[TowerTalk] Yum, yum! That LMR400UF sure is tasty!

[Jon Barclay N5JA]

Dick Green wrote:
> 
> Well, that's what the critters on my property seem to think...
> ...
> I got to wondering about the composition of the cable jackets and how much
> that may be contributing to the problem.

It apparently makes a difference -- I have six relatively long runs of coax
to my Beverage antennas, using RG58 variant coax.  One is Belden 8240, one
is Belden 8219, and the other four are cheap "Ethernet" cable of Chinese
manufacture (that cost $0.045 per foot).

The rodents eat the Chinese stuff like candy.  If a couple of weeks pass with-
out my going over to the shack, I can count on one or more of the Beverages
being dead until I find the break(s) in the coax.

On the other hand, in 3 years the 8240 has only been chewed through once, and
I've never had to do a repair on the 8219 run (except when my grandfather
confused my "DO" and "DON'T" mowing advice).

I wonder if Belden purposely made the cable varmint resistant?

73,
Jon

-- 
Jon A. Barclay  N5JA  (ex-AA5BL)
N5JA@contesting.com

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