Coaxial Connectors, Coaxial Cable, Feed Line, and a Simple Antenna. By: David E. Rudd, CET WC AI4JI Walton County Emergency Radio Club AI4JI
Walton County Emergency Radio Club AI4JI Coaxial Connectors Properly mate cables to equipment Properly mate cables to cables Can be easily adapted to other types Maintain impedance Walton County Emergency Radio Club AI4JI
PL-259 (Childrens Band’ers favorite) Walton County Emergency Radio Club AI4JI
Walton County Emergency Radio Club AI4JI Coaxial Connectors PL-259 aka UHF Connector (50 ohms) WWII threaded connector intended for use as a video connector in RADAR applications. It later saw use as an RF connector and is generally used at HF and VHF frequencies. These do NOT work well over 300 MHz! Walton County Emergency Radio Club AI4JI
Walton County Emergency Radio Club AI4JI BNC Connector Walton County Emergency Radio Club AI4JI
Walton County Emergency Radio Club AI4JI Coaxial Connectors BNC Connector (50 or 75 ohms) Aka (Bayonet Neill-Concelman) Very common RF coaxial connector Used for audio, video, RF and networking Commonly found in radio and television Typically good from 0MHz – 3 GHz Supports voltages up to 500 volts. Walton County Emergency Radio Club AI4JI
Walton County Emergency Radio Club AI4JI F Connector Walton County Emergency Radio Club AI4JI
Walton County Emergency Radio Club AI4JI Coaxial Connectors F connector (75 ohms) Commonly used for over the air terrestrial television, cable television, satellite television and cable modems. Best with RG-6/U cable. Good up to 1 GHz. Walton County Emergency Radio Club AI4JI
Walton County Emergency Radio Club AI4JI N Connector Walton County Emergency Radio Club AI4JI
Walton County Emergency Radio Club AI4JI Coaxial Connectors N Connector (50 and 75 ohms) Designed for 0-11GHz, but found works well up into the 18GHz range! Can handle 5000 watts at 20MHz and 500 watts at 2GHz. Mil-Spec and widely used in the infrastructure of land mobile, wireless data, paging and cellular communications systems. Walton County Emergency Radio Club AI4JI
Walton County Emergency Radio Club AI4JI SMA Connector Walton County Emergency Radio Club AI4JI
Walton County Emergency Radio Club AI4JI Coaxial Connectors SMA Connector (50 ohms) Good from DC to 18GHz. Commonly found on portable radios. Rated for only 500 mating cycles if properly torqued to 3-5 in-lbf. Walton County Emergency Radio Club AI4JI
Walton County Emergency Radio Club AI4JI Mini-U Walton County Emergency Radio Club AI4JI
Walton County Emergency Radio Club AI4JI Coaxial Connectors Miniature UHF (mini-u) (50 ohms) Designed for use in mobile phones Good for up to 2.5 GHz. Became popular for commercial mobile transmitter applications. Commonly found on public safety radio equipment. Walton County Emergency Radio Club AI4JI
Walton County Emergency Radio Club AI4JI Coaxial Cable Commonly found in 50 and 75 ohms Thin, thick, shielded, double shielded. Flexible, rigid, semi-rigid, superflex, heliax. Air dielectric, foam dielectric, teflon. Silver or nickel plated, solid or copper clad Solid conductor, braided conductor, hollow conductor and twisted conductor. Walton County Emergency Radio Club AI4JI
Walton County Emergency Radio Club AI4JI Coaxial Cables Walton County Emergency Radio Club AI4JI
Walton County Emergency Radio Club AI4JI Belden 9913/U Walton County Emergency Radio Club AI4JI
Walton County Emergency Radio Club AI4JI Coaxial Cable An inner conductor surrounded by a flexible, tubular insulating layer, surrounded by a tubular conducting shield and covered by a weather-proof material. Used as a transmission line for radio frequency signals. The thicker the cable, the less loss and more power handling capabilities. Walton County Emergency Radio Club AI4JI
Commercial Coaxial Cables Walton County Emergency Radio Club AI4JI
Commercial Coaxial Cables Walton County Emergency Radio Club AI4JI
Walton County Emergency Radio Club AI4JI Coaxial Cable and Loss Coax Cable has attenuation, both ways! RG-8/U, 100’ @ 10 MHZ = .55 dB RG-8/U, 100’ @ 50 MHz = 1.3 dB RG-8/U, 100’ @ 144 MHz = 2 dB RG-8/U, 100’ @ 400 MHz = 4.1 dB 9913, 100’ @ 50 MHz = .9 dB 9913, 100’ @ 144 MHz = 1.5 dB 9913, 100’ @ 400 MHz = 2.6 dB Walton County Emergency Radio Club AI4JI
Walton County Emergency Radio Club AI4JI Gain and Loss Chart Gain / Loss Multiplier ERP if 100 watts 1db 1.2 120 w 2db 1.6 160 w 3db 2.1 210 w 6db 4 400 w 9db 8 800 w 12db 15.9 1590 w 15db 31.6 3160 w Walton County Emergency Radio Club AI4JI
Walton County Emergency Radio Club AI4JI Coaxial Cable and Loss LMR-400, 100’ @ 10MHz = negligible LMR-400, 100’ @ 50MHz = .9 dB LMR-400, 100’ @ 144MHz = 1.4 dB LMR-400, 100’ @ 440MHz = 2.7 dB LDF4-50, 100’ @ 10MHZ = negligible LDF4-50, 100’ @ 144MHz = .4 dB LDF4-50, 100’ @ 440MHz = 1.5 dB LDF4-50, 100’ @ 900MHz = 2.2 dB Walton County Emergency Radio Club AI4JI
Walton County Emergency Radio Club AI4JI Coaxial Cable and Loss LDF5-50, 100’ @ 50MHz = .25 dB LDF5-50, 100’ @ 144MHz = .4 dB LDF5-50, 100’ @ 440MHz = .8 dB LDF5-50, 100’ @ 900MHz = 1.2 dB Walton County Emergency Radio Club AI4JI
Walton County Emergency Radio Club AI4JI Ladder Line No loss. Does not leak. Not prone to radiate. Requires a BALUN to work with standard 50 ohm equipment. Must be kept clear of surrounding metal. Very easy to work with. Does not require expensive connectors. Walton County Emergency Radio Club AI4JI
Walton County Emergency Radio Club AI4JI 450 ohm Ladder Line Walton County Emergency Radio Club AI4JI
Simple Dipole Connection Walton County Emergency Radio Club AI4JI
Ladder Line J-Pole Antenna Walton County Emergency Radio Club AI4JI
Walton County Emergency Radio Club AI4JI Home Made Ladder Line Walton County Emergency Radio Club AI4JI
Walton County Emergency Radio Club AI4JI The Doublet Antenna Walton County Emergency Radio Club AI4JI
Walton County Emergency Radio Club AI4JI ½ Wave Doublet Formula Walton County Emergency Radio Club AI4JI
Walton County Emergency Radio Club AI4JI Doublet Advantages Cut to lowest frequency you intend to use. Must use a tuner. Must have a 4:1 Balun in the tuner. (usually will have 2 or 3 insulated binding posts for connecting wires on back) Will tune ANY frequency in the HF bands. Will tune 6 meter band. Will give you GAIN in the upper HF bands! Walton County Emergency Radio Club AI4JI
Walton County Emergency Radio Club AI4JI The End Walton County Emergency Radio Club AI4JI