Marine Radio Help Please

[Bucko]

I got a Raytheon 45 radio and a raytheon 8 ft. antenna for
Christmas. The antenna instructions says not to cut the cable,
and the radio instructions say to make the cable as short as
possible. Thanks for any info you may have.

Bucko

[vetspet(ind)]

not sure about cutting cable but i used to wrap my cable in a loop and was told that could cause interferance so now i make folds which are not as small...ie i fold the x-tra cable every 2 ft or so instead of making a 6-8 inch circle with the spare cable.....don't know that it made a difference but was told this...steve

[Tommy Mac]

Bucko,

You got a pretty nice Christmas present there. Had to chuckle as to how you worded your post. Good Humor. Anyway I am not an expert at this but I have shortened antena cable. Go to Radio Shack or a good electronics store and buy a new connecter. Simply follow the instructions provided. You shouldn't have any problem. You can also remove the old conector and reinstall it. Heat the end with a soldering gun and remove it, cut the cable to desired length and reinstall the same way it was originally installed. The shorter the cable the less interfierence you will pick up from other electronics. I do not think it will effect radio transmissions or reception. Hopefully REW or someone more in the know will pipe in here with more detailed assembly instructions. Good Luck.

[Airwave(OH)]

I was told by a electronics place that you can cut it but Never shorter than 6 feet. I did that and no problems...

[Sluggo / NY]

Bucko..One thing I found from experience about the installation..The VHF radio does not like to share power. If at all possible, hook it up direct to the battery (with its own fuse of course). I hooked mine to a buss-bar under the dash..it received fine, but wouldn't transmit. Two radios later I discovered the problem! Good Fishing, Sluggo ps..I shortened my antennae cable with no problems.

[Eeerie Trapper]

Bocko--Pay attention to the antennae instructions-they know what they're talking about. Each radio band has a certain allowable "wavelength" that your antennae and transmission line (cable) should be cut to. If not within this allowable length-standing waves will be generated and ruin your transmitting capabilities. Cable length is calculated as a multiple of a quarter wavelength of the median frequency of a particular band. In your case, the UHF Marine band. In a nutshell, the antenna you have is just fine the way it is. Coil the cable to shorten(Don't worry about interference,It's shielded) and hook up to your radio. You may want to place a filter (inductor/capacitor) on your power leads though,as this is a definite source of static/interference. Good luck and 10-4!!!

[Hans]

That antenna is what is known as a "colinear" design, and may depend on a specific length of feedline (coax cable) to minimize VSWR. While it is always preferable to minimize the feedline length (due to dielectric losses), there is little to worry about as long as the feedline is under 100-feet in length.

Hans
--
There are three kinds of death in this world. There's
plain old dead, there's brain dead, and there's
"it's-still-over-three-months-till-fishing-opener" dead.

[bob oh]

So what are you saying Hans, can he cut it???? I cut mine and it doesn't seem to have hurt transmission any, but I still wonder?
Bob

[Hans]

I wouldn't cut it, unless it is 50 or 60 feet long.

Hans