[TowerTalk] Belden 8267

[Jim Brown]

Roger said,

>It appears to be pretty expensive for what is apparently the equivalent
>of the old standard coax with a solid PE dielectric, bare copper
>braid/shield, and 5" bending radius. 

As best I can tell from the Belden catalog, it's essentially the same as 
8237, but with a non-contaminating jacket, and a dielectric that gives 
lower loss at UHF (but both are solid PE). The cost premium at places 
like Markertek (a broadcast house) is about 22%. Sorry John -- their 
catalog lists only 500 ft and 1,000 ft spools. 

But that brings up an interesting question. When I talked with Belden 
engineers several years ago, they sort of downplayed the importance of a 
non-contaminating jacket, saying that all black PVC was pretty UV 
resistant. If that is true, given that the result of contamination is a 
degradation of the dielectric, and that loss at HF and VHF is almost 
entirely copper, should we still CARE about a non-contaminating jacket on 
cable that will be used only at HF?  

Important note -- I'm not stating this as fact, nor as a request for 
"opinions" or "what you've always heard/read," but as a question to those 
who may have seriously studied this and have real information on the 
topic. 

73,

Jim K9YC