Thanks for all of the comments. Suffice it to say I'm surprised at the
brand most mentioned in your responses ... and I think many of you are
going to be surprised as well.
To Jim's (W7RY) point ... It does very occasionally get below freezing
here, a few days a year typically. It has done so a few days this
winter. I don't recall that happening at all last winter. But the
failure affected multiple runs of cable and only where it is exposed to
the sun. For it to be due to water intrusion, I'd have had to botch
weatherproofing a lot of connectors (I have ground bonding top and
bottom of the tower using conductive brackets and threaded barrel
connectors) or I've had to nick the jacket in several runs of cable to
enable that particular failure. Not impossible, but I don't think it likely.
I was reluctant to name the product, because I'm not here to bash it and
I don't want my post to be interpreted as such. I do want to know if I
misapplied the cable, or installed it incorrectly. Seeing all of the
testimony in favor of the product gives me pause.
"Brand X", the cable that failed is in fact Bury-FLEX. I sent email
about this to Steve Davis, who does post on this list from time to time.
Its been about a week, and he has not responded. I bought 525 feet of it
for this project.
"Brand Y" is Times Microwave LMR-400-DB. I don't have any of that on the
tower. But where it emerges from the conduit at both ends, it still
looks new and shiny. The Bury-FLEX in those same locations is dull,
checked and cracked.
An interesting difference between the two is the waterproofing "jell" in
the 400-DB. So maybe that supports Jim's suggestion of water in the
cables freezing. Hmm.
I've replaced almost all of the cable on the tower with DX Engineering
RG-213 which I had on hand for another project. I didn't have quite
enough, so one of the four cables in the rotor loop is Belden 9913F I
"borrowed" from a neighbor ham. I haven't used either of these cables in
the past, so I'm curious to see how they hold up.
Does the reflector permit attachments? I have photographs.
On 2/14/23 21:49, Jim W7RY wrote:
MEEE too.
It's not bashing a product. Its actual fact... If it is as you say. Not
much chance of water freezing inside of the jacket at your location?
73, Jim W7RY
On 2/14/2023 7:29 PM, Lee Hiers wrote:
I would be interested in what brand x and brand y really are - brand and
model.
73!
Lee, AA4GA
--
Art Greenberg
WA2LLN
art@artg.tv
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