On Thu, 09 Mar 2006 00:04:53 GMT, "west"
wrote:

Originally I requested a source for various length of cables with SMA Male
on one end to plug into a HT (Kenwood TH-F6A) and the other end a PL-259.
Lengthy and comprehensive treads soon made me realize that the PL-259 would
be ill advised especially at UHF & higher. So I found some ready made cables
with SMA and N connectors. The only problem (if it's really a problem) is
those skinny cables they come in. Some claim that they are 50 ohms, another
RG-174. I don't know the other types. Do you think it will be alright to use
those narrow cables from my HT to an amplifier to my monitoring meter and
then use regular RG 8 to the base antenna? Will those skinny cables present
some kind of mismatch. You know it's almost impossible to solder a SMA
connector to an RG 8. Thoughts, please? Thank you.

West,

I would be thinking about a tail made from LMR-195. It is a low loss
cable, dimesionally compatible with RG58 connectors. One meter of it
has a loss of 0.25dB at 440MHz.

Nobody solders these things do they? Get a hold of crimp UHF and SMA
connectors suitable for RG58 and borrow a crimp tool to make them up.
Might be worth buying a couple of strain relief boots as well.

Alternatively, get a bit of old cellular cable, but it may have a
solid centre conductor... check it out.

Keep in mind that a run of 30m of RG8 has a loss close to 5dB at
440MHz, ie only 30% of the transmitter power reaches the feedpoint.

Owen
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