Batboard

Hi guys, I've just moved into a new place and am looking to do some antenna installation ASAP.

Basically, I'll have a VHF folded dipole, 800MHz 1/4 wave and UHF 1/4 wave base antennas mounted about 10-15 feet in the air. The length of coax that I'd be looking at is around 20 feet at the most (in reality, probably more around 12-13 feet). I'm wondering what you guys would recommend as the optimal coax choice? The options I've more or less narrowed it down to are:

1) RG-213 (or 214)
2) LMR-400
3) Belden 9913
4) Andrew 1/4" Superflex

These antennas will be used for RX probably 99% of the time, so I'm not super concerned about loss as I know any of those 4 choices would work well. What I'm more interested in is which will be better off long-term, in terms of weathering, durability and all that jazz. Not that it matters in the equation any, but the connectors will be "N", on both ends.

I have had no problems in using the 9913 cable with N connectors. Double shielded, good loss characteristics, and seems to weather well. It should work great for your situation.

If the absolute concern is reliability then the Andrew superflex or LMR-400 would be the best answer but I'm sure the cost is higher than with 213 or 9913. Air delectric cables like 9913 can be prone to water intrusion over time even if one does a good job of putting on the connectors, etc.

But this is not something for say repeater service where every dB of loss counts and you want big diameter low loss hardline that will stay intact for years to come. You can go that route of course but the cost is prohibitive. You are interested in mainly RX and the cable run is 20' or less. With that in mind any of those cables would work fine including 9913. With 9913 the worst case scenario would be approx. 4db of loss per 100 ft at 800 Mhz from what I see but since you are at less than 20 feet the loss would be much less.

Belden's new 9913 no longer uses an air dielectric and is very similar to the LMR400. I would use either with N connectors. Feedline loss can be a significant factor for both transmit and receive at 800mHz. I would avoid RG213 as it is not designed for use at such frequencies.

A few months ago I changed all my coaxial runs, due to 8 years of weather and UV exposure, to andrew 1/4 superfex. Couldn't be happier and the lengths are around 50' total for each run and I'm running HF up to 800MHz. It is easy to bend and I was able to increase the # of cables by going from the RG213 size down to 1/4".

With Belden 9913 I see that they call it 9913F or 9913F7 which has no air dlelectric like W2MB said. You can still seem to buy the older type cable from certain places although its not necessarily from Belden.