Any one close to Bushnell, Fl?

[Mrsig]

Any one close to Bushnell, Fl that can check out my RT97L Repeater system? It is not putting out as far as I think it should. I think I have something wrong.

Thanks Sig.

[BoxCar]

No, Heliax isn't very flexible. It's intended for fixed antenna connections. You could do two runs, one outside. one inside./

[Mrsig]

So what is the better on to go with? The Browning BR-400 or Times Microwave Low Loss Coaxial Cable - LMR-400?

Thanks for your help.

[SteveShannon]

6 minutes ago, Mrsig said:

So what is the better on to go with? The Browning BR-400 or Times Microwave Low Loss Coaxial Cable - LMR-400?

Thanks for your help.

If those were the only two choices and money were no object, I would go with Times-Microwave, every time.  The Times-Microwave LMR-400 is the original which created the standard.  All other companies that make a 0.400 inch diameter cable called something like it (such as BR-400) are insinuating that their coax is equivalent.  Some actually make cables that test as good while selling for less. They will be sold by companies that are not Amazon. Nothing wrong with Amazon, but the buyer has to bring some expertise.
 

However, there are some concerns about LMR-400:

First, the original has a single solid center conductor that makes it stiff.  Times-Microwave solved that by manufacturing a cable that has a stranded center conductor called LMR-400 UF (for Ultra Flexible).
Second, some people have concerns about the mixture of metals in the shielding, especially for repeater use. They claim the contact points of the different metals in the different layers of shielding create thousands of tiny semiconductor junctions.  I have never seen proof of that, but other companies make coax that use pure copper for every layer of shielding.  One of the best known is an Italian company named Messi & Poloni.  They make a cable (M&P Hyperflex 10) that tests every bit as well as LMR-400, and sells for about the same price as LMR-400. But there are others as well.  ABR400, DX400, etc.  The list of high quality 0.400 cables that are reasonable alternatives to the original LMR-400 is long. I have never heard that BR400 listed as one of them.  I also would stay away from KMR400 as sold on Amazon.

Personally, I have several lengths of M&P and a few of ABR-400. I bought my M&P from Gigaparts, but one of the online vendors that sells mostly Chinese radios also sells it for a decent price, maybe Buytwowayradios.com?  Or you can order it direct from Italy.  They’ll put it together to your specs and ship it very quickly directly to you.

I’m sure this probably adds even more to your uncertainty.  Asking which is the best cable is like taking a philosophy course in college.

Here’s a link to the Gigaparts web page for Hyperflex 10: https://www.gigaparts.com/messi-and-paoloni-hyperflex-10-coax-cable.html#close

 

 

[Mrsig]

Gig dose not have 50' available but buytwoway has Messi & Paoloni Ultraflex 10 Premium .400" Pre-assembled Coax - UHF Male (PL259) Connectors.

Is this what I should get? I want it to work well. Thanks so much for your help.

Sig 

[LeoG]

In my home system I run the M&P Hyperflex13 out to the lightning arrester and then 1/2" Heliax up to the antenna.  At the shop I run my repeater and that has TMW LMR400.

I'm getting a nearly perfect SWR with the M&P/Heliax with a CA712ECF antenna while at the shop with the LMR400 and a Retevis MA09 antenna I'm getting a 1.76 SWR.  I think that has been going up since I put it in.  I pretty much have zero water protection on that system, just the aluminum tube that surrounds the fitting of the antenna for protection.  Water infiltration is a possibility.

[Mrsig]

So the Messi and Paoloni UltraFlex 10 Coax Cable Should work great for me? 

[SteveShannon]

11 minutes ago, Mrsig said:

So the Messi and Paoloni UltraFlex 10 Coax Cable Should work great for me? 

Yes