What's a good length of Coax cable to bring along.

Bob Dunahugh

New member
Sep 17, 2012
2,784
4
3
Never have had a need before. Have a 100 footer. But that's too long. Just need to cut that one down. Bob Dunahugh
 
Usually the cable TV hookup is mounted to the electrical pedestal, so about as long as your electric cord, plus a few feet (or more).
--
Carl Stouffer
'75 ex Palm Beach
Tucson, AZ.
Chuck Aulgur Reaction Arm Disc Brakes, Quadrabags, 3.70 LSD final drive, Lenzi knuckles/hubs, Dodge Truck 16" X 8" front wheels, Rear American Eagles,
Solar battery charging. GMCSJ and GMCMI member
 
Take the 100 foot cable, cut it into 33' and 67' sections. Put new compression ends on. Tool and ends from HF. Then you can use just what you need.
If you follow this path, be sure to have a barrel connector to join the cables.
Tom
10 days to Tucson
--
2012 Phoenix Cruiser model 2552
KA4CSG
 
> Take the 100 foot cable, cut it into 33' and 67' sections. Put new compression ends on. Tool and ends from HF. Then you can use just what you
> need. If you follow this path, be sure to have a barrel connector to join the cables.
> Tom
> 10 days to Tucson

Google "Push on F connectors". Makes it easy to put together and plug in when setting up at a site. JWID

--
Larry
78 Royale w/500 Caddy
Menomonie, WI.
 
Or just get another 25 or 30 foot cable and a barrel connector (balun) and you'll be ready for local and long distance hookups. Not like it's a bunch
of extra weight to haul or storage space needed to keep it on hand. And you'll have it nearby and ready at the house too, to use as a tool or
temporary connection in troubleshooting TV signal problems.
--
Terry Kelpien

ASE Master Technician

73 Glacier 260

Smithfield, Va.
 
A barrel connector and a balun are two very different animals. Be careful here. Unless you have some sort of outlaw antenna, you won't need a balun.
If you have a regular 300 Ohm TV antenna, you might need one.

--johhnny
--
76 26' Eleganza(?) with beaucoup mods and add - ons.
Braselton, Ga.
"I forgive them all, save those who hurt the dogs. They must answer to me in hell" - ol Andy, paraphrased
 
Must have been some snafu in the packaging department of the brand of barrel connectors I bought at closeout years ago. The 75 ohm barrel connector
said balun on the package and I just took for granted all these years that that is what it's technical name was. I bought 5 or 6 of them that day. So
now, Johhnny (with 2 h's and 2 n's), what exactly is an outlaw antenna? With the way the TV signals behave here and elsewhere now, (effing digital TV
:x ), I'm sure I need one to rip those signals outta the air, 'cause they sure aren't as well delivered as stuff from Amazon.

Without looking it up, I am guessing a balun (balanced unloaded?) must be the 75ohm coax to twin lead adapter. Would be the only other thing that
would fit on the card/blister package besides an F connector.
--
Terry Kelpien

ASE Master Technician

73 Glacier 260

Smithfield, Va.
 
A balun is a transformer the converts between 300 Ohm twinlead and 75 Ohm coaxial cable, i.e., balanced to unbalanced. It converts either way. The "barrel" connector is just two female connectors back-to-back.

D C "Mac" Macdonald
Amateur Radio K2GKK
Since 30 November '53
USAF and FAA, Retired
Member GMCMI & Classics
Oklahoma City, OK
"The Money Pit"
TZE166V101966
'76 ex-Palm Beach
k2gkk + hotmail dot com

________________________________
From: Gmclist on behalf of Terry
Sent: Friday, March 23, 2018 19:39
To: gmclist
Subject: Re: [GMCnet] What's a good length of Coax cable to bring along.

Must have been some snafu in the packaging department of the brand of barrel connectors I bought at closeout years ago. The 75 ohm barrel connector
said balun on the package and I just took for granted all these years that that is what it's technical name was. I bought 5 or 6 of them that day. So
now, Johhnny (with 2 h's and 2 n's), what exactly is an outlaw antenna? With the way the TV signals behave here and elsewhere now, (effing digital TV
:x ), I'm sure I need one to rip those signals outta the air, 'cause they sure aren't as well delivered as stuff from Amazon.

