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[TowerTalk] Tarnished coax shield - use or discard?

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Subject: [TowerTalk] Tarnished coax shield - use or discard?
From: djl@andlev.com (Dan Levin)
Date: Sat, 15 Sep 2001 12:08:55 -0700
I have a piece of DavisRF BuryFlex that I used as a feedline on my crank-up.
It got caught in the tower one day, and the outer cover of the cable got
torn.  I didn't catch it for a couple of weeks, after which I taped over the
tears (small, maybe 1/16" by 1/2", two or three of them) with electrical
tape.  I took the cable down shortly thereafter.

Today, I cut that same piece of cable up to use as rotor loops for my new
tower.  I avoided the area where the tears were - discarding about 10' in
each direction from the damage.

When I went to put a connector on the cable, I found that the foil inner
shield was covered with a very fine white or grey powder.  Not too much of
it, but enough to make the foil appear dull, rather than shiny as usual.
The outer braid (which is tinned) also appears a bit duller than usual, but
not black or obviously discolored.

Should I use this cable, or discard it?  The braid takes solder just fine.
The inner conductor is shiny as new.  Your advise is greatly appreciated, as
always...

            ***dan, K6IF


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