Batboard

Doesa anybody know whether anybody ever manufactured an 1 and 5/8s heliax with a spiral outer conductor. I have never seen it, never seen a connector for it, but have heard from a friend that he may have to use some and thought it was spiral. I have seen 1/2 and 7/8 in the old spiral design, but not the big stuff. Anybody know?

Spiral heliax was used years ago. Andrew did mfg spiral heliax and connectors for various sizes of heliax as well, 1 1/4, 1 5/8, 3", 4", 6". They are hard to find however are availiable.

[quote="Big Towers"]Doesa anybody know whether anybody ever manufactured an 1 and 5/8s heliax with a spiral outer conductor. I have never seen it, never seen a connector for it, but have heard from a friend that he may have to use some and thought it was spiral. I have seen 1/2 and 7/8 in the old spiral design, but not the big stuff. Anybody know?[/quote]

Best thing you could have your friend do is go look at the cable and try to get the information off of it. Normally the name, model and sometimes a date will be on the cable.

Sometimes the larger cable looks like it may be a spiral, but it actually is the normal ridged type. Use the information off the cable to obtain the correct data for the cable to be used.

You didn't indicate if this cable was used or still on the tower or coming from a spool on the ground. Many times if it is still on the cable spool, you can cull information from the spool. You also need to know if it is foam or air filled coax. They use different connectors. If it is air coax, you will also need to have a dry air system to keep it pressurized with 3 pound of air.

Jim

My buddy goit a look at it and sent a picture to me as well. It is 1970s cable, it is solid foam and sure enough, a spiral outer conductor. Unfortunately, the manufacturer labeling has long since left the jacket.

The issue here is that he has free use of this cable and it is already strapped to a nice tower that he can use. The top of the heliax is at the 600 foot level on the tower and still has a connector and a DB-420 attached. The bottom was cut off at the tower just before it made the bend and headed into the building. He will need to make a 7/8s or 1/2 inch jumper from the building to the "splice".

In the picture and in talks with him, it sounds like the center conductor may well be the same design as newer 1 nd 5/8s stuff, but not sure. I have never seen an "old" style connector advertised on ebay or elsewhere, so we don't know where we may ever find one. I told him I would send him the center core of an L7-PNF connector to see if it threads in and can be used tightly. If it does, then it is possible to use a newer connector and deal with the "lesser" clamping grip from the connector shell, but would rather have the right one.

So if anybody has one, doesn't matter what type (N, Din, etc.), please let me know. It will be spliced to anyway so no big deal on type.