohm TV coax....
There was a member here years ago that used commercial 75 ohm cable to feed a antenna several hundred feet up the side of a mountain because that's what he had and it was extremely low loss.
But
Your radio and antenna and everything else wants to see 50 ohm coax and it will work best to stick with that if you can.


That is the simple answer

If you do some Internet searches on radio antennas and feed lines it will help you understand how you can feed different antennas with different types of feed lines.


73
Jeff

 

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Ah yes sir
First facepalm moment achieved
Thanks

 

[brandon7861]

Let us not forget the golden rule of coax transmission lines. At half wave multiples, the input impedance equals the load impedance regardless of what impedance the coax is. So yes, if you make it electrically a half wave or multiple and the antenna is 50ohm, it will work excellent.

How about a worst case situation, 450 electrical degrees of RG-6/U connected to a 50ohm antenna. SWR2.2 and power into load is 78.1% (simsmith).

I'd say, if your goal is to get on the air, do it!

There are plenty of ways to match the impedances too.

 

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Well I decided to keep it simple for the time being and go low tech





Still disappointed all I seem to get is the bowlers some guy shouting Johnny Ringo over and over without taking a breath

 

[9C1Driver]

That works for a quick temp start. Something like an Antron 99, ten feet of mast pipe, and 30 feet of coax can get you going even better. I ran an IMAX 2000 on 20 feet of mast pipe on the side of a pole barn for 15 years with zero problems.

 

[AudioShockwav]

That works for a quick temp start. Something like an Antron 99, ten feet of mast pipe, and 30 feet of coax can get you going even better. I ran an IMAX 2000 on 20 feet of mast pipe on the side of a pole barn for 15 years with zero problems.

I don't know if you remember The user ' Hook ' but for years he talked on a a99 on a ten foot mast leaning against his garage.
I worked him on SSB many times from CA to TX

73
Jeff

 

[Crawdad]

I had a tough time finding these screw together types
View attachment 77283

But they are available like from a place called max gain

Do you guys like these screw together or the crimp type

That's not a screw together type. It's a solder type with a UG-176 adapter for smaller diameter coax such as RG58, RG59, RG8X, etc.


Here is a crimp/solder connector. A ferrule is crimped over the shield against the body of the connector. The center conductor is soldered to the the center pin of the connector. IMO they are 100% reliable and quicker to install than solder/solder types. The do require a proper crimping tool however.

 

[Pioneer621]

I used cable TV coax when I was young as that was all we had on hand. If I were buying coax for CB it would not be that, but if I had it on hand it can work for a basic lower power setup. My first antenna was an old car stereo antenna on 10ft of fence post, with cable TV coax. Only one or two guys in the neighborhood could hear me.

That mobile antenna on the table is not going to perform well. Could you shoot skip with it and make some contacts, with the right conditions, sure, but not going to perform very well, especially for any local chat.

A cheap base antenna on 10 to 20ft of pipe makes a huge difference. I am not up to date on antennas and what’s available. Guessing none of it is as cheap as it once was, but keep an eye out on craigslist, marketplace, offerup, places like that for old used base antennas, they do pop up cheap from time to time. Do a ton of different simple search key words.

Perhaps others will be against it, but I used 20 feet (two 10ft sections) of top rail fence post for many years with no problems, had them clamped to a 4x4 fence post that was sunk into the ground with concrete. Wasn't as nice as the telescoping mast I got years later, but that fence post certainly worked.