GMRS Antenna Coax Cable

[OldBlue]

I installed THIS antenna cable when I installed my Midland mobile radio. There was a lot of extra coax, which I bundled up under the dash and secured w/ a few wire ties. I've read a few things recently about how that could degrade the input/output signal, but I'm not sure how to remedy it, other than:

1. Rerunning the cable and trying to eliminate looping it together (essentially eliminating the loop)
2. Cutting the excess and crimping on a new connector

While #1 is doable, I think it would be a pain running it back and forth under the dash trying to eliminate the loop. For #2, I'd need to buy the appropriate tools, and while I'm not opposed to that, many years ago in my CB days I tried that exact thing and failed miserably. I have no trouble working w/ wiring, but coax has always been a challenge for me.

What say you? Is this something I need to worry about? If not, cool. If so, ideas/opinions/feedback appreciated.

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[jeepdriver99]

Doug, I think you really do want to get rid of the coax being looped. I would suggest finding a CB shop near you and seeing if they can cut your coax and solder a connector on so you don't need to make loops in it.

 

[JAF1]

While the extra length is not ideal, I would first try coiling the extra wire really neat in a circle then hold that coil together with zip ties. That creates a quote/unquote "choke" which is done more in the HF band range of ham radio. That would be better then just shoving it in there. I would honestly give that a try first and check out your performance. The signal loss/gain will be minimal either way unless you're talking any extra 25 feet or more. For five or ten feet, you'd never know.

 

[Tech Tim]

I was told many years ago that you make a loop, then give it a twist so it is a figure 8 and zip tie it.

Will reach out to our contacts at Midland and see what they have to say.

 

[OldBlue]

Thanks everyone for the feedback. I did what @Tech Tim posted, looped, twisted the loop into a figure 8, and zip tied it together, then zip tied it under the dash. Interested to hear what the folks at Midland have to say.

I do have a radio shop not far from me. If that's the best route, I'll stop there and have them cut it and solder a new end on.

 

[roaniecowpony]

Is the coax on GMRS soldered?

 

[Tech Tim]

I had a nice chat with one of Midland's Product Managers this morning.... What did I learn?

• The antennas and radios come pre-matched. There isn't much we can do to tune them.
• Ideally you would have the coax shortened to fit your install, but the extra bit of coax looped up won't make a huge difference in performance.
• Roll any excess up into a loop and secure with zip ties. Big loop, small loop, figure 8, figure 8 folded back on itself etc. All of the above will work, it really doesn't make a huge difference.

He also wanted to put out there, that in the off-road world, because of the varied terrain, hills trees, gullies, mountains, etc. signal output will be severely hampered more by the terrain than what small gains you would see by trying to maximize every little detail.

 

[OldBlue]

@Tech Tim - Thank you sir for checking. Looks like I won't worry about it.

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