[TowerTalk] LMR600 male DIN

[Steve Maki]

Yes it is. It's weird how they include the word Heliax in the title 
since it's not Heliax.

But even with the aforementioned caveats about smooth wall hardline, the 
stuff has one really valuable characteristic - there are no voids for 
water to get into. The center conductor is solid even on the big stuff, 
and the dielectric is bonded to both the center conductor and shield. 
You can leave an open end out in the weather for years and it will still 
be a pristine piece of cable when you're ready to terminate it.

The best smooth wall has a copper shield and copper clad AL center 
conductor, but you don't see that much anymore.

-Steve K8LX

On 9/9/2016 19:56 PM, Bob K6UJ wrote:

> Steve,
>
> For a newbie to these cables, is this an example of the smooth wall
> aluminum hard line you are talking about ?
>
> https://www.tessco.com/products/displayProductInfo.do?sku=452440

> On 9/9/16 4:16 PM, Steve Maki wrote:
>> On 9/9/2016 13:05 PM, Jim Brown wrote:
>>
>>> John,
>>>
>>> FWIW, I find LDF4 very reasonable to handle.
>>
>> Yes, and so does almost everyone who uses it on a regular basis. It's
>> very robust, and takes some serious abuse to damage it. I've seen both
>> LDF4 and LDF5 run over by cars on pavement with nary a dent.
>>
>> I'm sure the thinner shield AVA5 or equivalent would be squashed in
>> that scenario.
>>
>>   The "hard line" I find quite
>>> delicate are the varieties designed for use in CATV systems. I've got
>>> some and I'm using it on two monobanders, but it requires VERY careful
>>> handling. What I have is 1/2-in, 75 ohms, Cu-coated Al center, Al
>>> shield, so it's very easy to kink.
>>
>> Yes, and smooth wall 50 ohm aluminum hardline is the same, quite
>> fragile. In particular you must be EXTREMELY careful not to nick the
>> shield while installing a ground kit. A nick will turn into a complete
>> break of the shield as soon as you bend the cable near the ground kit.
>> We learned the hard way of course.
>>
>> -Steve K8LX