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I strung an antenna top of a tree, new 58 wire, R/S *(Grr)* connectors, fed to an old Uniden 210xlt.
The train detector (6 miles away) has a worse signal now than when I had the 'back of the scanner'/ 'inside the house' antenna.
The connectors are not soldered, crimped. (My suspect).

Thoughts/ suggestions?

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Crimped is bad news. Solder that thing.

Use a meter and check for shorts.

How long is the feedline ? Typically I'll only use 58 for HF under 100W. For a basic VHF/UHF setup I prefer something like LMR240 if the feedline is under 100'.

It's about 75', feeding a receiver only.
I hear ya, I like to solder connections too.
When the stupid snow is gone I can do something better on the roof.

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Really? Most of cables in the LMR filed are crimp connectors, not such bad news for us. The main thing is the connectors need to be put on correctly with the correct tool/tools.

Jim

He is using RG58 which I suppose would be similar diameter to LMR195. I wouldn't bother crimping a PL259 on 58 sized cable. If he's trying to crimp a BNC then I'd hope the cable is solid core and the crimp die is high quality (i.e. hex, not the two-sided pinch crap).

I rarely find a solder connector thats done correctly. Most are under soldered or overheated and shorted.

If you get water in the crimp connector it will go to hell very quickly- even after it drys out.

75 feet of RG58 is quite lossy. Even at lower frequencies you could be just over that margin. 4dB of loss + around .75 dB per connector. Lets give it 5dB. You will probably not gain more than 2dB at 162mHz with elevation of 50ft or less over ground over ground unless you cleared a good number of objects trees buildings ect. So you have actually lost 3dB with that setup. Hypothetically...

And what of the antenna? Is it a mobile on a ground plane kit? Basestation type?

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"A well regulated breakfast, being necessary to the healthy start of the day, the right of the people to keep and eat food shall not be infringed."

Soldering connectors takes time, most applications time is limited so crimping is the key.

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Mt Wave SAR member
Support Search & Rescue: Get Lost!
http://www.mwave.org

Wow.... this is very similar to the methodology behind raising my children :)

Sure it takes time and must be done right but solder is generally better in any case when its done right.

You'd be shocked how many times Ive run into connectors that are not even soldered at all at the braid.

That said- Crimps have to be crimped right also. Using the wrong crimp tool for a connector can also cause problems.

Luckily the radios we use have use miniuhf connectors for the last 25 years... Very rare we ever come across pl259's anymore...

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"A well regulated breakfast, being necessary to the healthy start of the day, the right of the people to keep and eat food shall not be infringed."

I can solder. Just bought a new tip.
I bought these dumb crimp connectors from R/S local.
I need a new battery for the 170, I'll throw in some real connecters (the solder kind) when I place my order.

I use a propane torch when I put together J-Poles.
1.3:1 2m & 1.1:1 70cm, thank you. :mrgreen:

I'm going to hold off 'til the snow is off the roof. Steel & 6/12 pitch.

I've got this I'm thinking about using for the scanner (RX only):
(Poor photo, Motorola, about 16-20 feet tall, says 168mhz on it. Should have some gain.)

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If I had some of your equipment I'm sure it would work better.
Radio Shack stuff, so solder is necessary. I hate going in that store.
They used to be cool. Now it's nothing but cell phones and over-priced various junk.

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Oh- so a big ground plane! :mrgreen:


I did a mobile mount on a steel roof one time just to get em back on the air... Building was going away soon so didn't even ask about drilling the hole. Coverage was down a bit but it worked... Antenna actually duplexed quite well...

We take the tip out of the gun and heat the metal of the connector on pl259's directly from the gun electrodes. Then don't move it till it cools.

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"A well regulated breakfast, being necessary to the healthy start of the day, the right of the people to keep and eat food shall not be infringed."

2nd all the comments here

And hola folks ...still here just lurking these days :)

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If I had an antenna, I would; but I can only transmit on 160 meters.
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DE K7MHI

Wow!!! Spud is alive after all :chaingun:

Where have you been Kelly?

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" SILENCE IS CONSENT "

Jim N7UAP - Bellingham, WA / InterceptRadio.com

Hehe yes Jim!! I replied over here
viewtopic.php?f=20&t=5881

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If I had an antenna, I would; but I can only transmit on 160 meters.
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DE K7MHI