Thread: Cutting and joining UHF coaxial aerial cable

Originally Posted by AnD3rew

I want to change the location of my UHF aerial whichis low down on my ARB bulbar, to a bolt on aerial bracket on the top rail of my bar. However the aerial cable is permanently attached to the aerial and I can't face the thought of feeding all the way back through the firewall and engine compartment and guard to relocate it and then all the way back again afterwards. Is there any easy way to cut and rejoin it without introducing significant signal loss through the join?

The simple answer is that any joiner you place in the feedline will induce loss.The other thing you will have happen,is that by using connectors like PL259 and PL258,you will have to seal them from the elements to prevent moisture ingress in the feedline

Originally Posted by LowRanger

The simple answer is that any joiner you place in the feedline will induce loss.

I was afraid you might say that.

If it is unavoidable use UHF connectors to re-join the cable this will ensure you maintain the cable impedance and have miniumial effect on VSWR, there will be some loss but if correctly done it will be barely noticable in real world conditions.

First question is what type of antenne is it, elevated feed ??

Where in Sydney are you I have the crimpers and both BNC connectors and joiners I have joined antenna cables and video cable and you cant notice the loss

Originally Posted by AnD3rew

IHowever the aerial cable is permanently attached to the aerial

Are you sure? What aerial is it?

At a guess the cable is fixed to the antenna base.

My guess is its a elevated feed in which case the coax just screws out, easy to replace but must be done correctly as the ammount of outer sheath stripped affects the tuning