Topband: RG8X for Top Band receiving antennas

[Jim Brown]

On Tue, 24 Jun 2008 08:55:11 -0400, allan1 dejazzd.com wrote:

>Can any one tell me if it is okay to use RG8X instead of RG-58U 
>for top band receiving antennas other than beverages?  It is so 
>much cheaper and has the same impedance

That's probably because the RG8X is junk and the RG58 is quality 
stuff. For cable of equal quality, RG8X should be MORE expensive 
than RG58. Note that RG-specs for coax are broad as a barndoor. 
Virtually ANY decent coax will work with a Beverage. Loss is low on 
the bands where you'll use it, and loss doesn't matter anyway. 

What DOES matter is the extent to which the coax resists the 
penetration of moisture into the dielectric and resists varmints. 
Most guys use an RG59 or RG6 designed for use with MATV and CATV 
systems. That's because for equal quality, 75 ohm cables are MUCH 
cheaper than 50 ohm cables (thanks to the high volume of the video 
and MATV/CATV markets). DX Engineering sells a very good RG6 for 
that purpose -- it has a flooded dielectric that resists varmints. 

73,

Jim Brown K9YC