The Lair

What’s a
Workman?

 

Its a meter for measuring your SWR. You can use that to calculate your loss from changing cable lengths.

Edit: Its the most common brand of SWR meters.

 

I'm off weekends. July so far is open for me. Let me know.

Latter*

 

, so far, *

 

How much are you adding? I can't imagine the loss is too bad on 5' or so .not that I know the numbers though

 

Length isnt always the prime cause of loss either. @Subway4X4 the only true way to figure out if you have to retune is by metering before and after.

 

True. I'm a total noob when it comes to this, so I'll just pretend to know anything about it.

 

I have a Cheopo SWR meter.

 

Its not a problem, most write-ups and people will tell you length is everything. And while its an important factor, its not always the cause of poor performance. I only know what I know because I've been working with RADAR for the past 8 years.

Good. Make sure you measure. What equipment are you running and what type of extension are you planning on adding?

 

Mine don't have reinforcements....thus they are bent in a few places

 

dooh.

 

Hand held Ham radio is getting an outside magnetic antenna. The provided antenna cable is too short for me to place it exactly where I want it. I want to add another 18 feet of coax with PL-259 connectors on both end. Any possible issues?

 

Holy shit, why 18 feet?!

 

As long as your antenna and cable impedance is 50 ohm (which I'm assuming your hand held is designed for, most are) and your connectors are reliable quality, you shouldn't have major issues with 18'. I will say though that if it drops your SWR outside of 1.5:1, you're going to want to retune. Do you have any other radios/antenna's on your truck?

 

Goes toward the back of the truck

 

Uniden 520 CB with a antenna at the rear of the truck.

 

Make sure that shit is off as fuck.

 

Shouldn’t the cable shielding help? I was hoping to keep both on during the weekend NE waterfall camping trip.

 

I ran 25' to get here on DCLB. Too long. I bet 18-20 would actually have made it.