Ham Radio Myth - Don't Use Coax Cable It Wastes Too Much Power!!

[@wrongway209]

I love you man. I love your sense of humor You are truly one of a kind Outside the box thinker just like me And a whole bunch of other nice words. Keep up the good work I really enjoy your videos

[@MrTommy001]

Mark, in my opinion, this is one of your best. As a new ham it's hard to tell "fact from fiction" with all the 'experts' on KZbin. I just heard the ladder line vs coax argument the other day at my weekly ham breakfast (made up of at least 90% old time hams). I'm the "FNG" and catch a lot of flack because I'm 78 (like almost everyone else) but I haven't worked my way up. I just got my General license, bought some new ham gear, and I'm on the air.

[@BustRadioMyths]

Great to hear Mr. Tommy. "Some men never seem to grow old. Always active in thought, always ready to adopt new ideas, they are never chargeable with foggyism. Satisfied, yet ever dissatisfied, settled, yet ever unsettled, they always enjoy the best of what is, are the first to find the best of what will be." - Shakespeare.

[@bill-2018]

Over the years I've used all kinds of things. All homebrew. Long wire straight into the shack with a tuner, a doublet early on using 300 Ω twin feeder and later 450 Ω slotted twin, presently five attic dipoles on 20m to 10m with about 25 foot of RG58. Also an outdoor 60m inverted vee with about 50 feet of RG58. Two sizes of magnetic loops too. All get out, a little r.f. goes a long way. Nothing over 5 Watts here for 30+ years. G4GHB.

[@MedusalObligation]

I'm an old man and reasonably new ham. Yours is one of the few youtube channels I put any truck into. And this particular video I find fun as I have a new Yaesu rig and an old Collins rig in my shack. I do everything in coax for convenience. All of my antennas are compromise (Oh boy, I mean compromise!) and I still enjoy the hobby. I'll never have the huge antenna farm or any amplifiers. But I'm not into contesting and don't feel a need to try and talk over some other operator. Maybe I'll catch you on the air some day from the Sonoran Desert.

[@BustRadioMyths]

I’m the same as you. Don’t really care about contests or breaking pileups. Currently doing the QRP thing and it’s kinda fun.

[@arcticradio]

As always great informative videos, many thanks. As a decades old DXer I have finally bought a Kenwood TS430S and about to take my licence soon. I’m also in the process of setting up a private radio station so I’m having to learn about MF transmitting antennas. Very much enjoy your great way of explaining it makes so much sense. 73 from Finland

[@danieljohnson8437]

Good Ground. Thanks for your, knowledge is power 😮

[@donalfinn4205]

Just came across your channel. I like it. Subbed.👍🇨🇮

[@acestudioscouk-Ace-G0ACE]

I really like your series on myths and how you work out and present your arguments. This video is no exception. Here is another myth to consider: Why do people say "tuner" when it doesn't, why don't they say "matcher" because that's what it does?

[@brianfields4479]

I've used a 50ohm unnamed coax for 13 years, no idea of its stats, but I work real dx every day with a simple vertical antenna.

[@davepuckett3197]

Another great video, Mark! Thanks!!

[@raylowe3324]

When I changed my 40 meter dipole from coax to window line, it made a huge improvement in signal strength on 20 and 10 meters. The other bands were not drastically different .

[@BustRadioMyths]

Maybe had very high SWR on those higher bands.

[@raylowe3324]

@@BustRadioMyths Because of the frequencies involved, both of those bands were being fed at a voltage point, hence very high Z.

[@tlebryk]

Good tutorial! 1/2 S-unit may not matter, but 1 whole S-unit may mean the difference between completing a weak Contact in the noise level. Seems like the majority now have high noise levels, like over S-5 and only bother to respond to strong transmission levels. Great presentation and food-for-thought topic. ❤

[@hamradios-wd8nvn]

Good Video 😃😃😃😃😃

[@de_w8tam]

I personally don't find ladder line that difficult to route outdoors. My balun (a DG0SA/sk designed 1:1 and a common mode choke combo I built) are outside my house, a 6' run of RG400 goes through a pass through to a remotely controlled tuner. From the tuner there's about 50' of coax to my operating position. The long run of coax is always at a low SWR for low loss, and there is only 6' of untuned coax to the balun, then low loss ladder line. With 108' of doublet above my house, I can tune 10m-160m with ease.

