bundling coax

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monitorboy

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howdy yall
say you have alot of extra coax left over (5 or 6 ft.) from putting your mobile scanner antenna
where you want it on your vehicle and you dont want to cut the extra off .
does it affect the signal or performance of the antenna to bundle the extra up and zip tie or twist tie it snug together.....................thanks for the help :eek: :? :)
 

K2KOH

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Actually, depending upon how you bundle it, you can actually make an RF choke and wind up killing your signal altogether. Try and find a way to keep it stretched out...run it around a seat or something. Normally I would say cut the extra off, but in a mobile setting, I wouldn't do it, just in case you transfer the antenna to another vehicle.
 

astrodanco

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monitorboy said:
Say you have alot of extra coax left over (5 or 6 ft.) from putting your mobile scanner antenna where you want it on your vehicle and you dont want to cut the extra off. Does it affect the signal or performance of the antenna to bundle the extra up and zip tie or twist tie it snug together.
Bundle the excess into a loose coil at a convenient location. Do not bundle tighter than the minimum bend radius for the Coax in question -- preferably a much wider radius than that. Keep the loosely coiled coax in the shape of a circle and don't squash the circle into an oval. (Don't do it the way you would with a power cord.) Two tie wraps should be sufficient. Don't cinch the tie wraps down so much that they crimp the coax.
 
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N_Jay

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As long as you don't bend the coax any tighter than the minimum bending radios you can do just about anything you want.

You will not make a "choke" for the signal inside the cable.
You can add inductance to any signal riding on the outside of the coax, but in a good installation there should not be any.
 
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