"NotMe" wrote in
:

I need some help me with a decision on which coax to purchase. I'm a
new General Class ham and am planning my HF setup.

The standard coax seems to be RG-8. I'm curious if I use Belden RG-8X
(9258), will there be that much difference in performance at about
100' of coax as compared to using RG-8? I want to use the RG-8X
because the smaller diameter coax will allow me to feed the coax
easier into my house. I suppose I could try to get the RG-8 in the
house, but the place where I want to bring it in only has minimal
space and the RG-8X will fit just right.

NotMe,

The suitability will depend on the frequency, length, mismatch, cost,
physical parameters, and your own threshold for loss.

The line loss calculator at http://www.vk1od.net/tl/tllc.php will allow
you to explore Belden 9258 and nearly a hundred other common transmission
lines.

Whilst RG-8/X is apparently very popular in the US, it is near
unobtainable in Australia... so availability seems to influence
"suitability". But then fewer people here purchase ready made wire
antennas like dipoles, G5RVs, etc which seem to often be packaged with
RG-8/X on US web sites.

Owen