[Towertalk] coax on new tower ( high desert )

[Jon Ogden]

I've not seen this problem ever.  I've tie wrapped or taped all my cables
over the years and have never seen an issue.  It's hard for me to believe a
little tie wrap could hurt a dielectric.

Even if you deformed the dielectric a little, you would not notice anything.
Perhaps you would at 10 GHz, but then again, you wouldn't use any of these
cables at 10 GHz!  Come on, let's be practical.  The little impedance bump
seen from a slight deformation of the dielectric will be unnoticeable at HF.
And how will it be a "failure waiting to happen."??  A tiny deformation
isn't going to make the cable fail.  That's just not true.

73,

Jon
NA9D

on 10/7/02 9:53 AM, Steve Katz at stevek@jmr.com wrote:

> The problem with RG8 "foam" cables is the same problem that all "soft"
> cables have, that being it's mechanically fragile.  If handled with care, it
> should last a long time.  But it should not be clamped, ever, to anything,
> and I'd avoid the use of even nylon tie-wraps with foam dielectric cables
> other than hardline.  When taping foam dielectric cables (or spiral, air or
> gas filled dielectric cables that are soft, including 9913, LMR400, CXP1318,
> etc, etc), PVC tape may be used, provided it's not pulled tightly during the
> wrapping, and the tap wrap loosely spirals a few inches of cable to its
> fixing (boom, mast, tower leg, whatever).  If PVC tape is pulled and
> stretched during wrapping, that is a failure waiting to happen.


-------------------------------------
Jon Ogden
NA9D (ex: KE9NA)

Life Member: ARRL, NRA
Member:  AMSAT, DXCC

http://www.qsl.net/ke9na

"A life lived in fear is a life half lived."