Coax???

[vzfarms]

Hey guys I have some questions regarding coax...
I am going to use a maratrac 110watt as a base radio and need to find a good cheap base antenna. The coax will be indoors and about 100-150 foot long. What type of coax should I use as this will be used as a commercial antenna and i would like the most affordable but best quality solution.

 

[ledouxfan59]

Hey guys I have some questions regarding coax...
I am going to use a maratrac 110watt as a base radio and need to find a good cheap base antenna. The coax will be indoors and about 100-150 foot long. What type of coax should I use as this will be used as a commercial antenna and i would like the most affordable but best quality solution.

What Freq???? MHZ !!

 

[vzfarms]

sorry i didnt mention it, i use 154.xxx mhz

 

[Lowa2]

it really depends on the frequency you will be using....but as a rule, LMR400 is used on this forum. Belden RG214 is good for up to 800MHz, but then starts to drop off at 1-1.5 GHz.

 

[KD4KNR]

150 feet is a long run (especially VHF/UHF)

Can you shorten it??

If not spend extra money on low loss coax (LMR400) and a good antenna

 

[vzfarms]

i cant shorten it, it is actually now a longer run
i have a 110ft tower id like to put an antenna on but the office that I want to transmit from is 500+ feet from that tower, so i need some type of remote so I can have the radio at the tower and still use it from my office
but ultimately, it wont be shorter than 150 down the tower to the nearest building

 

[ledouxfan59]

i cant shorten it, it is actually now a longer run
i have a 110ft tower id like to put an antenna on but the office that I want to transmit from is 500+ feet from that tower, so i need some type of remote so I can have the radio at the tower and still use it from my office
but ultimately, it wont be shorter than 150 down the tower to the nearest building

WHAT FREQUENCY ??????????
there are many different types and applications ,
you want best value for the money ?

What Frequency are you going to be using ?????

you might look into old cable co hardline
its popping up everywhere , and a lot of hams have been using it
with good results .

again , what frequency ?????????

look into a repeater for yur remote

 

[ledouxfan59]

WHAT FREQUENCY ??????????
there are many different types and applications ,
you want best value for the money ?

What Frequency are you going to be using ?????

you might look into old cable co hardline
its popping up everywhere , and a lot of hams have been using it
with good results .

again , what frequency ?????????

look into a repeater for yur remote

never mind, i googled maratrac ,should have done that earlier , my bad
still though you havent told what band you are planning
on using ??? vhf, vhf-hi , or uhf ?

 

[vzfarms]

Frequency

i tried to post on here earlier what my frequency is but i must have done something wrong
my frequency is 154.490 and i am on the cheapest budget possible,
what about tone remote or dc remote?

 

[kb2vxa]

First of all "good" and "cheap" are conflicting terms. Antenna selection for commercial purposes is a bit out of my field but one thing I can tell you, you're going to need hard line if you want any reasonable amount of power to reach the antenna and enough signal to reach the receiver if you're going to get any decent range out of it. With that long a run you'll still have plenty of loss but at least the altitude will make up for some of it.

Remote control of a base station (remote base) is a rather complicated solution requiring modification of the transceiver and additional equipment so it may not be a practical solution. Remember what I said tn the very first sentence.

 

[zz0468]

At high band, LMR400 would be the minimum quality of coax you'd want for a run that long. You're looking at about 2.3 db loss, which is quite manageable. A gain antenna at the top of the tower can more than mitigate the line loss, but really... 2 db won't be noticed. Really. It won't.

As to running a remote, good idea. How are you at modifying radios? You'll need a DC or tone remote, and a compatible remote adapter grafted into the radio. Easy work if you know your stuff, a pain in the neck if you don't. Then, if you want it to sound good and work reliably, you need to know how to set levels. Good AND cheap don't have to be mutually exclusive. eBay is a wealth of stuff like this, and there are plenty of bargains if you know what to look for.