On Tue, 23 Aug 2005 16:04:06 -0400, Gary Schafer
wrote:
On Tue, 23 Aug 2005 18:45:33 GMT, (Bob) wrote:
i agree. in a perfect world this would be true. but the fact is that a
connector with rg 58 is less able to handle mechanical stress than one
using a more robust cable. lots of boats have connectors attached
improperly.
Lots of boats have a lot of things improperly attached. That is no
evidence bigger is better unless you plan to swing from the cable.
communications is one area where bigger is better, in this case.
as someone pointed out here, the marine environment is different than
the land based one. for short runs not subject to stress rg 58, while
obsolete, can work. but it's ridiculous to use when when other,
superior cables are available.
Then I suppose all boat antennas should be fitted with hard line. Why
would you even want to use RG8 type cable if bigger cable is
available.
I was refering here to your stance that RG58 was a poor cable for VHF
and HF frequencies because of its loss.
it's poor at HF (10 meters). it's very lossy at VHF.
In marine VHF antenna applications you will be hard pressed to find
any marine VHF antenna that comes with a length of cable pre attached
that does not use RG58 type cable.
agreed again. ease of installation, cost, etc. has alot to do with
it. rg 58 generally costs a few cents a foot less than its competitors
The fact is that it doesn't make any noticiable performance difference
either electrical or mechanical.
unless, of course, you want to HEAR what's being said on the radio.
we're comparing apples to apples here. coax cables of the type rg
8/213/58 have basically similar constructions. the diameter of the
cable DOES affect its mechanical stability when compared to cables of
similar construction.
Again, only if you plan to swing from the cable. As a matter of fact a
smaller cable is much easier to keep stable than a larger one on a
boat.
disagree. it's generally a bad idea to flex wire. this leads to cold
working of the material and premature failure. again, thicker is
better.
again, disagree. many people report GPS, electronic compass, and
computer problems when they key up their radios. of course some of
this is overload from the antenna, etc. but more shielding on the
cable reduces inteference to and from the radio.
You can bet that the problems are not from poor shielding of the coax
cable. How much leakage do you think coax has anyway? Even poor coax.
quite a bit. i used rg58 a bit for the connector between radio and
amplifier. i had a computer right next to it. the hash was s5.
replacement of this by rg 213 eliminated it completely.
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