wrote:
Larry is correct. 40' of rg58 with a matched antenna will have about
2db of loss on the marine band. This is nothing to be concerned about.
Nobody can tell, with there ears, the difference between the rg58 vice
LMR400. Use the rg58 and use BNC connectors. You can cut the antenna
cable as short as you want because you are adding another 40' length of
cable. Most laymen just don't understand the relationship between power
output and field strength.

Eric

Thank you Eric.

Well, as a layman I'd have to agree with you there.
That's why I asked all these silly questions.
(a little knowledge is a dangerous thing)

And thanks for the reply about the antenna cable length.
That 3' tail is a problem to deal with neatly.
The instructions that came with the antenna mentioned something like
an 8" minumum bend radius - but at the top of the mast ???

If I can trim it short things work out a lot mo better.

I went into Rat Shack and found a 50' RG58 package with PL259
connectors on
both ends for about $23.

Still have to get it through the deck, but hey - making progress here,
boss.

I photographed my neighbors deck connections (Catalina 27) and put it
at

http://www.home.earthlink.net/~cavel...es/deckpin.jpg

Anybody have a source for these things?

As a side issue, earthlink seems to have lost the news server (again)
so I
crawled in via google groups.

My email address is

Thanks for all the help guys,

Richard