In message , Geoffrey S.
Mendelson writes
Ralph Mowery wrote:
Is there a shortage in the supply of coax ? A ham up the road has been
trying to get some rg8x from The Wireman for a couple of weeks. They are
out and said they should have some in soon.

There was a long discussion here about using compression type F connectors
(and BNC) with RG/6QS coax recently. I suggest that you look it up and refer
your friend to it.

The general consesus was that RG6QS was a pretty good choice for amateur
use. Not the best, but for the usual low power setup, it was ok.

There is RG6QS coax designed for satellite downleads (1-2gHz) so if you
get that it should work for 900 and 1296mHz, possibly 2.4gHz.

It is very important to note that we were talking about COMPRESSION
connectors, which compress from front to back sealing the cable in,

Usually known on the business as 'Snap and Seal' (or 'Snap-N-Seal',
'SNS' etc) connectors. This type is now the only type used in most of
the UK cable TV industry (and, no doubt, in the USA). They are very
difficult to pull off, and are essentially watertight.

For example:
http://www.wittenberg-antennen.de/snapnseal.pdf
http://www.3starinc.com/lrc_sns11as_...le_f_connector.
html

You do, of course, need the appropriate tool.

and NOT crimp on connectors, which are squeezed from side to side and often
fall off.

'Proper' crimp connectors, properly crimped, with the 'proper' tool, are
also hard to pull off - at least, mine are!
--
Ian

Ian Jackson wrote:
You do, of course, need the appropriate tool.

They are relatively cheap. I've seen a set of tool, cutter and stripper
(3 tools) and 20 F connectors for as little as $12 on eBay. Here, a month
ago I paid $60 for such a set without connectors, today when I went to
the same store, the tool alone was $30. Last month they did not have the
tool alone.

The bad news is that they raised the price on the connectors from $.90 each
to $1.25 each, but dropped them to $.77 if you bought 100. They had 2 packages
of 50 and to convince me not clean them out, they gave me the 100 price
for 50.


and NOT crimp on connectors, which are squeezed from side to side and often
fall off.

'Proper' crimp connectors, properly crimped, with the 'proper' tool, are
also hard to pull off - at least, mine are!

From my experience, the tools are more expensive, and the skill level required
is much higher to get the done properly. Most of the crimp on ones are not
water resistant, while most of the compression ones are.

Geoff.
--
Geoffrey S. Mendelson, Jerusalem, Israel N3OWJ/4X1GM
I do multitasking. If that bothers you, file a complaint and I will start
ignoring it immediately.