The outer jacket on LMR-600UF..and also LMR-400UF is rubber. The rubber is
very soft...and prone to knicks etc, and is not abrasive proof.
It also is not UV proof outdoors. It would not be a good candidate for a
crank up tower imo.
Someone mentioned the 600-UF and 400-UF versions made by ABR
industries..and sold by HRO and others.
Their UF version uses a non contaminating PVC outer jacket, similar to
RG-213. Flexible, UV proof, and abrasive proof. Problem is,
a 100 ft length is listed on their site at a whopping $640.95 for 100
feet...or $6.41 per foot.
I checked out Shireen coax.... and their version of 600UF and also 400UF
uses a.... Thermoplastic Elastomer for the outer jacket.
http://www.shireeninc.com/wp-content/uploads/PDF-files/PDF-%20CABLE%20Spec%20Sheets/Coaxial%20Cables/Specs-RFC600-UF.pdf
Shireens price for their RFC-600UF is just $2.20 per foot.
https://www.shireeninc.com/osc/cables/coax-cable/rfc600uf Thats one third
the price of the ABR version.
Shireens thermoplastic elastomer is also known as TPE.... are a class of
copolymers or a physical mix of polymers (usually a plastic and a rubber) that
consist of materials with both thermoplastic and elastomeric properties.
This TPE stuff is supposed to be far more abrasive resistant vs non
contaminating PVC..and better for temp extremes, and also V breakdown..and
its also UV proof, and then some.
I contacted Shireen, and they assured me it was robust, and superb for UV,
in direct sunlight, outdoors.
They offered to send me a free sample to evaluate, so I took them up on their
kind offer.
Dunno why Times Microwave didn’t figure out the rubber jacket problem on
their UF cables...like 25 years ago.
The Shireen UF version may well be the real answer for a lot of folks like
myself. Their RFC-600UF is flexible..and low loss, handles power, which the
VHF and UHF folks will appreciate,
and handles UV. For general use, the ultra flex would be easier to route
through conduits, bends etc.
This might all be old news, but its new for me.
Jim VE7RF
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