Topband: RG-6 Coax

[Jim Brown]

On Wed, 28 Jan 2009 14:50:33 -0800, Lee K7TJR wrote:

>Gary is spot on about so called RG-6.

Yes. It's VERY important to realize that RG numbers are so generic 
as to be meaningless. Any major cable mfr builds several dozen 
RG59s and a dozen or so RG6s. There are MANY differences -- 
jacket, dielectric, center conductor, shield construction, and so 
on. These differences translate to loss at various frequencies, 
power handling, physical ruggedness, resistance to sunlight, 
shielding coverage. And with all of these parameters, there are 
tolerances. Ya pays yer money and ya takes yer choice. 

Lots of cable is brokered -- that is, the company with their name 
on the box doesn't mfr it, they buy it from someone who does, and 
it can easily be a different factory every week. Lotsa luck with 
specs or quality control. If you CARE about quality, stick with 
one of the real cable mfrs. I'm in the US, so my short list 
includes Belden, Commscope, Gepco, and LMR, as well as a few 
vendors I might trust to have their own stuff contract-mfd. 

My favorite conversation with a cable broker occurred when I 
called and asked to speak to their chief eng'r. I got someone who 
sounded like a marketing chickie, claimed to be an engineer, but 
couldn't provide a single spec that meant anything. I asked where 
she got her degree. The response, "IBM." 

73,

Jim K9YC