Reg:

I am not after your scalp, trust me...

However, as I ready for bed, I was thinking--on the age of my coax...
although some may be as new as 3 years old... most is greater than 5, and I
bet the run to my 1/2 vertical is 20 years or better....

Sometime in the past, I remember reviewing data on loss in coax going up
with age.... not that it would amount to an important loss... but still, it
must be a measurable amount...

Oh, and strange how this all keeps touching on the matter I am constantly
holding at hand... but that "skin effect"... seems like copper becomes an
"impedance" at high freqs.... those little electrons in the wire just can't
keep pumping the charge fast enough... seems like that old rf there is
considering the ether itself (dielectric in coax) as a better choice of
travel than the copper atoms...

Warmest regards,
John
--
If "God"--expecting an angel... if evolution--expecting an alien... just
wondering if I will be able to tell the difference!

"Reg Edwards" wrote in message
...
| The number one reason for attenuation being higher is because the
| conductor diameter is smaller and, as a consequence, its resistance
| is
| higher.
|
| The exact simple mathematical relationship is -
|
| Line attenuation = 8.69*R/2/Ro dB.
|
| Where R is the resistance of the wire and Ro is the real component
| of
| line impedance, all in ohms.
|
| Make a note of it in your notebooks.
|
| And, hopefully, that should be the end of the matter. But, knowing
| you lot, it probably won't be. ;o)
| ----
| Reg, G4FGQ
|
| ================================
|
| To you all.
|
| As predicted, I appear to have stirred up a hornet's nest.
|
| First of all, give credit to where credit is due. The simple equation
| is not due to me but to Oliver Heaviside, 1850 - 1925. May God rest
| his soul. And mine!
|
| It applies from DC to VHF where the predominent loss is due to
| conductor resistance including skin effect. At higher frequencies, say
| above 0.5 GHz, loss in the dielectric material begins to play an
| important part.
|
| The complete equation is -
|
| Attenuation = R/2/Ro + G*Ro/2 Nepers
|
| where G is the conductance of the dielectric, which is small for
| materials such as polyethylene and Teflon. And 1 Neper = 20/Ln(10) =
| 8.686 dB.
|
| The Neper is the fundamental unit of transmission loss per unit length
| of line, familiar to transmission line engineers. It is named after
| Napier, a canny Scotsman who had something to do with the invention of
| Logarithms around the 18th Century.
|
| Attenuation is simply the basic matched loss of a particular line,
| unaffected by SWR and all the other encumbrances which amateurs such
| as W5DXP ;o) worry about. KISS.
|
| Incidentally, the additional-loss versus SWR curves, published in the
| ARRL books and copied by the RSGB, for many years, are based on an
| incorrect mathematical analysis. But they are near enough for
| practical purposes.
|
| Not that SWR matters very much. SWR meters don't measure SWR on any
| line anyway. You are all being fooled. ;o) ;o) ;o)
| ----
| Reg, G4FGQ
|
|