[CQ-Contest] Station Re-Build - Coax

[Jim Brown]

Both for re-wiring my station and for my project on the new Choke 
Cookbook, I've purchased roughly 200 ft of RG400, all printed with the 
label of Harbour Industries. It is relatively stiff, as are other Teflon 
cables like RG303 and RG142. I terminate the cables with Amphenol 83-1SP 
connectors and silver-plated reducers. The shield clearly is a double 
braid, quite dense, and requires effort with a suitable pick to comb 
out, but with a decent temperature-controlled soldering station, it's 
quite easy to make excellent solder connections to the shield by folding 
it back over the reducer and screwing the reducer into the connector 
body. And I am careful not to nick strands of the center conductor, 
using a good stripper to do the job.

FWIW, NA6O, an U of Ill EE and very sharp cookie, has been doing a lot 
to improve N6RO's already quite excellent contesting station, and has 
been using a lot of RG400 in it. He's bought some from China and has 
been quite satisfied with it.

73, Jim K9YC

On 3/14/2019 5:48 AM, N4ZR wrote:
> Oops.  I did some more dissecting on the cable, and I'm wrong about the 
> shielding. That leaves only the absence of printing - this is advertised 
> as Harbour Industries RG-400 - and its stiffness.  This stuff is quite 
> hard to bend in even an 8" coil.  Can anyone who has used real RG-400 
> confirm whether it feels supple and flexible to the touch?  I have one 
> jumper in my station that looks like the same stuff, but which is very 
> supple.  I bought it at Dayton a few years aho, already connectorized. I 
> can believe a 1" minimum bend radius with it, but not with the stuff 
> from China.
> 
> 73, Pete N4ZR
> Check out the Reverse Beacon Network
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> 
> On 3/13/2019 9:51 AM, N4ZR wrote:
>>
>> I just bought 10 feet of RG-400U (supposedly Harbour Industries) 
>> through E-bay for $13.  Belatedly, I learned it was coming from 
>> China.  It's now here, but I don't think it is for real - it only has 
>> one shield, and is somewhat stiff.  At least the inner conductor isn't 
>> magnetic.There's no printing on the cable.
>>