RG-58 compared to RG-174
 

Hello, I am going to be making some adaptor harnesses for my HT, they are
going to have a PL-259 on one end and a SMA male end on the other, my
question is are the center conductor's inside the RG-58 and RG-174 the same
diameter because I see all the jumper harness's that are available
commercially made of RG-174, but when I see DIY pages they are made of
RG-58, and I just want to make sure. I read that RG-58 has alot less loss
and is cheaper. Thanks

Dustin wrote:

Hello, I am going to be making some adaptor harnesses for my HT, they are
going to have a PL-259 on one end and a SMA male end on the other, my
question is are the center conductor's inside the RG-58 and RG-174 the
same
diameter because I see all the jumper harness's that are available
commercially made of RG-174, but when I see DIY pages they are made of
RG-58, and I just want to make sure. I read that RG-58 has alot less loss
and is cheaper. Thanks


rg-58 is cheaper.. bigger and has less loss


--
Registered Linux User #346565

"Dustin" wrote in message
...
Hello, I am going to be making some adaptor harnesses for my HT, they are
going to have a PL-259 on one end and a SMA male end on the other, my
question is are the center conductor's inside the RG-58 and RG-174 the
same
diameter because I see all the jumper harness's that are available
commercially made of RG-174, but when I see DIY pages they are made of
RG-58, and I just want to make sure. I read that RG-58 has alot less loss
and is cheaper. Thanks

As the impedance is determined by the ratio of the outer conductor to the
center conductor (for the same insulation between them) the 174 has to have
a smaller center conductor than the 58. RG-58 does have more loss but for
less than 5 feet on two meters I doubt that you will notice it. Probably
not even on 440 mhz . If using the RG-58 try to find some with a stranded
center conductor as much of it seems to be solid wire.

Hello, I am going to be making some adaptor harnesses for my HT, they are
going to have a PL-259 on one end and a SMA male end on the other, my
question is are the center conductor's inside the RG-58 and RG-174 the same
diameter because I see all the jumper harness's that are available
commercially made of RG-174, but when I see DIY pages they are made of
RG-58, and I just want to make sure. I read that RG-58 has alot less loss
and is cheaper. Thanks

RG-58 has lower loss than RG-174, because RG-58's center conductor is
larger in diameter than RG-174s. You'll need to buy SMA connectors
which are specifically designed for RG-58 - this cable won't fit into
an SMA connector made for RG-174.

Because of its larger diameter, it's also likely to be stiffer than
RG-174. This means that it could put more stress on the HT's SMA
socket, if the harness is pulled or pushed sideways.

The lower loss in RG-58 isn't likely to make a significant amount of
difference for a short harness, at least not at 2-meter frequencies.

--
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!

Use RG-174. Finding an inexpensive SMA connector for RG-58 is difficult.

Jim


"Dustin"
shared these priceless pearls of wisdom:

-Hello, I am going to be making some adaptor harnesses for my HT, they are
-going to have a PL-259 on one end and a SMA male end on the other, my
-question is are the center conductor's inside the RG-58 and RG-174 the same
-diameter because I see all the jumper harness's that are available
-commercially made of RG-174, but when I see DIY pages they are made of
-RG-58, and I just want to make sure. I read that RG-58 has alot less loss
-and is cheaper. Thanks
-
-

Jim Weir, VP Eng. RST Eng. WX6RST
A&P, CFI, and other good alphabet soup

Why would you do that? Solid has less loss. If you are worried about it
flexing too much and work-hardening (or breaking) the center conductor, use a
strain relief of shrink sleeving at both ends.

Jim



"Ralph Mowery"
shared these priceless pearls of wisdom:

- If using the RG-58 try to find some with a stranded
-center conductor as much of it seems to be solid wire.
-
-

Jim Weir, VP Eng. RST Eng. WX6RST
A&P, CFI, and other good alphabet soup

Why would you do that? Solid has less loss. If you are worried about it
flexing too much and work-hardening (or breaking) the center conductor, use a
strain relief of shrink sleeving at both ends.

To my mind, the stiffer the cable, the more stress it's going to put
on the HT's SMA jack. Stiffening the cable via heatshrink tubing is
only going to make this worse, by increasing the moment arm.

SMA jacks on some HTs (e.g. the VX-5) are rather notorious for working
loose, even under the modest stress and strain of a rubber-duck
antenna. IMHO, SMA is a fine connector for intra-cabinet connections
and fixed-station applications, but it's less than ideal for antenna
connections on handhelds.

--
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!

On Sun, 28 Mar 2004 14:39:58 -0500, "Ralph Mowery"
wrote:
then the wire will work harden and break

Copper?

In article ,
Richard Clark wrote:

then the wire will work harden and break

Copper?

That's my experience, and a few minutes of Google-searching the Web
comes up with numerous references stating that copper does suffer from
work hardening after cold-deformation. The extent depends on the
purity of the copper and on what other metals it has been alloyed
with. [Lead is apparently one of the few metals not subject to work
hardening.]

This process can be reversed by annealing, but that's a bit tricky to
do if the copper is already part of a coaxial cable :-)

--
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!

On Sun, 28 Mar 2004 18:55:40 -0000, (Dave Platt)
wrote:

copper does suffer from
work hardening after cold-deformation.

For an HT application?

The extent depends on the
purity of the copper

Generally 99.95% or better for simple wire. Copper pipe is another
matter, but for an HT application?

and on what other metals it has been alloyed
with. [Lead is apparently one of the few metals not subject to work
hardening.]

