SailNet Community - View Single Post - Coax Replacement
View Single Post
  #2 (permalink)  
Old 02-11-2008
btrayfors btrayfors is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Arlington, VA
Posts: 1,615
Rep Power: 7
btrayfors will become famous soon enough btrayfors will become famous soon enough
George,

Depending on how the old coax was secured inside the mast, it may be very difficult or impossible to remove it without major surgery, involving removing all mast wiring.

On a 30-footer, I'd think about simply running new coax and leaving the old coax in place. Use RG-8X which has less loss at VHF frequencies than RG-58 (or a more exotic even lower loss coax if you wanna spend money).

If there is no wiring channel inside the mast through which you can pass the new coax, you'll have to come up with some means of keeping it from slapping about inside the mast (which can be both annoying and damaging to the coax over time). Some folks have had success in simply using plastic wire ties arranged in threes (grouped and at 120-degree angles to one another) every few feet. These can be compressed and pulled into the mast, where they'll open and serve as standoffs for the coax.

Bill
Reply With Quote Share with Facebook