Aerial cables

[cedd]

You'd think with a day job in radio communications I'd know the answer to this one, but most of the stuff we do is installing very stiff RG213.

 

 

 

 

For my radio mics I'm currently using RG58 over reasonably short distances. My connector of choice is N types. These have worked well over the last few years. Before this I used RG213 but decided that with the short lengths I use, the benefits of low loss were outweighed by the cons of poor flexibility, space taken in flight cases and the general clumsiness of the stuff. This week though I had a cable fault that took me embarrassingly longer than it should have done to find. It turned out to have been a short in one of my connectors, probably caused by rough handling or snagging whilst being pulled in.

 

Anyway, it's led me to start looking at finding an alternative to RG58 home made cables. Other than making your own, where do other people get their coaxial cables from? Ideally I'm looking for the following;

 

Better performance than RG58

 

Factory terminated cables, preferably with some sort of strain relief, be it heatshrink or moulded boots

 

Flexible cable that won't kink and will coil regularly without gaining a memory or the outer splitting (as has happened to some of my older ones

 

Reasonably robust. Has to handle being stepped on and being pulled through ducts (more an issue for the terminations than anything else)

 

Male to female N Type connectors

 

 

 

 

I'm willing to spend a little bit of cash on this, remembering the importance of these cables. That said I'm well aware of how expensive some coaxial cables can be, so a balanced approach to price would be good!

 

 

 

 

Open to suggestions for suppliers or indeed just a make of cable.

 

 

 

 

 

[Robin D]

I installed Westflex (103?) on a ham radio install a couple of years back. Noticeably much more flexible than Belden 213, but needed to buy the suppliers own N types as the core is a tad thicker. I can't remember the relative performance though, but should be well placed to look it up.

[paulears]

Westflex 103 is pretty flexible stuff too, and quite tough. If you're mean (or have plenty of N types on the shelf) a tiny amount of filing will let the centre conductor slot home. Better performance than 213 and not too expensive compared to the others.

 

I have a few lengths of H100 - don't buy this, it's a stiff as a hosepipe and a poor fit on N types.

[Robin D]

... a tiny amount of filing will let the centre conductor slot home.

 

Nice one Paul. I didn't think of that at the time! How stupid am I? :unsure:

[RumbleO]

You'd think with a day job in radio communications I'd know ...{snip}

 

... to call an aerial an antenna :P

 

The comms boys here are quick to correct folks who say "aerial" with the same tone the lampies use with anyone who says "bulb."

 

Their stock riposte is, "Ariel is a washing powder."

I've not been bold enough to rescue the puir sowel they're picking on by replying, "Omo it isn't. Didn't you hear the dipthong in 'aerial'? It Daz make a difference." :** laughs out loud **:

 

Edited for punctuation

[paulears]

So what's the statue on the BBC's roof? Nothing at all wrong with using aerial, in the same way we can still say lantern instead of luminaire. If I'm talking to Americans, I use their terminology, but I'm quite happy with an aerial on my roof, and sticking out of the IEMs.

 

Sure, people say bulb and get ridiculed, but I bet nobody doesn't know what they mean, and as for 'globe' - Yuk!

[cedd]

You'd think with a day job in radio communications I'd know ...{snip}

 

... to call an aerial an antenna :P

 

The comms boys here are quick to correct folks who say "aerial" with the same tone the lampies use with anyone who says "bulb."

 

You got me!

 

 

I've never been a one to argue semantics though to be honest. If somebody asks me for a bulb, I know exactly what they mean and give them a lamp. As I'm yet to find somebody who can give me a definitive answer as to the difference between an aerial and antenna, with some decent way of backing up their answer, I'm going to continue to use the 2 words interchangeably. I've heard various explanations, ranging from Marconi's original use of the term antenna which is Italian for pole, through to the explanation that an aerial is a component part of an antenna (the element) which is coupled with a feed-in to create the finished article. I guess it becomes more complicated when you start talking about antennas with more complicated structures like parasitic elements and reflectors, or stacked elements, but on the whole I think most people understand what you mean when you say aerial to them.

 

 

 

 

But the ex-Ofcom technical inspector with some 25 years experience inspecting antenna systems all over the world, and the ex-navy radio officer with some 40 years working with radio, who are both currently sat in the room with me have just told me they use the 2 words interchangeably. With that in mind, I'm going to continue to keep calling them whichever name comes to hand.

 

 

 

 

Thanks for the suggestions so far. Westflex looks like a good option. I'm waiting to receive a sample from a guy I've found on ebay who sells pre made cables using 200 series coax. He'll produce them to my own specification of heatshrink and connector types. I'll see what turns up and if it's good, will report back as he may be a useful source for others. Certainly been helpful so far.

 

 

 

[sam.spoons]

According to the OED "Lamp" means (as I understood it before reading this thread) the whole fitting not simply the "light bulb" so if a 'lampie' asks me for a "lamp" I'll (as before) give him a whole fitting (PAR 64 etc) not just a bulb http://www.blue-room.org.uk/public/style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif