[TowerTalk] Crappy LMR600

[Jim Brown]

I agree with all of this.

AND -- a point that is often missed is that below about 500 MHz, 
transmission line loss is entirely due to I squared R. The only benefit 
of a foam dielectric is to allow the center to be larger for a given 
shield size. THAT'S why foam coax has lower loss below 500 MHz. Those 
who understand this use hard line for long runs from the shack to the 
top of a tower (or to the bottom of a crank-up) and a RG8-size coax for 
stuff that has to move.

As to high dipoles -- I use them for 80 and 40, and feed them with a 
good RG11. Tension is about 100#, supplied by water jugs filled with dry 
sand on one of the two support ropes that go through pulleys in the 
trees that hold them.

73, Jim K9YC

On 8/24/2017 9:28 AM, Clay Autery wrote:
> Overkill?  Depends on your goal...  Mine is to NOT have to do
> unnecessarily frequent maintenance/replacement.  And a wet cable is
> unnecessary.
> Wasted Money?  I bout the "-DB" stock I used last for less than a dime's
> difference.  As it will likely last TWICE as long, it was a bargain.
> Heavier?  Insignificant except for MAYBE wire dipoles with no middle
> support...  Use better engineering or bigger dipole wire and pull more
> tension.  Or don't worry about getting it perfectly flat.
> Unsuitable? Matter of opinion even in your subset of wire antennas.
>
> I will reiterate what my Dad taught me:
>
> "If you cannot afford to do <insert task> once, you certainly cannot
> afford to do it twice."