I need to extend my high band coax about 3-4 feet. I cant find the connectors at my local radio shack to do this, can anyone help? Its for the smaller motorola connector, mini uhf i think its called.
Antenna help
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Grotonems5
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I would put in a new cable, anytime you put in connectors and extensions you have loss and impedance.
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If you are looking to make an extension cable, it doesn't matter what end is on it. All you would need from Radio Shack is 4 PL-259 ends, and a pair of double SO-239 "barrel" and a length of coax cable. Just cut your antenna cable about 6 - 8 inches before the end, put a PL-259 on each end of your antenna cable and one on each end of the the length of coax cable. Then just connect each pair with the barrel. Pics below show what you need. If you just want a length of cable with a pair of mini UHF connectors and a mini UHF barrel so you only have one splice, I can make one to size for you. PM me with the length that you need and I can give you a price. Hope this helps.
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I would refrain going the barrel connector method every new splice or every new adapter of something you had just causes loss and well if my radio is doing 50W transmit then I want every bit of that 50W going out radiating at as low of SWR as possible preferably 1 to 1.1:1.
I agree w/ one of those posters get a new coax piece for the length you need and redo it.
Oh, I'd stay away from the RS PL259s and their coax as well if at all possible. VERY Cheap
I agree w/ one of those posters get a new coax piece for the length you need and redo it.
Oh, I'd stay away from the RS PL259s and their coax as well if at all possible. VERY Cheap
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cvfd1615 said:
WHAT??? How are the "cheap"?? Any connector can be either "cheap" (poor quality) or good, depending on the quality of the product you are purchasing. Radio Shack, over the counter ones... yes, "cheap". The high end, gold plated tipped center conductor ones that we use in my shop... FAR from cheap! Motorola used the SO-239 antenna connectors on all of their radios for years and the MAIN reason the went to a mini UHF was for ease of installation (It's a hell of a LOT easier to snake them through a fire wall as opposed to a PL-259). Kenwood still uses them on all of their radios, as does Vertex and several other manufacturers. As for the loss, yes, you will experience SOME loss, but if you use high quality connectors, the loss is MINIMAL (less than 1 to 1 1/2 watts power out). If installing a new cable isn't an option, then this would be a viable alternative, which is all I was suggesting.
Just saying that Radio Shack quality of connectors and coax anymore is far from much good.
Will it work - Yes.
Would I be satisifed - No.
Will it work - Yes.
Would I be satisifed - No.
ffemt045 said:
When you say high band, are you referring to VHF High band? If so, the splice method suggested here will be fine. If you are talking 800mhz, then it will NOT be fine. The PL-259 connectors are only good up to about 500 mhz.
since i have a question about this myself ill post this one. i have a pro 404 handheld from radioshack. i am in the market for a new antenna for it. i currently have one on there now ( not to sure what kind it is) all i know it works but i wanna smaller one. i was on adamson's website and found this antenna and was wondering if would work? Black Kulrod Factory Tuned One Quarter Wave Antenna 806 to 896 MHz or is the MHZ to high for it? :crazy: .
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It will work, but marginally, at best. A lot depends on 2 factors. What frequencies you wish to monitor and how good the coverage is in your area. If you are only looking to monitor the 800 MHz. band, then this would be a great antenna, but any lower in frequency than that and you start to lose reception. The lower you go in frequency, the worse the performance is going to be. I have found that a regular 1/4 wave VHF whip cut to 18" generally performs pretty well for most applications. Low band is spotty, but not terrible.
Ok so in the end i took the time to run a hole new cable. The installer who installed the original radio and antenna cut off the remaining cable so a new factory lenght worked great. Thanks APS for your help and heres a free plug for ya!
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