RG58 Cable question

I'm having a problem getting hold of RG58 cable, in desperation I turned to that unmentionable auction site and ordered up the cable.

It arrived today, the damn stuff is so thin it rattles around the insert of a PL259 plug. Probably ok to tie the beans up with but not much else.

As most places are closed at the present time I was thinking of trying satellite cable (of which I have plenty). Has anyone tried this as a 'get by' solution or am I wasting my time even considering it? Would I even get a half decent SWR?

Have you tried Knights (link below)? Their shop is closed due to Covid19 but they are still working as normal with mail-order. I've ordered plenty of stuff from them in the past and they're usually very quick.

https://www.kcb.co.uk/contents/en-uk/d42.html

Know the problem mate.  The mil spec from knights ok,,,,,, but none of it is a patch on the coax of 30yrs ago.

70 thirds   Tom


And PL 295s,,,,,,,,,, out of 8 that ive bought (from different supplys) 3 were scrap

Hi Nigel,

Many a Ham, (and possibly the odd knowledgeable CBer), would have no problem in using RG59 for their antennas. The 75ohm impedance would at worst give you a SWR of 1:1.5 on a 50ohm load. (Remember it's not all about SWR, a 50ohm dummy load gives a perfect 1:1 SWR but makes for a terrible antenna! ) A lot of satellite cable is usually good quality low loss stuff so probably do you better than nasty/cheap 50ohm stuff

Give it a go, you've nothing to lose and it'll get you by for now.

All the best,
Victor

Victor wrote:

Hi Nigel,

Many a Ham, (and possibly the odd knowledgeable CBer), would have no problem in using RG59 for their antennas. The 75ohm impedance would at worst give you a SWR of 1:1.5 on a 50ohm load. (Remember it's not all about SWR, a 50ohm dummy load gives a perfect 1:1 SWR but makes for a terrible antenna! ) A lot of satellite cable is usually good quality low loss stuff so probably do you better than nasty/cheap 50ohm stuff

Give it a go, you've nothing to lose and it'll get you by for now.

All the best,
Victor

Thank you for those nuggets of information Victor. I've been out of radio for a while but since moving to the highest town in Wales (from the West Dorset coast) it's an opportunity not to be missed! The sat cable is probably 5 years old but was new and kept in the house, seems a shame to waste it so see how it goes

75 Ohm sat cable will be OK. I've emailed Henry Westlake a couple of hours ago to see if he is trading at present, need some cable and bits myself - people seem to think he is.

No worries Nigel.

Welcome back to the world of radio. Enjoy

I have been using 75ohm sat cable on my HF set up for years and found it works really well. Its seems to help give me a better match over a greater range of frequencies than RG58.....experimenting is the name of the game my friend. Good luck anyway.

I'm pleased to report that the sat cable is absolutely fine despite a fairly long run from the house, up the mast and finally to the 1.65m antenna. Being 380 metres above sea level helps too, thanks for all the advice guys

I have a long run and I use RG8X, which I find is very good never tried any thicker, mind the rg8x goes around the corners very well, it came from knights and they put pl259 on one end, I hope you get sorted and enjoy the great hobby