Where to buy cable?

[erikTromatowski]

Does anyone have any idea where I could buy, online, a 50' length of RG-8 Quad Shield with a PL-259 on one end and a BNC on the other end already attached? Thanks! I need it for a Riamond Discone I'm planning on putting up. Still need to buy grounding rod, etc, but I know where I could get all those.

 

[JohnWayne]

Do you want RG8 50ohm radio cable, or do you want RG6 75ohm cable TV cable?

Let me know and I will give you a quote for your jumper.

Thanks,
Jeff

 

[erikTromatowski]

50 ohm radio. But how much is the 75 ohm tv cable as well?

 

[MacombMonitor]

If you're receiving only, and not transmitting, take Jeff's hint, go with RG6, it's better, cheaper, easier to work with, and the 75 ohm impedance won't matter.

 

[Al42]

And you don't need quad shielded, just good quality cable. (Cheap cable can short, due to carbon migration from the outer jacket, in a couple of years.)

 

[JohnWayne]

The best bang for the buck in a scanner cable is probably the .400" diameter double sheilded cables like the LMR-400 or CNT-400. They are fairly flexible, low cost per foot, and the connectors are low cost. Once you start getting in to 1/2" and above cables the connectors become very expensive.

A 50' CNT-400 UHF-male to BNC-male is $49.90 from me. That includes silver/Teflon RF industries connectors and heavy-duty strain reliefs. All of my cables are custom made to order in our shop; not in some factory overseas.

Jeff

 

[erikTromatowski]

After further measurements, looks like im gonna need about 75 feet. Any suggestions?

 

[JohnWayne]

I sell a 75' CNT-400 UHF-male to BNC-male cable for $73.50.

Thanks,
Jeff

 

[eyes00only]

JEFF / I know this is a little off topic, but was wondering if you could custom make a cable that would go from my PC USB port to a Pro 95 scanner ( 1/8" phone plug )?

Jerry

 

[JohnWayne]

Jerry:

I could certainly build that cable, but I don't think it will work for what you want to do, which is programming the scanner I presume.

The programming cable for those scanners is more than just some wires. There are active and passive components in the cable that let it talk to the scanner. To build a real USB cable for programming those scanners would take some research and development.

My advice would be to use a USB-serial adapter.

Jeff

 

[eyes00only]

Thanks Jeff / I was afraid of that. It would cost me approx. $60, I guess, to do the trick. I think I'll stick to doing it by hand. I'm saving for a 396, and I suppose I will still need to get the USB / serial port cable, but at least it comes with a cable.

Jerry

 

[erikTromatowski]

Jeff,

After looking at your website, I noticed discone antenna for sale there (ADWMON64). I was wondering about the performance of this antenna as compared to a Diamond discone and in general? It seems to have less elements (which I would assume is a negative), but it is small and has a lower profile, and is cheaper (which are both pluses). I would be interested in possibly purchasing both this antenna and the cable. Thanks!

 

[JohnWayne]

I have honestly never used either of those discones. One thing that may sway your decision is that it is taking me a LONG time to special order stuff from Andrew/Antenna Specialists right now, so it could be over a month before I got the antenna in.

I've never heard anything about about the Diamond discone, so I would say go ahead and get it.

Thanks,
Jeff