Best coax

bmw316

What would be the best coax to use for my cb radio homebase its time to change the old stuf is about 15 years old?
tnx

Fuzzy Clam

Mightn't be the absolute best, but RG213 is roughly 1db loss/100 ft. Thats what I'd choose.

les45

RG 213 will do all you want and more , the only exception would be if you have a very long run to the Antenna , then you may need to invest in something a little better eg LMR400 or LDF450, but I would expect the 213 woluld be more than adequate

EI9HW

hbr

bmw316 wrote: »

What would be the best coax to use for my cb radio homebase its time to change the old stuf is about 15 years old?
tnx

If the length is less than 10-15M, use any co-ax that will fit in the plugs.
The low loss 75 ohm co-ax that is used for satellite TV works very well at
27MHz. If you are worried about the slight mismatch, just cut the length
to an exact multiple of half wavelengths. Make sure the connector at the
aerial end is waterproof. Semi-air dielectric co-ax makes a very effective
hosepipe. This stuff is dirt cheap to buy. It is slightly too big for the
standard RG58 size connectors, but you can squeeze it in with a
bit of effort.

For longer lengths of 20-30M or more, you will get slightly lower losses
with large diameter co-ax like RG213, UR67, Westflex 103 etc... Forget
about expensive heliax or hardline cables unless the cable run is hundreds
of metres. These cables are very expensive and the connectors are even
more expensive. It might be cheaper to buy a house which is closer to
the aerial :-)

bmw316

tnx lads ordered the LMR400 from ebay.
the cost of coax here is unreal. Thank god for ebay

les45

Good choice , I hope you will see the improvement on the change .

73s
De EI9HW:D

fatboymsport

I have seen a crowd in waterford selling LMR400 (copy) at a really good price

I know nothing about the company or the coax but looks too good to be true.


https://www.wi-pipe.com/advanced_search_result.php?antenna=0f822ee3a0eb426d5fb44059addb2aa1&keywords=lmr+400&antenna=0f822ee3a0eb426d5fb44059addb2aa1

you would not even get a roll of 213 here for that price

I dont need a roll but I am very tempted to buy one just to have here.

thejanitor

I can confirm that the LMR being sold is not copy and is of good quality. The company selling it are very reputable.

BTW: LMR will be of little use on 11m

Best used on higher freq

Fuzzy Clam

thejanitor wrote: »

BTW: LMR will be of little use on 11m

Best used on higher freq

Do you mean that there's no advantage to using LMR on 11 mtrs ?

In which case, you are correct.

humaxf1

CB/HAM (all radio communications at the end of the day) have been using RG-58 or RG-213 for yearssssss....

As other others have stated, LMR-400 is ideal at higher frequencies, ie, 2.4GHz. Bit of overkill @ 27MHz IMO

watty

Even on 430MHz LMR400 is excellent to give low loss on a 30m mast / 30m run. RG213 losses will lose too much signal unless you have a mast-head amp/pre-amp. With a long run to mast with no PA & preamp at the mast head, there is even a small value of LMR400 at 144MHz. I have LMR400 for half the run to the Watson300 (144MHz/430MHz) aerial as that is some distance from Shack. For HF I use RG58 as my max power is about 200W. For the VHF beam nearer shack I have RG213, but RG58 would nearly do as as well as the 30W PA and RX pre-Amp is up on the mast just below rotator.

At 27MHz or even 50MHz, LMR400 is pointless unless you have a 500m long run!

At 27MHz even RG58 is fine for most situations. RG213 only needed on HF for very high powers and/or longer runs.

And yes, CT100 and CT125 75 Ohm cable may work fine, the amount of mismatch depends on real impedance of Radio and Aerial, neither of which may be exactly 50 Ohm. With some 1/4 Whips and discones you might even get slightly better match on some CBs. However the Satellite coax (either size) won't fit either size of PL529 or N-Connector. You can get BNC for RG59, but not to fit CT100 or CT125. So using 50 Ohm cable is probably better.

eiei0

While both the last 2 posters make some valid points I dont agree with using 213 above 28mhz. On VHF every last .dB counts,unless you are just talking into the local repeater.

Serious VHF op's know what coax to use and its not 58 or 213.

I personally would not use LMR400 above 4m. the run i have as its 50m so thats 2.3db loss which to me is too much. I use ecoflex10 which has 1.4db @144mhz which is still high but for the Price its the best option available.

gbee

watty wrote: »

However the Satellite coax (either size) won't fit either size of PL529 or N-Connector. You can get BNC for RG59, but not to fit CT100 or CT125. So using 50 Ohm cable is probably better.

There is an insert available for the PL529 that takes smaller cables, like RG58/9 & Satellite. Needs soldering.

watty

Also need drilling out for RG59, CT100 etc as these won't fit on decent quality RG213 to RG58 adaptors.