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Re: [TowerTalk] Cable question

To: "Gene Smar" <ersmar@verizon.net>, "Greg - AB7R" <ab7r@cablespeed.com>, <towertalk@contesting.com>
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Cable question
From: "Blake Bowers" <bbowers@mozarks.com>
Date: Fri, 12 Sep 2008 15:14:27 -0500
List-post: <towertalk@contesting.com">mailto:towertalk@contesting.com>
With a lot of commscope cable over 6-7 years old
you can have LOTS of issues finding connectors.

Battling with that now.


Don't take your organs to heaven,
heaven knows we need them down here!
Be an organ donor, sign your donor card today.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Gene Smar" <ersmar@verizon.net>
To: "Greg - AB7R" <ab7r@cablespeed.com>; <towertalk@contesting.com>
Sent: Friday, September 12, 2008 3:02 PM
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Cable question


> Greg:
>
>     Let's do the math and you decide whether the conversion to this 
> Commscope cable is worth it:
>
> cable on reels:  $25
> 4 N connectors (2 runs to tower):  $160
> Total cash outlay:  $185.
>
> Non-monetary outlay:
> Labor to remove old cable
> Labor to install new cable
> labor to install 4 new connectors
> labor to re-install at least one messed-up connector
>
> Risks:
> Bad N conn installation after all.
> Water ingress due to poor end seals while in storage.
> Need to add another pair of connectors and splice due to short length on 
> reel.
> Possibly not 50 Ohm cable - deleterious effect on SWR.
>
> Benefit:
> 1-2 dB less loss at 30 MHz.
>
>     To me it doesn't seem worth the effort, especially if your present 
> cable is working just fine.  Remember Hoppman's law:  The more you leave 
> it alone the better it works.
>
> 73 de
> Gene Smar  AD3F
>
>
> From: Greg - AB7R <ab7r@cablespeed.com>
> Date: 2008/09/12 Fri PM 03:37:30 EDT
> To: towertalk@contesting.com
> Subject: [TowerTalk] Cable question
>
> Looking for some assistance identifying some cable.  The only writing on 
> the jacket
> is 1996 COMMSCOPE.
>
> It's about 7/8 diameter, copper center conducter, a fairly stiff foam (I 
> think)
> dialectric and a full aluminum shielding (not braid).
>
> I called Commscope and at first the tech thought it would be 50-ohm cable 
> but all
> their 50-ohm stuff with the above characteristics has more writting on the 
> jacket.
> So he thinks its probably more likely to be CATV cable at 75-Ohms. 
> Probably has a
> loss of about 1.8-2 dB per 100ft at 2000 MHz.  That's gotta be pretty low 
> for HF/6M!
>
> Anyone out there familiar with this cable?  I have a run of about 150-ft 
> from my
> shack to my tower and wondering if it is worth it to replace the buryflex 
> I have in
> there now with this stuff.  I have 2 runs from shack to tower.
>
> I'll probably get the cable pretty cheap...maybe about $25 for a couple 
> large
> spools but each only has maybe 150-200 ft on it.  New N connectors will 
> cost me
> about $40 each.  Then adapters from N to UHF.
>
> The cable is pretty old....1996 but has been unused and on its original 
> wooden
> spool and stored outside.
>
> -------------------------
> 73,
> Greg - AB7R
> Whidbey Island WA
> NA-065
>
>
>
>
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