question about vhf radio ariels

 hoping some 1 can help me out here , is the lenght of cable attached  to a vhf marine ariel a tuned length,  i have about 4 meters of excese

cable and would like to shorten it up

  

 


Yewiefish85's picture

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 Uhf marine?

Tue, 2016-08-02 19:58

 Uhf marine?

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Date Joined: 03/03/10

sorry mate

Tue, 2016-08-02 20:00

 i ment vhf

 

Yewiefish85's picture

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Date Joined: 02/01/11

 Quick google search says you

Tue, 2016-08-02 20:16

 Quick google search says you can, they say min length 3ft, give it a crack I say then post how it went for others thinking about it, mine in just coiled up the spare and cable tied

Deckie's picture

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Date Joined: 03/04/09

Same.

Tue, 2016-08-02 20:26

 Coiled up under the front and zip tied.

Works well......

____________________________________________________________________________

Cheers & Stay safe

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Date Joined: 03/03/10

i have it mounted

Tue, 2016-08-02 20:42

 i have it mounted down on the stern of my dinghy and have coiled it up too , just would be neater if i didnt have it coiled up

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Date Joined: 27/08/09

 yes you can shorten it. It

Tue, 2016-08-02 22:23

 yes you can shorten it. It is not any part of a tuned circuit or such.

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Date Joined: 03/03/10

i am no radio tech but

Tue, 2016-08-02 22:50

 i am a elect instro tech , so have no idear about  radio , but cant help but think if you have your ariel cable coiled up you would be degrading your signal strenth ,  because coiling it up will cause an emf effect    sorry just thinking

 

Posts: 563

Date Joined: 27/08/09

 No you can coil it with no

Tue, 2016-08-02 23:46

 No you can coil it with no effect...... as long as you dont coil it to tight as it will start to push the center condutor through the insulation.

 

sunshine's picture

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Yes you can shorten it

Wed, 2016-08-03 10:06

 But you will need a good soldering iron to reattach the PL259 ......one that holds plenty of heat!

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Date Joined: 08/10/13

 If you cut it , take it to

Wed, 2016-08-03 14:16

 If you cut it , take it to an auto sparky and get a new end soldered on they will do it for a few bucks as only takes a minute. Leave an extra metre as you may need to put a new end on every few years if installed out in the open as they can get corrosion in them. 

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Date Joined: 03/03/10

cheers blokes

Wed, 2016-08-03 20:27

 thanks for the advise boys