On Tue, 16 Aug 2005 13:47:27 -0400, Larry wrote:

( Mika) wrote in :

Need to install a new VHF antenna to a sailboat.

Put a 1/2 wave antenna as high as you can get it. 2000 meters is great!
but the top of the tallest mast will do just fine.

When you're screaming for help in a sinking boat, you can never have an
antenna that's too high! The altitude of the mast antenna more than makes
up for the length of the cabling losses. With a 25W Icom and 1/2
wavelength Metz whip at 55 ft on the other end of 30 meters of RG-58/U
coax, Lionheart can call the US Coast Guard station way out of sight of
land.


but never, never, never ever use rg 58 cable. it's not shielded
properly. it has high loss.
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(Bob) wrote in
:

but never, never, never ever use rg 58 cable. it's not shielded
properly. it has high loss.
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Hogwash. There's RG-58 in every boat I work on and it works just
fine....all the way out to the radio horizon....which, of course, is the
limit of comms on VHF. At 50' if 2 watts makes it up there, it's full
quieting at 10 miles.

Besides, I can't imagine running hardline through those little holes to the
masthead....(c;

--
Larry

"Larry" wrote in message
...
(Bob) wrote in
:

but never, never, never ever use rg 58 cable. it's not shielded
properly. it has high loss.
---------------------------
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and enter 'wf3h' in the field


Hogwash. There's RG-58 in every boat I work on and it works just
fine....all the way out to the radio horizon....which, of course, is the
limit of comms on VHF. At 50' if 2 watts makes it up there, it's full
quieting at 10 miles.

Besides, I can't imagine running hardline through those little holes to
the
masthead....(c;

--
Larry

I would agree that RG58 is very common. Its cheap and easy to run.
Probably gives acceptable performance on most boats. I recently replaced
mine with a single run of RG213 from masthead to radio. Didn't think I
could pull RG8 up the plastic pipe inside my mast and the RG213 was
recommended by a local communications shop so that's the way I went.
Sitting at the top of my mast I was getting pretty tired pulling up 50 feet
of 213. That stuff gets heavy. RG8 would be worse.

On Wed, 17 Aug 2005 08:23:22 -0400, Larry wrote:

(Bob) wrote in
:

but never, never, never ever use rg 58 cable. it's not shielded
properly. it has high loss.
---------------------------
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and enter 'wf3h' in the field


Hogwash. There's RG-58 in every boat I work on and it works just
fine....

it's unreliable. you may know boats. you don't know electronics

rg 58 is poorly shielded. that makes it more susceptible to
interference...

although it's not a big issue for short runs (like on boats), its
loss/ft is much higher than other cables.

its diameter is not compatible with pl 259's which means many are
installed wrong.


Besides, I can't imagine running hardline through those little holes to the
masthead....(c;


try rg 213 or rg 8. much, much better.

---------------------------
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In article ,
(Bob) wrote:

it's unreliable. you may know boats. you don't know electronics

rg 58 is poorly shielded. that makes it more susceptible to
interference...

although it's not a big issue for short runs (like on boats), its
loss/ft is much higher than other cables.

its diameter is not compatible with pl 259's which means many are
installed wrong.

Hmmm, another flatlander, who thinks Marine Electronics is the same as
Ham Radio......

RG-58 comes in a whole pile of different forms, of which, some are
prefectly adequite for some specific Maritime uses. It is enherently
just as reliable as any other coax type, when installed properly.

There certainly are some forms of RG-58 that have poor shielding, but
there are also some forms of RG-58 that provide for 100% shileding, as
well. Better go back and look at a Beldon Catalog again......

Run Length and Frequency certainly are part of the list of things that
determine the suitability of any Coaxial Cable installation.

Obviously, you have never hear of the UG-174U Adapter..... and
what makes you think that a PL-259 is the "Be All, and End all"
of Marine Radio connectors?

Me who wonders where these guys come from......

On Mon, 22 Aug 2005 20:00:40 GMT, Me wrote:

In article ,
(Bob) wrote:

it's unreliable. you may know boats. you don't know electronics

rg 58 is poorly shielded. that makes it more susceptible to
interference...

although it's not a big issue for short runs (like on boats), its
loss/ft is much higher than other cables.

its diameter is not compatible with pl 259's which means many are
installed wrong.

Hmmm, another flatlander, who thinks Marine Electronics is the same as
Ham Radio......

ROFLMAO! do much radio work?

RG-58 comes in a whole pile of different forms, of which, some are
prefectly adequite for some specific Maritime uses. It is enherently
just as reliable as any other coax type, when installed properly.

and you're missing the point.

There certainly are some forms of RG-58 that have poor shielding, but
there are also some forms of RG-58 that provide for 100% shileding, as
well. Better go back and look at a Beldon Catalog again......

kinda missed the total picture, didn't you?

part of the reason thicker cables work with pl 259's is the fact that,
installed properly, the jacket seats itself in the connector. this
functions as a stress relief and stabilizes the connector. rg58 is too
thin to take advantage of this. and, again, the thicker cable has a
mechanical advantage when inserted into the connecter since vibration
is reduced, thereby reducing stress.


Run Length and Frequency certainly are part of the list of things that
determine the suitability of any Coaxial Cable installation.

Obviously, you have never hear of the UG-174U Adapter..... and
what makes you think that a PL-259 is the "Be All, and End all"
of Marine Radio connectors?

Me who wonders where these guys come from......

ever been on a boat? how many pl259's are out there? how many of them
have adapters?

answer: almost none.

as to the adapter, it's unreliable since the mechanical advantage is
not present over the entire length of the jacket/connector interface.
---------------------------
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Am I missing something here? Surely the RG-58 wouldn't be attached to a
PL-259 without a UG-175 reducing adapter, would it? Is it being said
that even with the UG-175, there is insufficient strain relief?

Thanks for the clarification.

Chuck

On Mon, 22 Aug 2005 23:45:06 GMT, chuck wrote:

Am I missing something here? Surely the RG-58 wouldn't be attached to a
PL-259 without a UG-175 reducing adapter, would it? Is it being said
that even with the UG-175, there is insufficient strain relief?


in my opinion the answer is there is insufficient strain relief for
critical applications. the jacket of thicker cables, such as rg 213,
when inserted into the pl 259, provide quite a bit of support for the
connector.

---------------------------
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and enter 'wf3h' in the field

"Bob" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 16 Aug 2005 13:47:27 -0400, Larry wrote:

( Mika) wrote in :

Need to install a new VHF antenna to a sailboat.

Put a 1/2 wave antenna as high as you can get it. 2000 meters is great!
but the top of the tallest mast will do just fine.

When you're screaming for help in a sinking boat, you can never have an
antenna that's too high! The altitude of the mast antenna more than makes
up for the length of the cabling losses. With a 25W Icom and 1/2
wavelength Metz whip at 55 ft on the other end of 30 meters of RG-58/U
coax, Lionheart can call the US Coast Guard station way out of sight of
land.


but never, never, never ever use rg 58 cable. it's not shielded
properly. it has high loss.

Many Marine VHF antennas have the cable moulded in and it's RG-58 so the
argument between RG-58 and RG-8 is purley acedemic.
Unlike the radio Ham, where every last inch of tx distance is a feather in
the cap and one up on the next person, on a boat it's just a tool, boating
is the hobby.