Wednesday, 8 October 2008

Aircell 7 or Ecoflex 10


Anyone using either Aircell 7 or Ecoflex 10 for permanent/semi
permanent antenna fixtures?

Before the end October I will be cabling for a new HF antenna I will
mount the antenna on a garage cable end where I used to have an
antenna and still have the mounting brackets and guy supports but I
moved the shack 2 years ago. The feeder length will be 65m-75m from
there to shack and I was thinking of using RG213 or seeing what other
options I might have, I don't have enough RG213 for a continuous run
so will have to either order a new 100m reel or make a junction
/inspection box in the line somewhere, which might be a bad idea. The
feeder will be in a buried plastic pipe as yet unused I put in when I
moved the shack 2 years ago There is about 200mm separation from a shielded
mains feed (another buried 50mm pipe) to the shack for maybe 80% of
the same run so I might have to add a choke at either end and mains
filtering to prevent break through. The pipe is 30mm OD/ 20mm I/D and for much of the length, it is in an almost straight run with no bends so I am sure there should not
be a problem with compression. At the same time I was thinking about
adding a shielded multicore control cable for a rotator, remote
antenna switch or AMU etc (e.g. G3ROO RAMU). I do not have problems
with water in either the mains or the antenna feed pipe as the pipe is
sealed and I inspect it regularly but I would be interested to hear
comments concerning behaviour of wet or submerged feeders with intact
PVC sheath.

Does anyone have an experience with any negative effects of 'pulling'
this cable through a conduit of this length and any hints what to
watch out for?