Without looking it up, I am guessing a balun (balanced unloaded?) must be the 75ohm coax to twin lead adapter. Would be the only other thing that
would fit on the card/blister package besides an F connector.
--
Terry Kelpien

ASE Master Technician

73 Glacier 260

Smithfield, Va.
 
Terry, balun is short for “balanced-unbalanced” and converts balanced
twinlead (which routinely has high impedance) to unbalanced coaxial cable
(which has low impedance).

But not all balanced twinlead has high impedance. I’ve made many baluns
that had no transformer, if the twinlead was a short pigtail hanging off an
antenna with the same impedance as the coax.

An outlaw antenna is one being used for a different purpose or frequency
band than it was designed, which may require all sorts of transformers.

Rick “but impedance matching doesn’t insure resonance” Denney

> Must have been some snafu in the packaging department of the brand of
> barrel connectors I bought at closeout years ago. The 75 ohm barrel
> connector
> said balun on the package and I just took for granted all these years that
> that is what it's technical name was. I bought 5 or 6 of them that day. So
> now, Johhnny (with 2 h's and 2 n's), what exactly is an outlaw antenna?
> With the way the TV signals behave here and elsewhere now, (effing digital
> TV
> :x ), I'm sure I need one to rip those signals outta the air, 'cause they
> sure aren't as well delivered as stuff from Amazon.
>
> Without looking it up, I am guessing a balun (balanced unloaded?) must be
> the 75ohm coax to twin lead adapter. Would be the only other thing that
> would fit on the card/blister package besides an F connector.
> --
> Terry Kelpien
>
> ASE Master Technician
>
> 73 Glacier 260
>
> Smithfield, Va.
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> GMCnet mailing list
> Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
> http://list.gmcnet.org/mailman/listinfo/gmclist_list.gmcnet.org
>
--
Rick Denney
73 x-Glacier 230 "Jaws"
Off-list email to rick at rickdenney dot com
 
OK. 'Twin lead' is the flat cable with a wire on each side. For television antenna cable, it has a characteristic impedance of 300 Ohms nominally.
Coaxial cable is the round stuff with a center conductor shielded with foil or braid. It will normally have a characteristic impedance of either 50
Ohms or 75 Ohms. 75Ohm is usually used for TV reception, while 50Ohms is usually the choice for transmitting antenna lines. It normally has the
impedance or the type printed on the jacket. Twinlead has substantially less loss per foot than coax, which is why it's often used for outdoor TV
antennas. A balun should be used to convert one to the other.

When I mentioned 'outlaw' antennas, I was actually referring to antennas with a 300 ohm balanced feed. Any moremost are manufactured at 75 Ohms for
coax either inherently in the design or with a built in/on balun.

Twin lead is also substantially cheaper than coax per unit length... it is slightly more susceptible to interference than coax.

Confused now? :)

--johnny
--
76 26' Eleganza(?) with beaucoup mods and add - ons.
Braselton, Ga.
"I forgive them all, save those who hurt the dogs. They must answer to me in hell" - ol Andy, paraphrased
 
