[TowerTalk] LMR600 up to the top of tower ?

Richard Thorne rthorne at rthorne.net
Sat Aug 1 07:19:27 EDT 2015


Lew,

I just finished a new tower.  I am running 7/8" hardline and lmr-600 to 
the new tower.  I'm also re-cabling the first tower by replacing the 
rg-213 with 7/8" and lmr-600.  So I'll need a lot of connectors.

I purchased a 2000' roll of times lmr-600 off of ebay for a heck of 
deal, less than .90 per foot shipped.

I found these connectors on ebay.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/QUICK-TYPE-10-Packs-N-male-crimp-connector-1-2-LMR-600-CA600-RF-Coaxial-Cable-/131217432221?

I was a little hesitant but I went ahead and ordered a bag of 10. If you 
look at the store they have a combo which includes a bag of 10 
connectors and a crimp tool.

I tested one of the connectors and I was quite impressed.  No soldering 
is required.  The center pin is self captivating and you crimp the 
shield.  If you use a cst-600 prep tool you can have the lmr-600 
connector ready within a matter of a minute or 2.  Slip the connector 
on, push until you feel a click (which tells you the center conductor 
has been captured), slip on the ferrule and crimp. Your done.  Based off 
of this test I ordered 4 more bags.  I had the N-male connector 
installed, start to finish, in less than 3 or 4 minutes.

Setup an account with Tessco.com  They have very good prices on the 
CSt-600 as well as adapters to convert the above N-Male connector to a 
pl-259.  These adapters are very high quality (they are made by RF 
Industries) and connect to the N with no slop.  The part number is 
Tessco part # is 94997.  For less than $10 (not including the shipping 
of the items) you have a good quality Pl-259 connector for LMR-600.

On my C31 Stack, I'm using LMR-600 for the phase lines, then 7/8" hard 
line from the stack match switch to the shack.

I'm going to try a few loops (maybe 2.5' to 3' in diameter) of 1/2" 
flexible Andrews hardline around the 55g where the tower rotates. Then 
I'll build some sort of pvc pipe contraption to hold the loops in 
place.  As the tower rotates the loops will either contract a bit or 
expand depending on the direction of rotation.  Haven't figured out how 
I'll climb around the loops yet when it's time for maintenance or to 
hang some wire antennas off the tower.

My goal is to have less than a 1db of loss on 10 meters.

Rich - N5ZC


On 7/31/2015 10:54 PM, Lew Sayre wrote:
> On a related note, is solder or crimping the best way to form a reliable,
> long lasting connector to LMR-600?
> If crimping, what is the best tool/system to use? I've always soldered the
> smaller coaxes in the past but always ready to learn a new trick.
> 73 and I remain,
>    Lew   w7ew
>
> On Fri, Jul 31, 2015 at 8:24 PM, Drax Felton <draxfelton at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> I do this with 1/2 hardline runs.   I wound a helix of steel rope around
>> the bundle and let it take the weight and cinch on the cables all the way
>> down.   Lowering the 90 tower just causes the hardline to form big loops on
>> the ground.
>> Tie down a length of it to an arm at the top so the cable connectors don't
>> flex and its held away from the tower.
>> Then use a turnbuckle on the steel rope at the bottom to keep it from
>> swinging in the wind.
>>
>>
>> Sent from Outlook
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Fri, Jul 31, 2015 at 5:43 PM -0700, "Robert Harmon" <k6uj at pacbell.net>
>> wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> I have a 380 foot coax run to the top section of my motorized tower when
>> it is fully extended.
>>
>> I am changing out all my old RG213 and thinking of saving a few db by
>> going to LMR600 up to the top section then
>> LMR400UF up from there for the rotor loop and up to the 40 meter beam and
>> triband/warc beam on the mast.
>> What do you think of LMR600 for this run from the shack up to the top
>> section for a motorized tower ?
>> When I lower the tower I am thinking I could coil the LMR600 into maybe 5
>> foot diameter coils on the ground.
>> BTW the tower is 90 feet to the top of the top section when all the way up.
>> Is this a bad idea ?  (I am hoping to avoid the cost of the flex LMR600UF
>> if I can.)
>> A side issue is I understand I have to be very careful not to nick the
>> copper clad on the center conductor
>> when installing a connector on the non flex LMR600.   I would use the
>> Davis PL259 connectors for LMR600.   Anyway maybe this usage of the
>> LMR600 is not a good idea, what do you think ?
>>
>> Bob
>> K6UJ
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>>
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