[TowerTalk] dustributors of coax and copper wire?

[Gary "Joe" Mayfield]

I'm a customer of (Standard disclaimer applies)

http://www.coaxman.com/ 

but he is more than driving distance for you I imagine.  I have known folks
who tried to rotate LMR-400 and in 6 months they put in LM-400UF.

I still like copper clad steel for antenna wire.  It has a bad wrap of being
hard to work with, but if you can lay it out on the ground, and straighten
it out before putting it up it isn't that bad.  Once it is up it will
outlast the trees you attach it to.


73,
Joe kk0sd



-----Original Message-----
From: towertalk-bounces at contesting.com
[mailto:towertalk-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of ke2d at comcast.net
Sent: Wednesday, January 27, 2010 4:38 PM
To: towertalk at contesting.com
Subject: [TowerTalk] dustributors of coax and copper wire?



Anyone have any recommendations for the best place to buy large quantities
of coax and antenna wire from? 



I am in the midst of installing a new tower and need to start ordering
materials.  I need 2000ft of LMR400 style cable, 200ft of LMR600, probably
1000ft or so of dipole wire, and misc wire antenna related stuff
(insulators, center feed baluns or insulators, rope, etc).  Also 200ft or so
of HD rotor cable.  At these quantities I want to buy from a wholesaler, or
a place which is going to provide decent pricing.    Shipping is also a
concern, so if I can find a supplier within driving distance, all the
better. Any suggestions? 



Has anyone used the newer Belden RF400 series cable?  Or the knockoff brands
of LMR400 equivalent? There are two vendors on eBay selling 1000ft rolls of
LMR400 equivalent cable for $325/1000ft roll, which so far seems hard to
beat. Even better, they are within driving distance to pick it up.  



Also, is anyone using standard LMR400 in a loop near their rotor?   I used
9913 in my last installation, and it seemed to hold up ok after a number of
years' rotations.  I later replaced it with 9913F7 while performing
maintenance as a preventative measure more than anything else (easier to
change while the tower is down).  Just wondering if it is worth the extra
expense of buying the flex versions... 



One more question - Which type of wire does everyone recommend for wire
antennas?  I plan to install a full  wave delta  loop for 75m, a full wave
delta loop for 160m, a full length dipole for 75, and a maybe a few others
(60m comes to mind).   Looking at some of the vendor sites, I see there is a
number of types of wire available. Is one type preferred over the other?   I
am on a hill where I experience higher than normal winds, so I don't want to
skimp and wind up spending more time repairing antennas then using them. 



Thanks 

Eric 

K2WD 



  
_______________________________________________



_______________________________________________
TowerTalk mailing list
TowerTalk at contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk