Coax question and update!
 

Well, I just got rg 8 cable about 20 feet for free! The thing about it
it has two pl259 connectors on it. I need to have one end free so i can
wire up the slim jim or j pole I build this weekend. I really do not
eant to cut the cable as I would like to use it when I put the
permanent station up. See any way around this?

Can I use copper house wire 12/ 2 or so to connect to the points on the
j pole then bring them to a so connector Then screw the rg8 pl
connector into that? Will this through off the swr? What ohms is 12/2
wire?

He also gave me a short cable with two pl 259 connectors to connect
between my radio and the swr meter. It was a guy at a motorola dealer.
This cable is pretty thin and not rg8 but he said it was 50 ohms.
I plan on hooking the 20 feet from the swr to the antenna.