Hi all,
I’m planning on setting up an access point on a tower. The problem is that the radio will be at the bottom of the tower and connect to the antenna by a ~110 ft LMR600 cable. I know that this is not the best senario, but I need recomendation for a high power mini pci radio card for 5.8 Ghz, to place in my X86 system. My idea is that the power of the card will compensate for the loss on the cable run. Pls advise. Thanks
i dont think neone wld recommend a 110 ft cable even if u use Helix
I understand that this is not nthe ideal situation, but what card would you recommend if the cable run was shorter?
It’s only 8db of loss for that cable run, something 300-500mw of TX power would be fine
Has neone calculated, how much difference in throuput comes with 8 db loss, assuming an area covered around 3-4 km radius but with many Wisps operating??
you may can look for the www.dbii.com as it very good and performance is on par with the www.ubnt.com but the prices is big different.
we been use more than 200 pcs F50-PRO and it work great for us.
Did u mean works gr8 with a 110 ft cable as compared to a 1.5 mtr cable which we normally use.
in fact, i am looking for the LMR600, but region here is not so easy to source it…
I would recommend staying away from the LMR cable and using something like Andrews smooth walled solid shield or similar. Over time I have had many issues with the connectors for braided shield cable on long runs. It’s fine if you get everything perfect the first time but I have had much better luck with the solid shield cable. The big thing however is that you have to handle it carefully when installing so you don’t distort the cable with excessive bends. If you have money to burn look into eupen cable and PPC connectors. You will never have issues but you have to be very precise installing the connectors.
i totally agree because we have faced several cable and pigtail damage. the connectors loosen at the braidings. mostly the guys who go up the towers do not handle with care. i even feel that heavy wind regions can get the connectors loosen from the braidings. i have been looking for alternates but so far our vendor has none.
The cable connections are stable if you take care of things like bend radius and the strain at the connection point. Getting a cable like this pre made from a vendor who knows what your doing with it. Perhaps a right angled connector at the top depending on the antenna connect position/lead.
I’ve dealt with a number of long run LMR400 cables and allmost all of them have been fine for 6+ years, the only ones that fail are the ones installed wrong. Install some steel wire clamped around 1m from the tower end of the lead, secure this to the tower to relieve the cable weight at the connection and you’ll be fine