Ethernet cable

[wavebourn]

Hi!
Is 10-base-5 cable (802.3) usable for antennae feeding?

[Barry]

I think that is called 10base5 it is like a quad shielded RG8.

It has 50 ohm characteristic impedance  and I have used it to make coax jumpers between various pieces of equipment.

The only problem with it is that it is very stiff and heavy. (not flexible ;-)

You would need some real support to feed any type of wire antenna that was off the ground with it.

Barry

[W2VW]

No fun to install connectors but otherwise just great stuff. I like the yellow jacket.

[wavebourn]

Oops... Sotty for typo, however I mean 10-base-5! Corrected.
So, your opinion is that it is better than usual RG, electrically?

[W2VW]

The stuff I have here is Belden 9880 Ethernet Coax.  It might hold up a little better under high SWR conditions and the shield is certainly better than most RG-8.
More info here:

http://lists.contesting.com/archives/html/Towertalk/1997-02/msg00184.html

[wavebourn]

Thanks Dave, it is a good idea to check if it has some vampire punctures!