[@peterk.824]

This is a perfect setup. You keep your tuner safe inside and only the balun is outside. Your losses are small in a short low loss rg400.. if you have a zs6bkw or g5rv connected, your losses are even lower, cause they are 50 Ohm for certain bands…. personally I dont get the point of the video. It’s misses the point of the ladder line and doesn’t explain why swr is bad. Without addressing reflections, it is only another opinion newcomer can not evaluate…. Furthermore why is he always so loud? It’s like telescoping…

[@CurtNovitsky]

It's all about angle of radiation and conductance

[@DandyDon1]

One of the potential problems with old vacuum tube gear is the break down of the mains transformer (Filament & B+), and the leakage incurred to chassis ground from decades of heat, and the chemical reaction of the copper windings and the insulating coatings used. Unaware inexperienced (and experienced) users can get a nasty zap or worse when touching an equipment case where AC is leaking from the power transformer primary to it's E-Plates, Bell Covers etc. Replacing a power transformer alone can run into several hundred dollars for rewinding the original to spec. An off the shelf replacement may be available at a lower cost but sometimes it isn't. etc. etc.

[@BustRadioMyths]

I gotta hand it to guys who restore old gear. I would never have the patience for it.

[@dmkaeding]

Very good video. Use what you got, pay for the best you can afford. Curious how people will use all manner of weird and unusual objects as antennas, yet snub their nose at the lowly coax. Thank you sir.

[@Steve-GM0HUU]

If you use that online calculator at 14MHz, 100ft and set the VSWR to 1:1. For 600 Ohm open ladder, the loss is 2%. For, RG58 it is 26%. For RG-213/U it is 16%. So, typical co-ax has significantly greater loss than 600 Ohm ladder. As you say, it depends on the application. If the ladder line is difficult to run or the length of the run is short, co-ax wins the day. Also, ladder line is affected by weather (it doesn't like getting wet and especially doesn't like ice or snow). However, if the situation allows you to use ladder line for a long transmission line run, you may want to consider it. If your run is in the order of 300 feet, even with a perfect match, you can expect less than half your power to make it to the antenna (or half your receive signal lost before it gets to the receiver). We cannot say one type of line is always better. It depends on the situation.

[@BustRadioMyths]

Go back and check your figures. 100 feet of RG213 with a matched load at 14Mhz with 100 watts input has about 85 watts reaching the load. That is a loss of 15% not 43%.

[@Steve-GM0HUU]

@@BustRadioMyths Woops, I think I had metres instead of feet selected! I shall amend my comment. Thanks.

[@BustRadioMyths]

Ah Ha!

[@CaptainD717]

Great video sums it up in layman's terms 73 Sir

[@rlic9206]

I am really new at this. At this time I only have a gmrs license, using a HT and a magnetic mount Antenna. I plan on getting the first level ham license. It seems easy to get the license with a bit of study. Its putting it into real world applications, which is the trick. Things to consider are, Radio Antenna Coax between point a and b. All on a buget, the simpler the better. Let's not forget the buget. I may be 67 but I can still climb that old tv Antenna tower to stick a ham antenna on it, ha ha. I just have to do it when the wife is gone to the store, so as not to hear, O My Gosh, your gonna fall.

[@BustRadioMyths]

Welcome to the hobby. Get $12 worth of wire up in the air and it'll work fine. A dipole on that TV tower sounds good to me. Don't fall. Better have someone there to call 911.

[@thelongislandguy]

Good stuff! Keep getting the word out!

[@stephenpadley6684]

My call sign is M7HIJ, IM using 1/4 wave 31 ft wire vertical. 6mm earth bond wire. direct to a wonder wand mrk 2 tunner, straight to the back of my rig, also 31 ft counterpoise straight off my radio ground. So lm putting out full 6watts, on my yaesu ft818 nb full 6watts no coax boom QRP. I'm getting 5/7 5/8 in the Netherlands. 5/9 Italy 🇮🇹 5/5 Brazil 🇧🇷 Germany 🇩🇪 5/9 and we are only Qrp 6 watts max, the tunner will tune all bands down to zero swr.

[@BustRadioMyths]

That’s what it’s all about IMO!!!

[@frequencywatchers]

This Video Teached Me Something New. Im Running Electricity Wire Up To My Attic To My Dipole Wich Poles Are My Property Lsnght. Works Good Till 40Mhz, but 80 Meters Are Shifting Bafly Without A Filter.

[@MyHamRadioJourney]

Thanks! This was very informative and helpful. 73s

[@fubarsnafu4994]

If the US Government had used coax since before we knew it existed I'll stick with the government mule on this one 73

[@user-ef3nu1eh7z]

Ladderline needs to be twisted so many times to the freq per 100' ( at least in the " analog" tv frequecies" ) from a catv system tech who serviced cable tv in the 80s finding ladder line still in use!!!!

[@anonhollmuller4032]

Sorry i am not a natural english human. Would you like to explain the point to me? what you say with "twisted 100 Times per freqency" ? Hope you exlain it to me, please. Please do not miss understand... Your comment raise my attention and i like to understand what you are writing. Sorry for the Bad englisch;). Best 73 from germany.

