NEW LOW-LOSS COAX vs. BALANCED FEEDLINE
The previous page compared several popular traditional types of coax to several types of balanced feedline. The data (loss attenuation) was calculated by online transmission line loss calculators.
This page will compare several newer types of "Low-Loss" Coax, manufactured by Messi & Paoloni", an Italian manufacturer, to the best balanced feedline (600 Ohm Ladder-Line) and to the best Window-Line (Wireman #554).
In the table below, the values shown for the coax are manufacturer's specs, the values shown for the balanced feedlines were calculated with KV5R's online feedline loss calculator.
After creating the tableabove, I then did two shoot-outs:
... 1. Best Coax (Airborne-10) vs. Best Balanced-Line (600 Ohm Ladder-Line)
... 2. Best Coax (Airborne-10) vs. Best Window-Line (Wireman 554 (#14)
As you see,these two Balanced Feedlines are indeed better than the best coax . . . but the difference is peanuts!
- Ladder-Line is less than 0.4 dB better on any band.
- Window-Line is less than 0.3 dB better on any band.
Running very good balanced line buys you less than ½ dB improvement over coax, but requires using an antenna tuner on every band.
Each of us must decide if ½ dB improvement (i.e., “0.08 S-Unit”) worth having to run an antenna tuner on every band, and in the case of using Window-Line, having to re-tune the tuner when it rains or snows.
On my own 80m OCFD antenna, I run 80 meters (265 ft.) of Airborne-10 to the shack. I do not need a tuner on 80/40/20/17/15/10m, but must use a tuner on 30 & 12m.
According to Steve, N4LQ, the T-Network tuner has about 0.56 dB loss. With that loss, the balanced line has more loss than Airborne-10!
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