Lew,
I just finished a new tower. I am running 7/8" hardline and lmr-600 to
the new tower. I'm also re-cabling the first tower by replacing the
rg-213 with 7/8" and lmr-600. So I'll need a lot of connectors.
I purchased a 2000' roll of times lmr-600 off of ebay for a heck of
deal, less than .90 per foot shipped.
I found these connectors on ebay.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/QUICK-TYPE-10-Packs-N-male-crimp-connector-1-2-LMR-600-CA600-RF-Coaxial-Cable-/131217432221?
I was a little hesitant but I went ahead and ordered a bag of 10. If you
look at the store they have a combo which includes a bag of 10
connectors and a crimp tool.
I tested one of the connectors and I was quite impressed. No soldering
is required. The center pin is self captivating and you crimp the
shield. If you use a cst-600 prep tool you can have the lmr-600
connector ready within a matter of a minute or 2. Slip the connector
on, push until you feel a click (which tells you the center conductor
has been captured), slip on the ferrule and crimp. Your done. Based off
of this test I ordered 4 more bags. I had the N-male connector
installed, start to finish, in less than 3 or 4 minutes.
Setup an account with Tessco.com They have very good prices on the
CSt-600 as well as adapters to convert the above N-Male connector to a
pl-259. These adapters are very high quality (they are made by RF
Industries) and connect to the N with no slop. The part number is
Tessco part # is 94997. For less than $10 (not including the shipping
of the items) you have a good quality Pl-259 connector for LMR-600.
On my C31 Stack, I'm using LMR-600 for the phase lines, then 7/8" hard
line from the stack match switch to the shack.
I'm going to try a few loops (maybe 2.5' to 3' in diameter) of 1/2"
flexible Andrews hardline around the 55g where the tower rotates. Then
I'll build some sort of pvc pipe contraption to hold the loops in
place. As the tower rotates the loops will either contract a bit or
expand depending on the direction of rotation. Haven't figured out how
I'll climb around the loops yet when it's time for maintenance or to
hang some wire antennas off the tower.
My goal is to have less than a 1db of loss on 10 meters.
Rich - N5ZC
On 7/31/2015 10:54 PM, Lew Sayre wrote:
On a related note, is solder or crimping the best way to form a reliable,
long lasting connector to LMR-600?
If crimping, what is the best tool/system to use? I've always soldered the
smaller coaxes in the past but always ready to learn a new trick.
73 and I remain,
Lew w7ew
On Fri, Jul 31, 2015 at 8:24 PM, Drax Felton <draxfelton@gmail.com> wrote:
I do this with 1/2 hardline runs. I wound a helix of steel rope around
the bundle and let it take the weight and cinch on the cables all the way
down. Lowering the 90 tower just causes the hardline to form big loops on
the ground.
Tie down a length of it to an arm at the top so the cable connectors don't
flex and its held away from the tower.
Then use a turnbuckle on the steel rope at the bottom to keep it from
swinging in the wind.
Sent from Outlook
On Fri, Jul 31, 2015 at 5:43 PM -0700, "Robert Harmon" <k6uj@pacbell.net>
wrote:
I have a 380 foot coax run to the top section of my motorized tower when
it is fully extended.
I am changing out all my old RG213 and thinking of saving a few db by
going to LMR600 up to the top section then
LMR400UF up from there for the rotor loop and up to the 40 meter beam and
triband/warc beam on the mast.
What do you think of LMR600 for this run from the shack up to the top
section for a motorized tower ?
When I lower the tower I am thinking I could coil the LMR600 into maybe 5
foot diameter coils on the ground.
BTW the tower is 90 feet to the top of the top section when all the way up.
Is this a bad idea ? (I am hoping to avoid the cost of the flex LMR600UF
if I can.)
A side issue is I understand I have to be very careful not to nick the
copper clad on the center conductor
when installing a connector on the non flex LMR600. I would use the
Davis PL259 connectors for LMR600. Anyway maybe this usage of the
LMR600 is not a good idea, what do you think ?
Bob
K6UJ
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