[@BustRadioMyths]

Me too. What purpose is served by twisting ladder line?

[@user-ef3nu1eh7z]

@@BustRadioMyths the idea was 100' not times and the twists were to reflect losses from one side of ladder line to other even though minor loss is loss and those twists allow losses to '" reenter" the lines this was presented to me by aa ham operator from the 40s as well as tv cable CATV was open line and in the first years of community cable used ladder line as the original back bones for service lines placing lighter connection weights on housing structures

[@BustRadioMyths]

Can't see how twisting ladder line would reflect losses from one side to the other. Ladder line if properly installed is balanced, meaning one side cancels the other preventing it from radiating. Twisting has nothing to do with it.

[@user-ef3nu1eh7z]

@@BustRadioMyths this was relayed to me from a CATV engineer as I stated this was utilized decades by tv industry the first CATV ( community t v ) system operatedin my state was fadioneD after the first of tjjecom,unities tv systems out in Colorado in the 1940 50s. And explained as twists happen velocity of signals like a race car on a curve jump back and forth causing equalization of signal hence " balanced"

[@waynewelshans1249]

Thank you again sir!

[@BustRadioMyths]

Most welcome!

[@martinpe9tig]

You can't buy skill, keep it simple....(KISS)...... try to think for yourself and not believe everything as being the truth ,,power is futile... when there is no condition ... Triple L ...Listen Look Learn...

[@arlindotelles857]

Could you please make a video explaining the Signal vs. Power relationship?

[@BustRadioMyths]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/q5fVYoGnoZtlhck

[@arlindotelles857]

@@BustRadioMyths Thank You!!

[@XPFTP]

i run a dipole. no balun. no nothing. 2 inch pvc for the center to contect the coax to the wires. then 125ft of coax. i run it on 75only tho it hears nice on 40. but not so good on the tx of 40. but it was for 75 anyways

[@BustRadioMyths]

Nice work!

[@jerryKB2GCG]

yes, but t vhf and especially UHF may be a different story

[@BustRadioMyths]

Correct!

[@poseypapusdiazfamily4630]

Ladder line is way better for higher swr situations..

[@BustRadioMyths]

True!!

[@CurtNovitsky]

If air is great insulator how does electromagnetic energy go so far through it 👍🙏

[@BustRadioMyths]

Magic.

[@CurtNovitsky]

Great answer thanks for reply

[@kd5ozy]

unless you are up in the ghz freq the loss is minimal

[@BustRadioMyths]

Even on 10 meters line loss starts becoming an issue.

[@kd5ozy]

@@BustRadioMyths stop buying crappy coax!

[@frankartieta4887]

There are pros and cons for both ! A fella could bury coax in the ground ! And with Ladder line a fella can have a multiband dipole ! They call them a ladderline doublet ! I do not like the word doublet and refuse to use it ! It a balanced dipole fed with balanced feedline ! There aint nothing Doublet ! I also do not like the word POTA ! I refuse to POTA ! I a balanced line type myself ! I do use coax where I must ! Mainly I reckon because I am cheap and build my feed line and antennas out of junk wire ! There a awful lot of pretty good copper wire in a 3 conductor thrown away 100 foot extension cord ! New coax and new wire is awful expensive ! And the price seems always going up ! Boy oh boy they got some fancy expenensive wire now days ! I think radio ought to be economical ! A couple decades ago all we would hear is we ought to conserve ! I do not hear nothing about conserving anymore ! We supposed to throw away the old and buy thing that are build better ! No matter the cost ! I might be building antennas that work like dummy loads but ! I have never owned a factory hf antenna ! All I do is QRP cw anyway ! I also a fan of lead acid batteries :) I know I off the track ! 73

[@BustRadioMyths]

Hey you can have a multi band dipole with coax too but you have to consider the loss. A fan dipole also works well with coax.

[@frankartieta4887]

@@BustRadioMyths Yes :) I get about 135 of wire in the air and with my balanced tuner I can cause my polution on all the main hf bands from 80 to 10 ! Of course not at the same time :)

[@nine7295]

Yes, I do notice that the tone was a bit over exaggerated in the video and IMHO it's not necessary

[@Atomshamradio]

You forgot to mention the skin affect of coax

[@martyh9309]

He didn't say skin effect, but described it when talking about Common Mode currents in coax.

[@CurtNovitsky]

Can you show or duplicate the problems so people know what those problems are?common mode ,is it a shock ? If I don't expericence a shock does that mean no common mode? I always hear cm causes problems,but nobody really shows what those problems are except hi vswr thank you

[@BustRadioMyths]

You can get an annoying shock off the microphone or CW key and a host of other screwy problems that don't seem to make sense.

[@CurtNovitsky]

@@BustRadioMyths thks for reply