can i cut my antenna cable?

[cgrand]

to make a long story short, the installer wound my antenna cable up in the loom with the rest of my engine control cables when he repowered my boat. i cant raise the antenna now because theres no slack in the line

can i cut it and add a connector inline that i can undo and reconnect when i raise the antenna? trying to avoid unwrapping the loom off my cables

[shep70057]

Yes you can but make sure you use the proper connectors for the size cable that you are using. You will experience a minor power (db) loss but nothing significant.

[tsmss]

Try unwrapping some of it before you cut and install connectors. You will be better off in the long run.

[cgrand]

how much power loss are we talking about?
tsmss, what is the downside of doing this?

[shep70057]

It all depends on the cable, power output of your radio, connectors but for the most part it's insignificant.

[cgrand]

thanks shep
any other thoughts on this before i cut or unwrap?

[Sea_Dad]

actually you stand to gain in power output.

The coax itself is lossy, and the total loss of the coax is dependent upon it's length. The shorter you make it, the less loss it will introduce to the Tx/Rx.

You risk spending hours re-soldering your poor attempts at soldering, cause well you just might suck at it. Or you can use one of the new solderless gold plated connectors.

[cgrand]

Sea_Dad - 5/25/2004 2:01 PM
you just might suck at it. Or you can use one of the new solderless gold plated connectors.

i most certainly do suck at soldering
care to share some info on the solderless connectors?

[Sea_Dad]

http://www.shakespeare-marine.com/el...s/pl-259-g.htm

http://www.shakespeare-marine.com/el.../centerpin.htm

[cgrand]

mo' bliged (again)