"Lynn Coffelt" wrote in message
...
Hay, chief, did ya ever think to push the wire down the mast using a
messenger to guide it, like the old wire being replaced, or a fish
line? that way, you leave the end with the on deck pre installed
connector on it at the top and outside the mast with a drip loop*,
while you cut to length and terminate the bottom end below decks, or
at the mast base, an easy job, or at least not so awkward as at the
top of a wobbly mast, which you heel a bit to guide the messenger.
(Damn! dropped the flux, again;-) Is the soldering iron plugged in?)

I once climbed to the top of a big fir to cut off the top for a
Christmas tree, but dropped the axe after I got up there. Had to go
down and up three times all together, once just to get my arms,
which fell off next!

If you were a masthead radio tech, and not proud of your work, you
would have done it again, unless it was your own life at risk.
Cobbler's shoes? Dija ever go up just to unscrew, remove and then
rescrew the connector, then wait for a radio check after pulling
gently on the feeder? It could benefit from doing it once every year.

How long do hams spend sending? Rael hams use code, light duty
cycle, to set up fax, etc, with old contacts. Or do they want full
duplex stereo video to remote studios, at 450 megs using meteor
scatter at days' ends, with gigantic yagis doublesteered at the
masthead? I saw one like that, once, on a 40 foot ketch in green
lapstrake on Grand Lake.

Mil RG58 is good enough for most, cheap, light.
Communications is our most valuable resource.

*Note: A typical drip loop style exit from the mast head would
cause compression of the dielectric. Soft cable with long heights
hanging should be clamped above the exit hole, sealed with caulk,
double clamped or wirehung to the mast, properly sized and torqued,
No drip loop, unless needed to meet the antenna mount. Masts should
be able to drain at the heel anyway. Matching coils should be below
the masthead, 2"-3" away from the mast. Tilting the antenna a little
to avoid instrumentation is ok, though it may affect directivity at
extremes.

Terry K -Yeah, yeah, we *can* build monster cables. -SofDevCo-

Hey, Terry! I like it, I like it! Can tell you've been there!
Yes, when customers wanted to put the cable in themselves, (Glee!) I would
sometimes help them figger a suitable length, and put one connector on in
the nice warm shop, advising them to put the cable in, top down, and call
me
for the bottom connector.

When you told of the tree, I initially knew you were bragging about
the
size of your Christmas tree. Upon closer inspection, I now know that you
only used the top!

The duty cycle on my 10 meter CW rig is way less than a thousandth of
a
percent. Usually giving it 8 to 10 months to cool down between contacts.
However if one chose some of the FSK modes (I don't, personally), and had
a
little less than perfect SWR (and 100 watts or so) One can melt or soften
current nodes in RG-58. Contributing, one would assume to Global Warming.

Old Chief Lynn

So far no one has mentioned RAG-8X, which I see more of on boats these
days than RAG-58. A second thing, what ever coax you use, use a stranded
center conductor for marine use. I have repaired way to many fractured solid
wire RAG-58 cables, broken right at or just beyond the PL259.
I learned the pull it from the top with the connector already installed
trick years ago doing type N connectors on RAG-8 or 213/214 for airport VHF
radio antennas. I also learned to have a few adapters in my pocket before
going on the roof/tower as you never knew what gender of N connectors the
antenna stub might have.
Also, please note that RAG-8 was dropped from the MilSpec books years ago
and RAG-213 replaced it or the even better shielded RAG-214. Most of the
RAG-8 you find available now says type RAG-8, not with a suffix, etc., to
indicate a jacket or dielectric or solid or stranded wire. Radio Shack has
been pawning junk off on unsuspecting citizens band ops for years, calling
it type RAG-8. Since the standard has been deleted, they can get away with
it. If you are going beyond RAG-8X (size of RAG-59), go with at least
RAG-213 or the even better Belden cable.
By the way, there is a type N connector around now that is just about the
same as a PL-259, solder the center pin and shield there same way, with no
more rubber gasket and compression nuts, etc.

73
Doug K7ABX

"real radios glow in the dark!"
Smoke signals and drum beats preceded CW as a digital mode!