On Sunday, October 19, 2014 10:29:29 AM UTC+11, Brian Reay wrote:
John S wrote:

On 10/18/2014 9:28 AM, Irv Finkleman VE6BP wrote:

I have a length of rg-58/u which was rolled up and when unrolled has

revealed some kinks. Has anyone any idea on how to smooth things out

again. It shows good on my analyzer, and I'm not worried about a bit

of migration which may have taken place. A bit of loss is of no real

concern to me. Someone suggested letting it rest in a tub of hot water

for a while, but that is the only suggestion so far.



Thanks in advance for any assistance,



Irv VE6BP



My first suggestion is to lay it in the midday sun an allow it to warm

for an hour or more. Then uncoil it and allow it to relax a bit longer.





I've used this technique on a real hot (for the UK) summer's day and found

it worked well, the only difference is I popped it in the airing cupboard

for 24 hrs first rather than leaving it in the sun. I then unrolled it on

my drive in mid afternoon, when the block paving was noticeably warm. The

cable was noticeably 'subtle' and the kinks came out easily. I rolled onto

a drum, with a tail free at the core, to aid checking. (So I could short

the end or terminate it etc. while applying a VNA to the free end.) I had

to 'snake' the cable to fit it on the drive.



Testing indicated the cable was within spec., at least to the limits of my

test equipment (said VNA and Bird power meter etc.)



I would not recommend either hot water or 'stretching'. Water ingress is

and obvious issue and stretching could change the dimensions.



You could, perhaps, use a hair dryer on a bad kink but I would be cautious.

I would probably write off that section. A heat gun would certainly be a

bit too hot, in my view. You don't want to damage the jacket or change the

dimensions.



The cable I recovered was double screened and worth saving, it had been

loose coiled by someone and picked up at a rally, with some matching

connectors for peanuts. Sadly, it wasn't 'fox proof' and one of the local

foxes decided to chew through it when I used it for long, experimental,

feeder run one winter. All part of life's rich tapestry.



73

Brian

G8OSN/W8OSN

www.g8osn.net

I know you were talking about coax, but I had a really good chuckle at the "noticeably warm" and "for the UK" comments. Thanks!