Antenna Tuning

can someone tell me a good brand of coax to get and where to get it? TIA

 

I haven't bought any in a awhile. Belden was always a good brand and fairly available. I'm sure it's all made in Chine now and probably not as good as it used to be. Just about any CB shop will have a decent quality of coax. If you want to buy a roll, check with H & Y Electronics. I've heard the price has really jumped up.

http://www.hyelectronics.com/

 

Copper prices keep driving up the prices of nearly all electrical wiring. Commscope has absorbed a couple of brands into their corporate umbrella, but they've got a manufacturing plant just outside of Hickory, NC. I stopped in to see if I could pick up anything locally, and they said they make a practice of not competing with their authorized distributors. And as has already been pointed out, there are lots of sources, like H&Y. I've been buying all my antenna cabling and related accessories from The Wireman because they're closeby in South Carolina http://www.thewireman.com
Times, Cablewave, Belden, are some of the well-known brands that have been around, and I've used their brands in the places I've worked over the years, including for Heliax-type tower runs and long in-building spans.
Things to consider are the percentage of coverage provided by the shield, the outside diameter, the center conductor's diameter, jacket material, and the intended use. There are direct burial rated coaxes, and the specific coax you get might make a difference in the connectors which will fit it.
Any decent shop should have decent coax, as they don't want to have to replace lesser quality stuff under warranty when it fails.
Typical coax outside diameters are 0.20 inches, for RG-58 classes; 0.25 inches for RG-8X classes, and around 0.405 inches for RG-8 classes. They all take different connectors, and there are good and bad grades of all.
Hate to gild the lily, but just a little background on knowing what to look for. Hope it helps.
Cheers,
Handlebar

 

is the coax with the steel braid around it worth the few extra dollars?

i was thinking about mounting 1 antenna on my headache rack with new coax my truck is a midroof and pull a step deck, does anyone think this is a bad idea or will it work ok?

 

If the antenna is dead center of truck and above all metal it should be ok.

 

For the best overall, quickest, cheapest setup, I would still recommend a 5.5 Francis fiberglass antenna, a vice grip mount on the airline slide bar, and whatever length of coax is needed to go from the radio to the antenna. I do run a Cascadia day cab, so 18' is more than enough. It probably won't be the absolute very best setup, but it will sure work while you experiment with whatever else you want to try. I know the antenna sticks out about a foot above the trailer, but I run I-40 from Memphis to Nashville, and back, and none of the bridges/overpasses are less than 14' 6". We have drivers that use all brands of antennas and coax, bird perches, etc., and none work that much better than my $60 rig. Some drivers have hundreds of dollars in setups that get out 1 mile farther than mine. Good luck.

 

with my headache rack, i could put one on each side i don't know if that would be better worse? thanks

 

Could you not just twist the mount down to throw the antenna at a angle to lower the overall height? I used to run this set up on a Volvo day cab and it worked great for a RCI 2950. Then i added a 250 watt linear and changed to a steel whip.