Flexible Coax for HT instead of remote Mic
 

I'd like to use my HT in the car. I figure why should I buy the remote
microphone when the HT itself is the size of a microphone. All I need is
coax that is flexible enough to withstand the rigors of a mic cable. Anyone
know of a source of flexible coax?

(I have a few feet of Columbia Super-Flex RG-58, but it's 35 years old and
really beat up. Do they still make it?)

--
Bob D.
ND9B

Flexible Coax for HT instead of remote Mic
 

On Thu, 31 Aug 2006 21:36:13 -0500, "Bob D."
wrote:

I'd like to use my HT in the car. I figure why should I buy the remote
microphone when the HT itself is the size of a microphone. All I need is

Some portables get so hot on 12V (13.6V) that you can't hold them
after a short period of transmission. One of the benefits of a 5W
matchbox sized radio!

Owen
--

Flexible Coax for HT instead of remote Mic
 

On Fri, 01 Sep 2006 02:49:50 GMT, Owen Duffy wrote:
On Thu, 31 Aug 2006 21:36:13 -0500, "Bob D."
wrote:

I'd like to use my HT in the car. I figure why should I buy the remote
microphone when the HT itself is the size of a microphone. All I need is

Some portables get so hot on 12V (13.6V) that you can't hold them
after a short period of transmission. One of the benefits of a 5W
matchbox sized radio!

I'd consider _that_ a plus. Helps rein in the motor-mouths.

What the OP needs to be concerned about is not so much the flexibility
of the feed line, but, rather, the sturdiness of the coax connector at
the HT. That 'joint' will take a lot of stress in such a mode of
operation. Not only will there be problems at the point where the coax
enters the male connector, but the large stresses on the female connector
will oft times ruin the internal attachment to the pc board.

Back before the banality of VHF FM operations drove me away, I would
make up a little plastic 'back-board' that attached securely to the HT
and extended up a ways to help support the coax. As well, I slipped
some over-sized tubing over the coax to move the flexing away from the
coax connector.

Jonesy
--
Marvin L Jones | jonz | W3DHJ | linux
38.24N 104.55W | @ config.com | Jonesy | OS/2
*** Killfiling google posts: http//jonz.net/ng.htm

Flexible Coax for HT instead of remote Mic
 

In article ,
Allodoxaphobia wrote:

What the OP needs to be concerned about is not so much the flexibility
of the feed line, but, rather, the sturdiness of the coax connector at
the HT. That 'joint' will take a lot of stress in such a mode of
operation. Not only will there be problems at the point where the coax
enters the male connector, but the large stresses on the female connector
will oft times ruin the internal attachment to the pc board.

I've also found that HTs are less than ideal for mobile ops for
another reason - squelch. Most of them do not have a separate squelch
knob - you have to go through a menu to change the squelch setting.
Not a good thing to do while driving - it's the sort of thing which
makes J. Random Cellphone User's distracted behavior seem downright
civilized.

Add to this the fairly wide-open nature of most HT's RF front ends,
(and the resulting sensitivity to intermod), and the amount of 2-meter
RF noise and birdies from cable leakage, etc., and you end up with a
bad mixture.

An HT with a magmount antenna will do in a pinch, but I don't feel
that it's a good long-term frequent-user solution in an urban area.

--
Dave Platt AE6EO
Hosting the Jade Warrior home page: http://www.radagast.org/jade-warrior
I do _not_ wish to receive unsolicited commercial email, and I will
boycott any company which has the gall to send me such ads!