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#11
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Is RG/6 center conductor copperweld?
"Roy Lewallen" wrote in message ... I'd be a little suspicious of el cheapo cable with copper plated steel center conductor. I'd be surprised if it was Copperweld, which has a very thick copper coating. Copper plating thickness would be a logical place for cost-conscious vendors to skimp. An extra thin layer of copper wouldn't hurt at VHF and above, but it could really be a killer at HF, where significant current could flow in the steel. (Steel is extra lossy at RF because its permeability further reduces the skin depth by a large factor.) I'd definitely measure the loss if I intended to use it at HF. Of course, many (or most) amateurs would probably be pleased by the wide bandwidth and low SWR and noise level they'd get with lossy cable. Roy Lewallen, W7EL Looking at a Belden listing for 5 different kinds of RG6, The loss at 10 MHz is .9 DB/100' for the copperweld, and .7 DB for the solid copper. The db loss at 1 MHz is about 1/2 the 10 MHz number. All have a loss of 7.3 DB at 1000 MHz, except the 9290 solid copper, which is 8.8 . I looked at less than half of their different kinds of RG6, but a quick scan did not point out anything odd. Tam/WB2TT |
#12
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Is RG/6 center conductor copperweld?
Tam/WB2TT wrote: "Roy Lewallen" wrote in message ... I'd be a little suspicious of el cheapo cable with copper plated steel center conductor. I'd be surprised if it was Copperweld, which has a very thick copper coating. Copper plating thickness would be a logical place for cost-conscious vendors to skimp. An extra thin layer of copper wouldn't hurt at VHF and above, but it could really be a killer at HF, where significant current could flow in the steel. (Steel is extra lossy at RF because its permeability further reduces the skin depth by a large factor.) I'd definitely measure the loss if I intended to use it at HF. Of course, many (or most) amateurs would probably be pleased by the wide bandwidth and low SWR and noise level they'd get with lossy cable. Roy Lewallen, W7EL Looking at a Belden listing for 5 different kinds of RG6, The loss at 10 MHz is .9 DB/100' for the copperweld, and .7 DB for the solid copper. The db loss at 1 MHz is about 1/2 the 10 MHz number. All have a loss of 7.3 DB at 1000 MHz, except the 9290 solid copper, which is 8.8 . I looked at less than half of their different kinds of RG6, but a quick scan did not point out anything odd. Tam/WB2TT Belden isn't in the category of "el cheapo" cable, which was the subject of my posting. Roy Lewallen, W7EL |
#13
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Is RG/6 center conductor copperweld?
Roy Lewallen wrote:
Belden isn't in the category of "el cheapo" cable, which was the subject of my posting. Unless you collect thosands of feet of it from the local CATV dumpster where they toss out partial boxes and reels. When I moved south I had over a mile of it. It was all new scrap, and some pieces were over 300 feet. -- Service to my country? Been there, Done that, and I've got my DD214 to prove it. Member of DAV #85. Michael A. Terrell Central Florida |
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