My feed line is 4' and I'm on the top floor of a 4 story building, about 50'. I'm good for four square blocks.
It depends on what is in that four square blocks and your radio. If it's large apartment buildings that's not bad; it also depends how long your blocks are.
Where I am now, the blocks are fairly short; however at the old location a block was a mile long.
If you have mostly older wood frame homes; then you can do like me and cover four blocks with ease, with a FM30b and the stock antenna at 4ft above ground.
It also depends on the frequency you use; I found a wide open one that matches the antenna better.
I bet you feel a lot more at ease running the 25mw; when it comes to big brother.
Post by HighMountainRadio on May 18, 2018 3:35:15 GMT -6
Greetings !
I have been in the radio industry for 50 plus years and I only use either Belden RG-9913, Times-Microwave LMR400 or Andrew LDF450 or FSJ4-50 1/2" Heliax cable. Lowest signal attenuation at FM broadcast band frequencies !
73 Spooky
"Knowledge Is Always Made More Valuable By Sharing It With Others !" Always Remember To Be Kind ! True Greatness Often Has Very Humble Beginnings ! Help A Kid Out Today ! *** High Mountain Radio *** "Broadcasting From Somewhere High In The Remote Appalachian Mountains"
Post by HighMountainRadio on Jun 16, 2018 19:42:40 GMT -6
Greetings From High Mountain Radio !
I use both Type 'N' silver plated/Teflon as well as Type 'PL-259' connectors, also silver plated/Teflon with excellent results ! I use Andrew FSJ2-50 Heliax as well as Belden RG-9913 with outstanding results ! If you are running a respectable amount of RF power, the connector loss is negligible in my findings but as mentioned above, affixing the connectors PROPERLY is paramount to successful results !! I am now building an LDMOSFET, BLF188XR RF Power Amplifier for FM broadcast capable of 1400 watts RF output with a mere 4 watts of RF drive power and the device can withstand a stunning 60:1 VSWR mismatch !!! Representative pix of Russian built BLF188 RF amp attached. I will post some pix when completed ! It should be noted that while it is true that you can utilize RG-6 type cable, it IS in fact 75 Ohms, not 50 Ohms ! You can still get away with it and it does have a very low loss characteristic if using a quality type of RG-6/U..
The bottom line is: USE GOOD QUALITY COAXIAL CABLE, it IS worth the investment, especially if you are running very low power, every ounce counts !!! You don't want to waste valuable RF going up the transmission line !
Hope this helps you select an appropriate coaxial cable to utilize ! Type 'N' RF connectors ARE indeed, superior to Type 'PL-259' ! "Don't do as I do, do as 'they' say !
73... Spooky... @ 'High Mountain Radio - 99.9 FM'
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"Knowledge Is Always Made More Valuable By Sharing It With Others !" Always Remember To Be Kind ! True Greatness Often Has Very Humble Beginnings ! Help A Kid Out Today ! *** High Mountain Radio *** "Broadcasting From Somewhere High In The Remote Appalachian Mountains"