PGXL in the basement

N0EG

Good morning all,

Getting a PGXL today. My shack is on the second story of a 2 story home. My 6600 is in the shack. I was going to put the PGXL in the basement on the wall next to where the antennas enter the house.... right next to the breaker box (easy 220 access).

The INSIDE cable run will be right at 70ft. Because of the low power between the radio and PGXL do you see any issues with using RG8X instead of 213 or the like? A little less than .7Db at 6m gonna matter that much? it's 1/2 the cost and easier to run through my conduit from 2nd floor to the basement.

Thanks!!

Josh - N0EG

David Decoons, wo2x

RG-8X will be fine. Easier to run through the walls also.

Good luck with PG XL. Love mine. On 17 meters trying to work Viet Nam from New jersey right now. :-)

73

Dave wo2x

Bill AB7AA

It is best to have your ground point as close to the PGXL as possible to eliminate RFI. Sounds like your installation in the basement will be ideal. The ground cable is another antenna until it gets about one skin depth into the earth, so the shorter the better.

73,

Bill

bahillen

josh, I have the same setup with my PGXL. It works great away from shack.

On the cable run I would suggest a RF cable that is double shielded for receiver noise performance due to noise pickup. I also use ferrite chokes at radio on the two RF cables. 3 turns of coax through a toroid works well.

There is so much noise in our homes the less you pick up the better. Double shielded coax out side the house is also helpful. After what is spend on an amplifier coax is a cost effective component.

73

Bill W9JJB

Mark_WS7M

I have BOTH my PGXL and 6600 mounted in a small HVAC shed like 30 feet from my op position.

I ran a few audio and key cables inside from the side but all the big stuff like coax etc is all out in that nicely cooled and silent shed.

I've run my PGXL on FT8 with a long string of DX contacts and I can't even hear it.

This is one of the primary reasons to choose a flex. It can really be a "radio server" and your client can be a laptop, a maestro or even a tablet and you can op just about anywhere.