Shorten or not?

[dhardin53]

New to GMRS, finishing my installation in my SUV. I have a mag mount up top, entering through back passenger door. The question is, is there any benefit to cutting Coax so not to have all the extra cable hidden away.  With a 6db gain antenna using RG58U/A cable, will cuting the extra 4 or 5 feet of coax improve my performance?

 

Or just keep it intact for the next mobile set up?

[gortex2]

No. Just leave the cable. 

[mbrun]

I second @kb2ztx ’s answer. No.

In the real world, the small amount of loss that those few feet of extra cable represents is like the proverbial “drop-in-the-bucket”, you will never be able to tell it is or is not there.

The only reason I can think of for trimming would be vanity.


Michael
WRHS965
KE8PLM

[PACNWComms]

If it was 100 or even 50 feet then that would be another thing......a few extra feet is usually left in vehicle and vessel installations by the pro's for repairs and new connectors. In many cases testing is done on a yearly basis, and connectors get broken, corrosion may require a few inches of coax to be cut off, and some extra is necessary in that case. Do not worry, as others have mentioned about a few extra feet.

6dB gain in the antenna will easily compensate for some coax line loss. An isotropic (perfect antenna) would mean a spherical radiation pattern, 3dB would be more like a doughnut, 6dB more like a pancake, and 9 dB more like an LP record.

[dhardin53]

Thanks everyone, I was sure it would be nominal gain to remove excess cable. After more recherche found this cable calculator. Was surprised, AS I see it I would gain about 1 more watt by removing 4 feet. interesting,

 

https://www.qsl.net/co8tw/Coax_Calculator.htm