On Wed, 25 Nov 2009 09:44:15 -0500, "Flying Pig"
wrote:

wrote in message
.. .

RG-213 is similar to RG-142, except you can find it for 70 cents a
foot. Mil spec and everything! Rated for both direct burial
(waterproof) and UV exposure.


Hi, Salty,

I didn't find, in my looking, any 213 MilSpec - can you give me a link?

However, and significantly, I did find that 213 is 2.8 vs 400's 1.5 loss on
the 150mHz band - and, much worse, of course, are the 8x at 4.7. 9913 is
only 1.7, and I can't put my hands on 142's at the moment...

Meanwhile, I've been seeing reference to copperplated aluminum center
conductors, or copper tube (on the monster sizes), along with the solid and
stranded copper. I have some challenges with clad/plated, cuz if it doesn't
hold up well in soldering, then I'm trying to solder AL. Anyone have any RW
experience with this? I know that AL was used in some house wiring, due to
costs, with some disastrous (heating/expansion-contraction) results in some
cases. Should I be nervous about this, or does the much higher copper melt
temp make this a non-issue for soldering?

Thanks for all the inputs. I'm slow, but I'm learning :{))

L8R

Skip

My feeling is that you are overanalyzing this. Comparing anything to
400 is pointless, as 400 is not practical on a boat. Worrying about
which cable has the lowest loss amongst a bunch of cables that are all
"low loss" is also pointless. If you go to some place like a West
Marine and they have a "standard" cable and a "better" cable", buy the
"better cable" and you will have what you need. That's really as hard
as this decision needs to be. The RG142 might be nice, but I honestly
doubt you will get anything out of it that you won't get from the
"better" cable at West. It may give slightly better measurements in a
lab, but out on a pitching boat, with a less than 100 foot run of
cable, there will be NO discernable difference in performance. None,
nada, zip.

I just did a google and found this place that has it. There is also a
PDF there that, just for laughs, compares RG-213 side by side with 8x.
http://www.jefatech.com/product/RG21..._The_Foot.html

On Wed, 25 Nov 2009 09:58:21 -0500, wrote:

The RG142 might be nice, but I honestly
doubt you will get anything out of it that you won't get from the
"better" cable at West. It may give slightly better measurements in a
lab, but out on a pitching boat, with a less than 100 foot run of
cable, there will be NO discernable difference in performance. None,
nada, zip.

I just did a google and found this place that has it. There is also a
PDF there that, just for laughs, compares RG-213 side by side with 8x.
http://www.jefatech.com/product/RG21..._The_Foot.html

RG213 is good cable, reasonably priced, and perfectly adequate for
most applications. That said, an 80 ft run to the top of a sailboat
mast is not "most" applications and every db counts. Durability
counts for a lot also and I don't think you can beat double shielding
and silver plated conductors in that department, and let's not forget
the teflon insulation which is *much* more durable than polyethylene,
and *much* less susceptible to being damaged by soldering.

If it was my mast, and was about to go to the trouble of snaking in a
new coax, I'd go with the best available if the price difference was
not astronomical.

On Wed, 25 Nov 2009 09:58:21 -0500, wrote:

The RG142 might be nice, but I honestly
doubt you will get anything out of it that you won't get from the
"better" cable at West. It may give slightly better measurements in a
lab, but out on a pitching boat, with a less than 100 foot run of
cable, there will be NO discernable difference in performance. None,
nada, zip.

I just did a google and found this place that has it. There is also a
PDF there that, just for laughs, compares RG-213 side by side with 8x.
http://www.jefatech.com/product/RG21..._The_Foot.html

RG213 is good cable, reasonably priced, and perfectly adequate for
most applications. That said, an 80 ft run to the top of a sailboat
mast is not "most" applications and every db counts. Durability
counts for a lot also and I don't think you can beat double shielding
and silver plated conductors in that department, and let's not forget
the teflon insulation which is *much* more durable than polyethylene,
and *much* less susceptible to being damaged by soldering.

If it was my mast, and was about to go to the trouble of snaking in a
new coax, I'd go with the best available if the price difference was
not astronomical.