And Twinlead is much more affected by rain, snow, and pollution.
Mac in OKC

Sent from my iPadj

>
> OK. 'Twin lead' is the flat cable with a wire on each side. For television antenna cable, it has a characteristic impedance of 300 Ohms nominally.
> Coaxial cable is the round stuff with a center conductor shielded with foil or braid. It will normally have a characteristic impedance of either 50
> Ohms or 75 Ohms. 75Ohm is usually used for TV reception, while 50Ohms is usually the choice for transmitting antenna lines. It normally has the
> impedance or the type printed on the jacket. Twinlead has substantially less loss per foot than coax, which is why it's often used for outdoor TV
> antennas. A balun should be used to convert one to the other.
>
> When I mentioned 'outlaw' antennas, I was actually referring to antennas with a 300 ohm balanced feed. Any moremost are manufactured at 75 Ohms for
> coax either inherently in the design or with a built in/on balun.
>
> Twin lead is also substantially cheaper than coax per unit length... it is slightly more susceptible to interference than coax.
>
> Confused now? :)
>
> --johnny
> --
> 76 26' Eleganza(?) with beaucoup mods and add - ons.
> Braselton, Ga.
> "I forgive them all, save those who hurt the dogs. They must answer to me in hell" - ol Andy, paraphrased
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> GMCnet mailing list
> Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
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Might have been astray...never got as far as confused. I always referred to them as matching transformers or R/C tuning box as that's what was taught
and learned installing all those "outlaw" antennas on cars and houses. So in true Boy Scout fashion, I carry the undetermined length of coax, a barrel
connector or 3, a loop and a antenna,and a balun to match the coax to the "outlaw" antennas engineered for twin lead. Cable, balun, and loop antenna
courtesy of the free table at the Bean Station swap meet in 2015. Thank you to whomever donated that, but I tried it there this last year when the
dipole couldn't even get the stations I got in 2015. It didn't help except that I could use the extra cable to stand outside in the rain on one leg
with the antenna held high in one hand and the other hand on the RV for a ground reference and get 1 station to come in steady.
--
Terry Kelpien

ASE Master Technician

73 Glacier 260

Smithfield, Va.
 
When I replaced the headliner in my Avion, I noticed they used twinlead once the coax entered the coach. Never did find the other end(s). Replaced
with good grade coax.
Tom
--
2012 Phoenix Cruiser model 2552
KA4CSG
 
Basic rules for running 300 ohm twin lead.

1. Do not run it near anything metallic
2. Cross anything metallic like gutters and down spouts at a 90 degree angle and keep it away 5" or 6" away with stand offs at the crossing.
3. Keep all horizontal runs to an absolute minimum
4. Twist the cable a minimum of twice per foot.

Basic rules for RG-6 or RG 59 coax

1. Keep it away form fluorescent lights
2. make sure the connectors are good and also tight.
3. ?

While RG-6 has more loss than 300 ohm twin lead, It has superior noise resistance and does not care if it is run horizontal. Twisting is not
necessary or helpful.

--
Ken Burton - N9KB
76 Palm Beach
Hebron, Indiana
 
Does anybody need an perfectly good and original Winegard TV antenna
replacement? Just let me know, and I’ll bring it to Tucson.

About 35 years ago, Lenore and I threw the TV out of our home, and have
never missed it! So naturally when I was considering where to locate the
panels, and where to route the wiring from the roof, the unused antenna
obviously had to go.

Also have a set of bogie wheel well skirts that I’d trade with anyone for a
set of T-shirts. Let me know and I’ll bring them too.

And, if you need a DuroTherm furnace, I can bring that too. Replaced it
with radiant heat, to eliminate the battery drain of “forced air” heat.

We leave for Tucson this Wednesday, wit stops in Terlingua and the Big Bend
area on the way.

See you soon,
Vern
--
Vern Crawford (and Lenore Langsdorf)
155 JJ Lane
Center Point, TX 78010
(618) 203-8296 Vern's cell
(830) 928-5550 Lenore's cell
VernCrawford
LenoreLangsdorf
 
No TV? How can you exist without the constant barrage of talking heads telling you what to think
and filtering the news for you?
--
Ken Burton - N9KB
76 Palm Beach
Hebron, Indiana
 
Friends often wonder how Lenore and I accomplish all that we do. It would
be impossible if we were drawn into a “time sucking” TV. The internet
brings us more news than we need!

Hugs,
Vern (and Lenore)

> No TV? How can you exist without the constant barrage of talking heads
> telling you what to think
> and filtering the news for you?
> --
> Ken Burton - N9KB
> 76 Palm Beach
> Hebron, Indiana
>
> _______________________________________________
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> Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
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>
--
Vern Crawford (and Lenore Langsdorf)
155 JJ Lane
Center Point, TX 78010
(618) 203-8296 Vern's cell
(830) 928-5550 Lenore's cell
VernCrawford
LenoreLangsdorf
 
Vern. That was a TIC comment from me.

We all know that you can not post anything on the Internet if it is not true
much like the reporting by the news media. TIC.

I have a TV for the coach. Most of the time we leave it at home.
We can get by not watching TV for a couple of weeks while we are not home.

--
Ken Burton - N9KB
76 Palm Beach
Hebron, Indiana