[TowerTalk] Hard Line Question

[Kipton Moravec]

I do not know what it is. 

I do not see any writing on the cable.  It is 1/2" in diameter.

The shield is solid and is silver colored. The inside conductor also
looks silver colored as opposed to copper colored. 

The coil loops are about 4' in diameter I do not see any kinks except at
the end of one piece, within 6" from the cut end.

Nothing looks black. The coil was sitting on the ground leaning against
a tree, so only a foot of it had contact with the ground. It is in an
area that had good drainage so it would not have flooded.  He said he
bought it from Texas Towers but I did not ask when.  He said he used to
have 5 or 6 towers but now only has one 100 foot one. 

Blake N4GI wrote:
"I've received used pieces before that had water 20-25 feet up.  If it
has been outside for years with no ends, it may be bad.  I usually cut
off 6" pieces and look for green copper on the inside (is it 50ohm?).
Stop when there's no more green copper.  Be sure to recycle the copper,
it's worth $3.00 a pound ;-)"

I do not see any green. The shield that has been exposed on the ends is
silver colored and solid, not a copper braid. I am assuming it is 50
Ohm.

Eric - VE3GSI wrote:
"Test first with a Megger if you can find one. I suspect a good
sensitive ohm
meter might work, but beg-borrow-or-steal a Megger if you possibly can.
The
Megger will put about 500V on the cable and will show moister in the
cable
in a matter of seconds. Reason to test this way first, you can only test
the
cable with the analyzer with ends installed."

Megger is pretty proud of their testers. I thought I saw one at Mouser
for $95.00 then discovered it was just the test leads.  I wonder who in
my radio club has one? I will have to ask around. For $495, I would
rather buy another radio than this tester.

Kip

On Wed, 2007-10-17 at 15:45 -0400, David Calder wrote:
> What it is? Comscope? Andrews? LDF-4 (1/2") LDF-5 (7/8") ect....
> 
> Dave n4zkf
>  
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: towertalk-bounces at contesting.com
> [mailto:towertalk-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of Kipton Moravec
> Sent: Wednesday, October 17, 2007 3:11 PM
> To: Towertalk
> Subject: [TowerTalk] Hard Line Question
> 
> A friend of mine just gave me a bunch (guessing 200' - 400') of hardline in
> about 6-8 pieces. Some pieces with connectors some without. So I plan to use
> this on two VHF antennas, and on a separate UHF antenna. 
> 
> So questions:
> 
> 1. How do you put connectors on this stuff?
> 
> 2. If it looks good, no cracks and the outside looks good, is it probably
> good? It has been sitting in a coil, outside, under and against a tree for a
> few years.
> 
> 3. On the pieces that have no end, if I cut off 1' - 2' I should be able to
> use it because I doubt if any water can penetrate that far up.
> Correct?
> 
> 4. My MFJ-259A should tell me if it is not good, as it has a coax loss
> measurement. Correct? What is the best way to test it?
> 
> 5. Should I use UHF or N connectors? The pieces that have connectors have
> UHF.
> 
> Kip
> 
> --
> Kipton Moravec KE5NGX
> "Always do right; this will gratify some people and astonish the rest."
> --Mark Twain
> 
> 
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-- 
Kipton Moravec KE5NGX
"Always do right; this will gratify some people and astonish the rest."
--Mark Twain