With all this talk of water migration, I'm surprised there is no
mention of Trilpgy cable. They guarantee it against water migration!
They do not have a good superflexible product, however. It's even made
in USA. http://www.trilogycoax.com/ --73, Mike, WV2ZOW
On Wed, Oct 25, 2017 at 9:34 PM, Jeff DePolo <jd0@broadsci.com> wrote:
>> FSJ4 has a black polyethylene jacket. This material used in
>> other Heliax
>> products and it is perfectly suited for outdoor use. The
>> jacket is thinner
>> than LDF4 however it is still pretty though.
>>
>> John KK9A
>
> I think you meant to write the jacket is tough, not that it's pretty.
> Anyway, the composition of the jacket isn't the issue.
>
> If you get even the slightest nick in the jacket of Superflex, due the
> helical ("spiral") corrugation, you will eventually have a flooded lower
> connector as moisture is able to "spiral down" the cable between the jacket
> and shield. The problem is most prevalent at colder latitudes, where all it
> takes is a few freeze-thaw cycles and what started out as a little nick in
> the jacket turns into a gaping wound.
>
> I can't tell you how many problems we've had over the years with Superflex
> used as an antenna jumper. The failures are always the same - a flooded
> lower connector.
>
> Between the thicker jacket and annular ("ring") corrugation of regular
> Heliax, it is less likely to suffer this kind of failure as compared to
> Superflex. But it still can and does happen. If you slice open a piece of
> Heliax or cut off the bottom connector of a run of Heliax and the outside of
> the shield has turned green or black, that's a tell-tell sign that you have,
> or had, water between the jacket and shield.
>
> If you want additional reports of the undesirability of Superflex outdoors,
> pose the question on one of the mailing lists oriented toward the wireless
> industry and see what kind of response you get from the veterans. Cell
> carriers and others quit using Superflex outdoors for antenna jumpers a long
> time ago due to these problems; standard 1/2" Heliax is the preferred jumper
> between the main feedline and antenna (or TMA or RRH or whatever). Even
> some of the equipment manufacturers' literature states that Superflex should
> not be used outdoors, and I believe it was even stated in Andrew print
> catalogs back in the day, I can check.
>
> --- Jeff WN3A
>
>
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