7/6/13

Ham Radio Coaxial Cable Power Handling and Loss Specifications - Velocity Factors of Feedlines

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Coaxial Cable Characteristics and Data Used in Amateur Radio Stations

It is of importance when making decisions about getting the right coax for your Ham Station to understand that there are trade-offs that have to be considered between transmitter power, antenna gain, coax loss, erp, and your total Ham Station system performance. Your bank account may also enter into the equation like most Hams. The db differences in gains or losses on transmit and receive between the choices available to you are the important issue. A difference of 3 db either way will not be apparent to the stations that you are communicating with on the other end; around the block or around the world. They won't hear or see (on the S meter) any difference if you run your transmitter at 50 watts instead of its maximum 100 watt output power as an example. This is a difference of about 3db! The same ratio holds true comparing 500 watts with 1000 watts! Now take this same analogy and apply it to coax. Here is an example: Your present coax is 100 feet long and has a loss of 3db per 100 feet.You change it to the same length, 100 feet, using a more expensive coax that has only about .1db loss per 100 feet. (Very Expensive Stuff!)
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Ham Radio Coaxial Cable Power Handling and Loss Specifications - Velocity Factors of Feedlines

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This is about a 3db increase in signal strength to the antenna that you were loosing in the old coax. The station on the other end usually won't know the difference, and usually, neither will your receiver! A difference of 3 db or less between two antennas, two types of coax, or two station configurations is usually not sufficient to justify the higher costs of the more expensive, lower loss, coaxial cable unless you are a perfectionist with lots of money. However, a difference of 6 db may well justify the more expensive approach with the higher quality coax or antenna setup. Remember, if you can't increase your transmit or receive signal by at least 5 or 6 db or more, if may not be worth the effort and expense. The tables below should help you decide what if any coax changes you need to make. Color Key: Green shade 50 - 52 ohm Coax dB Loss per 100 Feet using common coax types: dB Loss / 100 feet Frequency Mhz Cable Type
6A, 212 8 MINI, 8X LMR -240

1.0

10

50 1.9 2.5 1.7 1.3 0.9 0.9 .9

100 2.7 3.8 2.4 1.9 1.4 1.4 1.2

200 4.1 5.4 3.4 2.7 1.8 1.8

400 5.9 7.9 4.9 4.1 2.6 2.6 2.5

900 6.5 8.8 7.5 7.5 4.2 4.2 4.1

1000 9.8 13.0 7.9 8.0 4.5 4.5 4.3

3000 23.0 26.0 14.2 16.0

5000 32.0 18.7 27.0 13.0 13.0

.26 .83 1.1 .24 .76

8, 8A, 10A, 213 (RG8/8A hard to find .15 .55 ) 9913, 9086, 9096 4XL8IIA, FLEXI 4XL LMR-400
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Ham Radio Coaxial Cable Power Handling and Loss Specifications - Velocity Factors of Feedlines

LMR-500 LMR-600 8214 9095 9, 9A, 9B, 214 11,11A,12,12A,13,13A, 216 14, 14A, 217 17,17A,18,18A, 218, 219 55B, 223 58 58A, 58C 59, 59B 62, 62A, 71A, 71B 62B 141,141A, 400, 142, 142A 174 178B,196A 188A, 316 179B 393, 235 402 405 LDF4-50A LDF5-50A .06 .21 .03 .11 .21 .66 .19 .66 .12 .41 .06 .24 .30 1.2 .33 1.2 .44 1.4 .33 1.1 .25 .85 .31 .90 .30 .90 2.3 3.9 2.6 5.6 3.1 6.0 3.0 5.3 .6 1.2 .60

.7 .6 1.2 1.0 1.5 1.6 1.0 .62 3.2 3.1 3.3 2.4 1.9 2.0 2.1 6.6 10.5 9.6 8.5 1.4 2.7 .47 .25

1.0 .8 1.7 1.8 2.3 2.3 1.4 .95 4.8 4.6 4.9 3.4 2.7 2.9 3.3 8.9 14.0 11.4 10.0 2.1 3.9 .68 .36 2.7 2.6 3.3 3.3 2.0 1.5 7.0 6.9 7.4 4.9 3.8 4.2 4.7 12.0 19.0 14.2 12.5 3.1 5.5 .98 .53

2.0 1.4 4.2 3.8 5.0 4.8 3.1 2.4 10.0 10.5 12.0 7.0 5.3 6.2 6.9 17.5 28.0 16.7 16.0 4.5 8.0 1.4 .78

3.2 2.5 6.0 7.8

3.4 2.7 7.8 7.5 8.8 7.8 5.5 4.4 18.0 16.5 12.4 9.5 30.5 37.5 54.0 26.5 18.5 24.0 26.0 64.0 85.0 60.0 44.0 14.0 26.0 4.3 2.5 27.0 26.5 19.0 15.3 46.0 60.0 83.0 42.0 30.0 38.0 40.0 99.0 100 82.0 64.0 21.0 26.0 5.9 3.5 14.2 22.0

14.3 14.5 20.0 11.0 8.3

16.5 17.5 24.0 12.0 8.7 11.0 13.0

28.2

30.0 46.0 31.0 24.0 7.5 13.0 22.0

2.2 1.2

2.3 1.4

Note: These tables are typical specifications for comparison only. Values may not be exactly as quoted by a specific mfg.
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Ham Radio Coaxial Cable Power Handling and Loss Specifications - Velocity Factors of Feedlines

