Batboard

Hello. I have been using about ~30 feet of Commscope E82833 (white in color, and a little bit thinner than rg8) that goes to a 4.5db gain Antenna (comet gp-3) at about 40ft in the air (ground-to-tip) to a CDM1250 Base. It seems to work quite well, altho I have never really heard of CommScope. Is this type of coax good?

Again, I'm just not familiar with the make or model, so any opinoins or comments are appreciated. Thanks.

You ask whether Commscope cable is good. We've used ALOT of cellreach cable. It's very good. I'm not certain exactly what cable you've got. There's typically words - cell reach, extremeflex, etc. - on Commscope wireless cables. They make an awful lot of CATV stuff, so it's possible you've got 75 ohm cable. You wouldn't necessarily see a problem if that's what you have. Depending on length, it might just be more lossy. See if there's anything else on the jacket.

Well, the full length of writing on the cable says:

COMMSCOPE NETWORK CABLE E82833 10 AWG SHEILDED 125 C (UL) TYPE CL2P HNS # 1010809 REV C MADE IN USA 3568 FT.

It's 10-Base 5 coax. 50 ohm coax designed for carrying 10 Mbps data, and lots of DC current for "vampire taps". It's probably not terribly lossy at VHF frequencies, but it's really not designed or tested for anything but it's capabilities for transporting 10-base 5.

Would RG8 be better? Or should I stick with this stuff?

Just as an interest note, I worked at the main Commscope plant in Catawba NC. I worked on the large stuff, from .500 to 1". It had about 1mil square feet.

It was a great place to work, til the layoff in 2001

Grog wrote:Just as an interest note, I worked at the main Commscope plant in Catawba NC. I worked on the large stuff, from .500 to 1". It had about 1mil square feet.

It was a great place to work, til the layoff in 2001

I worked on the fire alarm in the same plant, in 2000 and 2001, and most of the people I had contact with, there, seemed to really enjoy working there.

I have some of this cable as well. it says comm/scope network cable0298 RG58 A/U typeE82833 IEEE 802.3 10 BASE 2 20 AWG TYPE CL2. I must say its the best RG58 I have seen. It also has the foil under the braid. I may use some of this for a base setup on the VHF high band. Dont know how good it will work but Ill give it a try!

I just put this coax up on my dual band antenna. Two meter 440, and it works great. I had this in my garage for ten years, bought at hamfest. It was pricey at the time. I love the foil under the braided shield. I purposely have about 30 extra feet than needed for moving around etc. Still has great reports from all that I talk too. Its also a little thinner than RG8 for comparison. I'm going to look for more of this if I see it at any of the hamfests. So far so good, I hope it holds up to the weather. Good Stuff...