I weigh considerably less than 170 pounds, but I just laid a section of LDF4
on my driveway and jumped on it. I do not see any deformation. I would agree
that it needs to be unrolled with some care but I consider it to be
reasonably tough. I have used aluminum cable TV hardline for a 220MHz
packet system and I easily ruined one cable just unrolling it. That stuff is
extremely delicate.
John KK9A
To: towertalk@contesting.com
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] LMR600 male DIN
From: "Roger (K8RI) on TT" <K8RI-on-TowerTalk@tm.net>
Date: Fri, 9 Sep 2016 18:58:25 -0400
Sharp bend is a relative term. The allowable bend radius is helpful and
usually given for most brand name cables. Most have a minimum bend radius
and a repeatable bend radius.
IIRC LMR400 has only a 1.5" minimum bend radius. I don't remember the
repeatable bend radius. LMR 600 also has a quite small minimum bend radius.
7/8ths Heliax is great stuff and tough enough that it would be difficult to
bend it too sharp. When I picked up the pickup load for the repeater the
coils were about 4' in diameter giving a bend radius of 2'. I've never seen
it on spools, but the operator where I picked it up complained about the
spool size. He had piles of 7/8ths in a fenced in area.
1/2" Heliax is safe at 1' from experience 10 years ago. I didn't try for a
tighter bend as that was sufficient. I'm sure those with experience have
made tighter bends.
My point is that you can't grab the 1/2" as is often done with regular RG-8
types, or LMR600. and make much of a bend without kinking it and I don't
mean a bend approaching the ability of the RG8 types. I doubt the users of
1/2" would have an antenna party and let the average ham handle the coax, at
least with out thorough instructions.<:-) I certainly wouldn't. I was given
several pieces that I think were used by the local club years back. All had
kinks and the ham that gave them to me is now a SK so there's no asking
about their history.
When I talked about laying the 1/2"on the ground I was not talking about a
driveway, I was talking about my yard which is pretty solid most of the
summer (although the grass is fairly thick) and a normal 170# person
stepping on the 1/2" causing damage. The two 100' lengths I gave away had no
kinks, or damage. Compared to the coax most of us use it is quite
fragile.although it is much tougher than the 1/2" 75 ohm Al CATV stuff, but
not the 3/4".
73
Roger (K8RI)
On 9/9/2016 Friday 10:08 AM, Jim Thomson wrote:
Date: Thu, 8 Sep 2016 21:46:14 -0400
From: "john@kk9a.com" <john@kk9a.com>
To: towertalk@contesting.com
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] LMR600 male DIN
Andrew LDF cables are copper tubing, of course you can kink them if you
make a sharp bend or you can flatten the cable with enough pressure. If
you plan on running feedline across your driveway I would pick something
else. If you need sharp bends consider FSJ4. Why don't you obtain a sample
of each and see which suits YOUR particular needs better.
John KK9A - W4AAA
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