Power Handling Characteristics of Coax Power Handling Vs Mhz Coax type 55, 6A, 212 8 MINI, 8X 8, 8A,10A, 213 9913, 9086, 9096 4XL8IIA, FLEXI 4XL 9095 9, 9A, 9B, 214 11,11A,12,12A, 13,13A, 216 14,14A, 217 17,17A,18,18A, 218, 219 55B, 223 58 58A, 58C 59, 59B 62, 62A, 71A, 71B 62B 141,141A, 400 142,142A 174 178B,196A
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1.0 4000 4000 11000

10 1500 1500 3500 3500 3500 3500 2700 2500 6000

50 800 800 1500 1500 1500 1500 1120 1000

100 550 550 975 975 975 975 780 690

200 360 360 685 685 685 685 550 490

400 250 250 450 450 450 450 360 340 680

900

1000 150 150 230 230 230 230 200 200 380 780 120 80 60 110 140 110 650 35 75
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11000 9000 8000 20000

2400 1600 1000

50000 14000 5400 3600 2300 1400 5600 3500 3200 3900 4500 3800 19000 1000 1300 1700 1000 1000 1200 1400 1350 9000 350 640 700 450 425 540 630 600 480 300 290 270 440 410 320 200 190 270 320 285 215 135 105 185 230 195

3500 2400 1600 1100 160 330 80 240 80 180 60 120

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Ham Radio Coaxial Cable Power Handling and Loss Specifications - Velocity Factors of Feedlines

188A, 316

1500

770

480

400

325

275

150

179B 3000 1400 393, 235 25000 402 9000 405 LDF4-50A 19000 6100 LDF5-50A 44000 7700 LMR-400 Power handling = 2100 watts <30Mhz

750 480 420 320 9500 6300 4300 2800 3500 2400 1600 1100

190 1700 650 130 2600 1880 1310 906 563 551 7740 5380 3720 2550 1620 1520

Understanding the effects of ERP vs antenna gain.

ERP CHART
Antenna 100 Gain Watts (dbd) Input
(Rounded)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
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126 158 199 251 316 398 501 631 794 1000 1259 1585 1995
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Ham Radio Coaxial Cable Power Handling and Loss Specifications - Velocity Factors of Feedlines

14 15 16 17 18 19 20

2512 3162 3981 5112 6310 7943 10,000

Note that these numbers above assume no loss in feedline or antenna and used the CSG Calculator) You will always have some bit of loss in your feedline but this calculator is considering only power and antenna gain.

Example: Coax loss Using 100 watts output from transmitter and assuming your old coax had 3db loss, with no changes to antenna system except replacing your old coax and also assuming the new coax has 0db loss, the ERP of the antenna system would increase by 3db and would be 199 watts. This is a 3db gain achieved by the new coax. Example: Antenna Gain You use an antenna that has 6dbd gain vs the old one that had 0dbd gain. What effect does this have on your erp? By using the chart above, you will see that with 100 watts at the antenna feedpoint, your effective radiated power would be 398 watts! Remember, you have to achieve about 6db gain or loss to to make much difference on the air to the other station on receive.
Using this table, you should see that with every 3db increase or decrease, your effectively doubling the ERP or cutting it in half. Your feedline will always have some loss so in calculating your total antenna system loss, always subtract the total loss of your feedline from your antenna gain. Example: Your antenna gain is 6dbd.
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Ham Radio Coaxial Cable Power Handling and Loss Specifications - Velocity Factors of Feedlines

Your coax loss is 2 db per 100 feet as stated by the mfg. You use 50 feet. Your total system gain or loss would be: Antenna gain 6dbd - loss of 1db(50 feet) = total gain (or loss) = 6 - 1 = 5 db Another example: You add 100 feet of coax with 3 db loss at your operating frequency to an antenna with 0 dbd gain. So 0db - 3db = -3db loss in signal strength...you just cut your signal in half.

Velocity Factor of Propagation Through Coaxial Cable The velocity factor is the speed at which an RF signal travels through a material compared to the speed the same signal travels through a vacuum. The velocity of propagation is inversely proportional to the dielectric constant. Lowering the constant increases the velocity. Generally, the higher the velocity factor, the lower the loss through a coaxial cable. "Typical" Velocity Factor of Coaxial Cable by type VF% Transmission line type 95 82 79 75 66 ladder line twin-lead coaxial cable / foam dielectric RG-6 and RG-8 coax (thick) RG-58 and RG-59 coax (thin)

General Rules for Coaxial Cable D = diameter of insulation under the shield
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Ham Radio Coaxial Cable Power Handling and Loss Specifications - Velocity Factors of Feedlines

d = diameter of inner conductor. Velocity Factor, Velocity of Propagation, Vp The higher the velocity factor, the lower the loss through the cable. Raising the D/d has no effect on Vp Raising the dielectric constant lowers Vp Capacitance Raising the D/d ratio lowers capacitance Raising the dielectric constant raises capacitance Impedance Raising the D/d radio raises impedance Raising the dielectric constant lowers impedance Attenuation or Loss Raising the D/d ratio lowers attenuation Raising the dielectric constant raises attenuation No need to look other side for creative christmas gifts for mum and artistic down jacket. If you are worried about quality plus size coats and artistic black boyfriend jacket, come and shop at snowboard jackets. Best dumps source in online world is Pass4sure HP training guide and Pass4sure 642-691 exam questions.

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Ham Radio Coaxial Cable Power Handling and Loss Specifications - Velocity Factors of Feedlines

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