GTO-15 is a single conductor (often 14 gage stranded) rubber
insulated pvc clad unshielded cable used for neon signs and ignition
wires.

It is chosen for its 15 kVolt insulation, which can handle most any
3 - 30 Mhz transmitter signals, which may involve high voltages,
but it is unshielded.

If the RG-8X you have in mind has stranded conductor and foam
insulation, this will have a much lower working voltage
(they seem to rate between 300 volts and 1500 volts).

The people who get hot under the collar about foam insulation have a
point; you can easily wipe out transmitter range by treading on that
stuff just once. It is inevitably more delicate than solid insulation.

In a marine environment, it is reasonable to go for durability
where total runs are reasonably short.

It's true that a hundred feet of cable up a tall mast can give away a
lot of transmitter power at VHF and UHF; much more so at higher
frequencies still, and you might want to consider a well secured and
protected lower loss cable type there.
In general, if the cable type you have been using has
been satisfactory, that's the first option at renewal time.

Above all, you don't pick a regular co ax for GPS antennas, where the
losses mount rapidly.
Hope this helps somewhat, without making too many people mad.
I do have the FCC license to fool with these radio/radar installations
commercially, for what its worth.

Brian W

On Sat, 17 Jan 2004 17:06:09 -0500, "Bruce"
wrote:

I am looking at the Ancor brand RG-8x which has tined stranded core. Could
I also use this type wire for the 10' run from my SSB tuner to the backstay?
What I had on the SSB was GTO-15???
Thanks
Bruce
"Brian Whatcott" wrote in message
news
I recommend checking with suppliers' specifications for cable
construction materials: solid or stranded? solid or foam insulation?
%coverage of shield? Tape wrap? Non-acid outer sheath? before
blindly implementing Larry's recommendation below on choosing
cables. Yes: let's call it a reality check.

Brian W



On Sat, 17 Jan 2004 05:54:58 GMT, (Larry W4CSC) wrote:

... 55' mainmast has a Shakespeare 1/2 wave VHF antenna on top
with about 75' of RG-58A/U military surplus cable///
If I had to start from scratch, and couldn't buy a 500' roll of
surplus RG-58A/U for $10 at my local thrift shop...

I recommend using VERY flexible, and reliable,
Polyethelene-cored, finely stranded center conductor RG-58A/U (not
RG-58/U which has a solid center conductor) for your purpose. All
those fancy loss charts mean nothing when the fancy foam cables are
pulled through a sharp turn, somewhere. Hell, you can wind RG-58A/U
in a hangman's noose and it'll still work great! REALITY CHECK!!