Hello!
I had quite a break from hamradio the last 2-3 years and now I realized I forgot quite some stuff.
I remember that before my last hamventure I wanted to get new feedlines for portable QRP.
Can you give me any suggestions which cable is good (small packsize, small loss)?
I used to use RG58 but it is too heavy and bulky.
Thanks for help!
73
OE6ALK / 9A5ALX
RG-174 is fine 
73, Jarek
You are asking for portable use I guess?
Hello Aleksander
Of course, it also depends a bit on the TRX (ATU or not) and antenna.
But for short distances to the antenna (e.g. EFHW) I would simply use RG 174.
Some build antennas with the wire pair of LAN cable… and have their feeder line with it…
(e.g. Twisted Hille)
73 Armin
I need about 5-6m feedline for 817. Using a resonant multiband endfed or buddistick.
I’ll take a look at RG174!
Thank you
Welcome back to SOTA.
Make sure that you use good quality. I have see very badly shielded RG-174 at some electronic shops.
One thing to observe is that a 50 R coax feedline of some substantial length can be a source of losses if the feedpoint impedance of the antenna is not 50R. And such losses can even obscure the impedance mismatch.
With an endfed, you typically do not 5-6 m; I always get along with 1.5-1.8m
And a mobile antenna analyzer for ca. 200 EUR might be one of the most useful investments when reviving the hobby.
RG174 works fine for HF frequencies. I use 15ft as a feed line and have worked ZL land with 4.2w CW. Loss compared to larger coax at SOTA lengths and frequencies is negligible.
Welcome back Aleksander.
I got a resonant Endfed so the swr losses should not be high.
What about RG 316 ? It has lower attenuation than RG174 but is same diameter.
I built a doubleZepp stackable for 6m pole or 12m Spiderbeam. Its very good but not practical on SOTA activations 
Hi! I always use RG174 with BCN plugs is quite light for outdoor ham-aventure.
44. Manu!
RG-316 has a Teflon outer where RG-174 is PVC. This makes RG-316 need more careful coiling up, it does not bend so easily. But the main difference is you should be very careful soldering RG-316 to a connector. The soldered joints of RG-316 end up brittle. Crimping the connectors to RG-316 is recommended and make sure you have plenty of extra strain relief (heat shrink) on RG-316 cables that will be frequently connected and moved.
I have heatshrink tubing lying around somewhere and some crimp pliers.
Is the difference between 174 and 316 in attenuation neglectable?
What you need to know is that there is lots of cheap RG-174 on sale that is inferior quality. Such as less copper in the conductors, poor screening quality. If you are buying new, inspect the cable first or only buy quality branded cable.
I am not quite into the market, are cables from WIMO good? Brand says WIMO…
The electrical characteristics between RG 174 and RG 316 are negligible for such short cables on shortwave.
Other things may matter there: Bending radius because of the transport, robustness because of the application (if you ever stepped on your cable on a rock, you know what I mean) … depends where you activate
The RG 316 is much more expensive, but at 5m you can just about afford it…
Take care that you get mechanically good BNC connectors!
73 Armin
Thanks Armin, I think I’ll go for the 316 because of the ruggedness. 
73 Aleks
Hi Aleks,
I was going to suggest you try koax24.de, whose site I discovered a couple of months ago, and which offers a good range of coax cables, connectors, etc.
That was before trying a few minutes ago to put together a test order to see how everything would run. I tried to order 8 meters of H-155 coax (my choice for portable), and 2 rubber “Knickschutz” (sleeves to prevent bending at the connector) … I was then informed that I could order only a minimum of ten of each. So, I continued to the shopping basket, where I was further informed that, since I had ordered so little, there would be an extra “minimum quantity” surcharge of €20 on top of the cost of the pieces, plus €11.90 shipping, and MWSt / VAT was added on top of everything, such that the €20 surcharge itself and the shipping would earn an extra 19% tax. For that little bit of coax and two rubber doodahs, this came to the hefty total of €70.69 !!!
One may conclude that koax24.de is not for the casual shopper: stay away from this site!
Compare this to being able to choose what you want from wimo.com and paying €27.00 total, including €4.80 shipping.
Hi,
I orderes via Wimo, thank you for your help!
Much appreciate 
73
Aleks