And the lead amalgam (with tin) is the MOST likely to be found - for
an HT application.

Work hardening would require a severe kink, about the same radius of
the wire. The insulation is going to limit that bend to easily ten
times that, and typical practice to 100's of times that. And as for
repetitive (the work part of the hardening) stress, maybe for an
automatic door opener, but for an HT application? The topic
application is for jumper connections where the SMA connector is far
more likely to fail.

C'mon, now guys, let's worry about what is likely to break, not about
everything that might fail. May as well take out an
asteroid-collision policy.

73's
Richard Clark, KB7QHC

"Jim Weir" wrote in message
...
Why would you do that? Solid has less loss. If you are worried about it
flexing too much and work-hardening (or breaking) the center conductor,
use a
strain relief of shrink sleeving at both ends.



For less than 10 feet there is no noticable differance in the loss of a
solid vers stranded center conductor for the same size coax. When used for
jumpers that are going to be moved alot such as with a HT then the wire
will work harden and break.. Maybe in the middle and not at the very end
near the connector. More than likely it will be about 4 to 6 inches from
the HT end.

Yes.

"Richard Clark" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 28 Mar 2004 14:39:58 -0500, "Ralph Mowery"
wrote:
then the wire will work harden and break

Copper?

On Sun, 28 Mar 2004 18:55:40 -0000, (Dave Platt)
wrote:

In article ,
Richard Clark wrote:

then the wire will work harden and break

Copper?

That's my experience, and a few minutes of Google-searching the Web
comes up with numerous references stating that copper does suffer from
work hardening after cold-deformation. The extent depends on the
purity of the copper and on what other metals it has been alloyed
with. [Lead is apparently one of the few metals not subject to work
hardening.]

This process can be reversed by annealing, but that's a bit tricky to
do if the copper is already part of a coaxial cable :-)

With some experience working with drawing wire (and I don't mean
artistically) I can confirm that most metals, copper and silver
included, tend to work harden. OFHC copper is better than most copper
alloys.

Gold is one of the few that does not, which is why certain types of
jewelry and leaf can only be made with reasonably pure gold.

Annealing at the right temperature for the particular metal of alloy
will make it malleable again, but those temperatures are not
compatible with plastic or rubber insulations.

Happy trails,
Gary (net.yogi.bear)
------------------------------------------------
at the 51st percentile of ursine intelligence

Gary D. Schwartz, Needham, MA, USA
Please reply to: garyDOTschwartzATpoboxDOTcom

On Sun, 28 Mar 2004 19:33:36 GMT, Richard Clark
wrote:

C'mon, now guys, let's worry about what is likely to break, not about
everything that might fail. May as well take out an
asteroid-collision policy.

True.

But a couple of weeks ago, March 18th, an asteroid about 100 feet in
diameter missed the Earth by 26,500 miles.

Better pay up the premiums on that policy.

Happy trails,
Gary (net.yogi.bear)
------------------------------------------------
at the 51st percentile of ursine intelligence

Gary D. Schwartz, Needham, MA, USA
Please reply to: garyDOTschwartzATpoboxDOTcom

Dustin

Or -- I have several BNC male to SMA male adapters that I dont consider to
be precious. I'm in the Los Angeles area. Digi-Key seems to have alot of
coax connectors, and adaptors

Jerry.





"Jim Weir" wrote in message
...
Use RG-174. Finding an inexpensive SMA connector for RG-58 is difficult.

Jim


"Dustin"
shared these priceless pearls of wisdom:

-Hello, I am going to be making some adaptor harnesses for my HT, they
are
-going to have a PL-259 on one end and a SMA male end on the other, my
-question is are the center conductor's inside the RG-58 and RG-174 the
same
-diameter because I see all the jumper harness's that are available
-commercially made of RG-174, but when I see DIY pages they are made of
-RG-58, and I just want to make sure. I read that RG-58 has alot less
loss
-and is cheaper. Thanks
-
-

Jim Weir, VP Eng. RST Eng. WX6RST
A&P, CFI, and other good alphabet soup

From: Jim Weir
Date: 3/28/04 1:04 PM Eastern Standard Time
Message-id:

Why would you do that? Solid has less loss. If you are worried about it
flexing too much and work-hardening (or breaking) the center conductor, use a
strain relief of shrink sleeving at both ends.

Jim
---------------------------------------------------------------
Solid is fine base applications.
In mobile or portable use it is a failure waiting to happen.
NOT IF----------WHEN--PERIOD

In over 40 years of experience in mobile communications the 2nd thing I check
is the '58 at the pl259.(first being the fuse) 95% of the time broken center
conductor. Funny I've never seen this happen with stranded.
Go Figure
KC*VIF
Greg Z
to thine own sound be true

In article ,
Brian Kelly wrote:

This process can be reversed by annealing, but that's a bit tricky to
do if the copper is already part of a coaxial cable :-)

. . . no sweat, just run a 2M kilowatt thru the 174 and I guarantee
the center conductor will get "annealed" . .

Yeah, but once the annealing has been completed, I doubt that the
cable will still have a 50-ohm characteristic impedance ;-)

--
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!

Jim Weir wrote:

Why would you do that? Solid has less loss. If you are worried about it
flexing too much and work-hardening (or breaking) the center conductor, use a
strain relief of shrink sleeving at both ends.

Jim



Use RG-58A or C
Stranded, flexible, used for test leads and jumpers for generations.

Loss difference over a foot or so of jumper between even RG-174 and
hardline is insignificant assuming you are not running a microwave HT.
Even at 1GHz it won't amount to much.

Dave