800mhz an rg58a/u

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jakegday

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hello, sometime soon i plan on buying an 800mhz mobile antenna, and hopefully ill be able to mount it on my current nmo mag mount, the mount is connected to 12 feet of rg58a/u cable, which leads me to the question, is that a good cable for 800 mhz? is it at least an ok type of cable? or is there something else ill probably want for the best performance?
 

k8tmk

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At only 12 feet long, it will probably work fine. Although lower-loss cable is always better at higher frequencies, your return on investment at this short length probably would be nil.

Randy
 

zz0468

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It'll be ok for a mobile antenna, at that length. But there ARE NMO mount and cable kits available that come with better quality cable. If you want to go to the trouble, you can change it out. If you don't want to be bothered, I doubt your ears would hear the difference.
 
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jakegday

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thanks guys, what if it was more then 12 feet though, what would be a good 800mhz cable??
 

KT4HX

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I've always used more than 12 ft of RG-58 on my mobile runs out of necessity. I know all the numbers and loss, etc., but while I am mobile I only listen to 800 MHz systems in the jurisdiction I am traveling in at the time, therefore, I have never had a problem using the length I needed. If you are trying to monitor some fringe systems while driving around, then you might indeed see some degradation. However, in my opinion, your local systems (or local to whereever you happen to be driving) should be fine, with no need to upgrade the coax.
 

Universaldecoder

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I say go for it! If you want to take the risk of seeing it might fit, build up a cable set out of lmr400-uf (Ultraflex) for the ultimate setup! By the way if you decide on the lmr240 get the uf (ultraflex), and the right size connectors for either type of cable. How did you intend to mount the mobile antenna? LMR400-UF is thick, so I'm thinking it'll probably be easier to hack an NMO mount to accept this cable. Have fun....

http://www.rfparts.com/commcoax.html

http://www.timesmicrowave.com/cgi-bin/calculate.pl You want a low "Total Run Attenuation(dB)"

(No offense Alan - just offering another perspective).
 
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KT4HX

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Universaldecoder said:
(No offense Alan - just offering another perspective).

None taken. I'm a firm believer that there is usually more than one way to an end. And, experimentation is half the fun of getting there. I just didn't want to see him getting too hung up on the numbers on short runs of cable, particularly if he is just going to be monitoring the 800 MHz systems that are around him (whereever that may be).
 

pogbobo

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zz0468 said:
It'll be ok for a mobile antenna, at that length. But there ARE NMO mount and cable kits available that come with better quality cable. If you want to go to the trouble, you can change it out. If you don't want to be bothered, I doubt your ears would hear the difference.

where can I get an NMO/coax assembly that doesn't use rg58? I've been looking and I cant find any! thanks :)
 

zz0468

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pogbobo said:
where can I get an NMO/coax assembly that doesn't use rg58? I've been looking and I cant find any! thanks :)

Larsen has some NMO mounts with LMR200, and Antenex sells a variety of mounts with Teflon cable.
 
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