1/2" fxl-540-nhr

[timkilbride]

Has anyone had any experience with this stuff?

Andrews Heliax 1/2" FXL-540-NHR - 70' | eBay

It seems to be a knock off. For the price, I thought I better ask around. Coax would be used in a repeater installation.

Tim

 

[mmckenna]

I haven't used that exact cable, but have used similar.

It isn't a Heliax knock off. It's a Commscope brand cable. Good for up to 8.8 GHz and somewhere around 40,000 watts.

You have to use specific connectors for it, so make sure you can find those before purchasing. $45 isn't a bad price for 70 feet of cable. But I think if you shopped around you could find the more standard LDF4-50A Heliax for a similar price and have an easier time getting connectors.

*I'm not sure of the exact measurements of this cable, so it may be possible to adapt the standard Heliax to fit this stuff. Maybe someone else knows for sure.

 

[timkilbride]

Thanks for the information.

 

[kb2vxa]

Red flag, it's neither Andrew nor Heliax. What is Andrews? Somebody doesn't know the company name. What is Heliax? As the name which BTW is copyrighted implies the real deal is air or gas dielectric semi-rigid line with a thin strip of helical wound plastic supporting the center conductor.

 

[prcguy]

Commscope owns Andrew and the Heliax brand name and the lightning bolt logo and all the dish antennas and everything that is Andrew.
prcguy

Red flag, it's neither Andrew nor Heliax. What is Andrews? Somebody doesn't know the company name. What is Heliax? As the name which BTW is copyrighted implies the real deal is air or gas dielectric semi-rigid line with a thin strip of helical wound plastic supporting the center conductor.

 

[mpddigital]

Fake Andrew Heliax

That eBay listing, like MANY is a COMPLETE RIP OFF FAKE cable

Sorry, got me on my soap box. The fact is that eBay allows sellers to put brand names and trade marked identifiers of quality US made coax in titles to entice folks in and cheat them by thinking they are getting good coax. The picture used is wrong for the cable description and the description doesn't say anything about a brand.

We have 300 or so listings for US made coax on eBay and regularly see sellers tricking folks into buying cheap fakes. eBays official response is they have not had a formal complaint from Times or Commscope and will only cancel the listings is a buyer complains or the trademark holder files a complaint. There are plenty of good honest companies selling on eBay but as the previous poster says this listing has a ton of red flags.

 

[kb2vxa]

"Commscope owns Andrew and the Heliax brand name and the lightning bolt logo and all the dish antennas and everything that is Andrew."

So how is corporate ownership germane to the issue? Just thought I'd ask...

FYI people, the picture came from the Andrew web site and it is under the Heliax brand. Trouble is it's not Heliax, only a brand. The key is in knowing the difference, now if you have "no loss coax" in mind how about some 4" Heliax hard line? Well, maybe if you're running a high power UHF TV transmitter...
(;->)

Thanks for the reminder prcguy, at least you're good for something. (;->)

 

[funkenjack]

After reading the comments on here I was somewhat skeptical as to whether the cable was authentic. However, I contacted the seller and he assured me it was. So, seeing as how I already have a cable prep tool that works with this type of cable, I took a chance and bought 70' of the eBay stuff from the eBay seller at the link above. Even saved a few $$ by making him an offer. Got the cable today, shipped by Fedex in a well-packed box.

I'm sure some will be disappointed to find out that the cable is, in fact, 100% real as advertised. The cable I received is a 70' cut-off piece of new Andrew FXL-540, HELIAX® Flexible Coaxial Cable, smoothwall aluminum, 1/2 in, black non-halogenated, fire retardant, low smoke, riser-rated polyolefin jacketed 50-ohm coaxial cable that was made in the USA by CommScope. It's the exact cable that's listed on the CommScope (the owner of Andrew Corp.) website: FXL-540-NHR

The cable is even National Electric Code rated CATVR (CATV Riser.)

For those who still doubt the legitimacy of the cable, here's a pic of the coil I bought.

(BTW, I have absolutely no relationship with the eBay seller other than I bought a roll of this cable and am happy with it.)

-Jack

PS: I also found new-in-box CommScope/Andrew OEM connectors (EZ-Fit type N female model 540EZNF Version 2) for the cable for $8 each plus shipping. It's all out there if you look diligently.

 

[prcguy]

What are you talking about? The Ebay picture is exactly what is advertised and Times is the originator of the LMR style but NOT necessarily the best version of that series of cable. I'm a heavy commercial consumer of Times, Andrew, Commscope and Belden coax and actually get to see and measure the differences in these cables.

The overall size, center conductor dia and other dimensions are an industry standard and many companies make excellent cables to the same or sometimes better spec than Times Microwave.

Commscope who owns the Andrew brand probably produces more quality cable in a month than Times makes all year.

Just because someone else sells cable cheaper than your company it doesn't mean you have to trash their ad. I also see a particular seller in the RR swap area selling cable at basically retail prices which is fine but why pay retail when there is lots of the same stuff on Ebay for a fraction of the price just like what funkenjack just did. With a little checking around you can get LMR400 or larger cable for less than what some people charge for LMR195.
prcguy

That eBay listing, like MANY is a COMPLETE RIP OFF FAKE cable

Sorry, got me on my soap box. The fact is that eBay allows sellers to put brand names and trade marked identifiers of quality US made coax in titles to entice folks in and cheat them by thinking they are getting good coax. The picture used is wrong for the cable description and the description doesn't say anything about a brand.

We have 300 or so listings for US made coax on eBay and regularly see sellers tricking folks into buying cheap fakes. eBays official response is they have not had a formal complaint from Times or Commscope and will only cancel the listings is a buyer complains or the trademark holder files a complaint. There are plenty of good honest companies selling on eBay but as the previous poster says this listing has a ton of red flags.

 

[mancow]

The image is not 1/2". Smaller cable like 1/2" uses foam instead of the plastic air standoffs in the image.

Red flag, it's neither Andrew nor Heliax. What is Andrews? Somebody doesn't know the company name. What is Heliax? As the name which BTW is copyrighted implies the real deal is air or gas dielectric semi-rigid line with a thin strip of helical wound plastic supporting the center conductor.