I am seeking recommendations for a light-weight, flexible coaxial cable to minimize RF noise. Length = ~25 to 30 feet.
APPLICATION
The cable will be attached to a field-portable General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS) antenna which will be suspended from a tree, pole, or other high perch. The cable has a Male BNC at the antenna end and a Male SMA at the transceiver/radio end.
RG316 is too lossy
LMR-400 is too expensive
There may be others for consideration but so far this is what I’ve identified. These are in no particular order:
RG-8X
LMR-240 UF
RG-213
What other questions do you have to recommend a coaxial cable for this application?
Thank you for considering my inquiry. I look forward to learning.
You cannot really have cheap and good The cable isn’t too long, but you also need a short flexible adaptor cable at the radio end because lots of cable is too stiff. Clearly you want to plant the antenna high, but then you lose the benefit in the cable. LMR-400 vs 240 isn’t too much extra loss. Even 213’s extra loss could be negated by the high antenna. It’s just down to how much performance you need. I have a 6m portable mast and 213 to get to the top, and a few metres to the portable repeater. Not light weight really, though.
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I use LMR-400 between GMRS antennas and my 2 base stations. It IS expensive😩
The real value of this coax is not from a xmit standpoint but definitely from the ability to receive weak signals!
In my view, being able to receive weak signals and respond, makes the financial investment worth the money.
Best wishes,
Tom WRQE346
Hi Paulears,
Thank you kindly for your input. Weight remains a critical criteria (for my application) so it seems that I’ll have to rely upon field testing to see what works. Since the land (Florida) is relatively flat and I’ll be operating in rural (versus urban/suburban) areas, I concur that height is the one (1) variable over which I will have the most influence. I appreciate you suggestions.
Hi Tom7278,
Thank you for your thoughts. From what I’ve read, I understand that receiving weak signals is the prime benefit in investing in higher quality cables. As I mentioned to Paulears in this thread, my area is relatively flat with few (none?) obstructions aside from wilderness so, aside from the quality of the cable, my primary lever is height. Since this is for a field-portable (hand held) application rather than a base station or repeater, not surprised that my best bet is to select a good enough cable and field test it. I very much appreciate your input.
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