VHS Radio antenna install coax cable length?

[grewvin1]

Have new radio Solaris and new antenna. Soldered on the connector all as instructed signal transmit weak compared to my buddies with this the same rig.
How long do you have to have the cable? thinking there is too much and have resistance as i did not cut any of the cable off. The antenna is less than one meter from the radio on the side of the boat as most are installed. Then i have all the footage that came with the antenna piled in the side of the hull with the rest of the boat wiring bundles to the dash. Need to know if would have better signal if i remove all but about 1-1/2 meters of cable to cut down on interference and resistance.

 

[grewvin1]

Just spoke with Shakespeare Marine antenna tech support, they say cut the wire to the needed length, too much or coiled will cut down on power to receive and transmit. So now I know and so do you.

 

[UncleWillie]

You most likely have an RG-8 Series Cable connecting the Antenna.
You would not loose more than ~3dB of signal until the cable exceeded 50ft in length. Hardly noticeable.
Your antenna was likely supplied with 20 ft or less. Barely a 1dB loss. Insignificant.
Coiling a properly terminated length of cable has no effect.
Yes! Shorter cables have less losses, but not enough to notice the difference without test equipment.

If you had a noticeably weak signal, it was much more likely to have been a problem in the first installation of the connector that you corrected when you shortened the cable and reinstalled the connector.
A singe misplaced strand of the Shield Braid will guarantee poor performance. A Very Common Problem.
And a notorious problem with a PL-259 soldered connector!

 

[bruceb58]

Agreed, the extra cable does nearly nothing to attenuate your signal.

 

[StingrayMike]

I would agree with unclewillie.