Which Cable...

[scanjunkie]

Hi All,
What is the best coax cable to use for a length of 25 to 50 feet??

Thanks!!
Mark

 

[Grog]

It depends, what are you going to use it for?

1" hardline is overkill for 31mhz, but really sweet for 1.2ghz

 

[scanjunkie]

I am planning on using it for 150-900MHz.

Thanks!!
Mark

 

[rescue161]

No less than LMR400.

1/2" Heliax is great for what you need.

 

[astrodanco]

What is the best coax cable to use for a length of 25 to 50 feet??

I'd use LMR-400, just because I can. If I was a lazy cheapscape, I'd use RG-6QS (quad shield).

 

[N_Jay]

What is the best coax cable to use for a length of 25 to 50 feet??

I'd use LMR-400, just because I can. If I was a lazy cheapscape, I'd use RG-6QS (quad shield).

One thing to note, the sheilding has very little effect on a receive system like a scanner.
What is important is the loss of the cable.
Loss can be related to the overall quallity, and QS cable might be of higher quallity than the average hardware/electronics store RG-6.

It's hard to say, but in general, I would go with a name brand RG-6 over a cheap RG-6 QS.

Keep your loss under 3dB and you will do fine. For short runs any cable will work. What is short? Short is under 3 dB at your highest desired frequency.

Google 'Coax loss dB' and do some investigation.

Either that or shoot off some emails and get some cable catalogs for your bookshelf! (They have great loss charts in them)

 

[scanjunkie]

Great info all...thank you very much. I pretty good with the scanners themselves, but as far as the technical end of antennas and cables...I just don't know!!

Thanks!!
Mark

 

[kb2vxa]

"Great info all...thank you very much. I pretty good with the scanners themselves, but as far as the technical end of antennas and cables...I just don't know!!"

You're learning. Oh, when you learn what "whackerboy" means you'll change your name.

 

[Dubbin]

Whats with bringing back all these old posts...