RE work internals on a mast, new coax ??

[dive7mmwet]

Were redoing the mast on our Cat27 and some were I thought I read a post on new coax to use type by Main Sail, Mine is the old rg58 and 30+ old!

I tooled over to our local Ham radio outlet I remember from my youth and it still open barely,,, They recommended RGX?
And solder on connectors,

Is this good or something else?

I am puling and re-doing the entire wiring harness and tying it all together for the new hang and new sponges as my halyards are external any hoo
Now I just need to find a mast head plate mount marine antenna too.

any two cents would be great thanks!
Brad

 

[Don S/V ILLusion]

Whatever weight savings you gain by using RG8x is at the expense of a significant attenuation at 150MHz. Ther are a bunch of web sites you can search for to see the differences - just google coax loss.

If its 30 yrs old, it is way past replacement time. The various LMR coax cables are excellent but whatever you choose, remember even a 1dB loss equates to a 20 percent reduction in radiated power.

Stay away from the crimp-on connectors unless you are very bad at soldering. They don't last and are very difficult to make solid connections without damaging the coax.

 

[dive7mmwet]

For sure on replacement time!
Solder I can do, as long as I can find some good old lead rosin! Will look up LMR cable
Thanks

Whatever weight savings you gain by using RG8x is at the expense of a significant attenuation at 150MHz. Ther are a bunch of web sites you can search for to see the differences - just google coax loss.

If its 30 yrs old, it is way past replacement time. The various LMR coax cables are excellent but whatever you choose, remember even a 1dB loss equates to a 20 percent reduction in radiated power.

Stay away from the crimp-on connectors unless you are very bad at soldering. They don't last and are very difficult to make solid connections without damaging the coax.

 

[Bill Roosa]

Make sure you have an iron that has sufficient wattage. Those 15 watt just heat up the connector and then melt the coax outer sheath. A torch also works but then you have too much "wattage" so plan ahead and use a pair of vice grips as a heat sink.
As an inland sailor you can probably get away with a more efficient (>6 db gain) antenna to help offset the coax losses

 

[Rodd]

use Times Microwave (or similar manufacturer) LMR 400 coax. It's the same size roughly as RG-213, formerly the best choice. Check for it on Ham radio websites such as Texas Towers or Ham Radio Outlet. Takes the same PL 259 connector as RG8 or RG-213.

Good Luck!