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You can
write your own review of the Times LMR coax.
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AA4BA
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Rating: 4/5
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Sep 21, 2011 22:41
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lmr 400/600 & uses
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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LMR 400 is a decent product when used within its design parameters. LMR 600 is its big brother, and as such a better choice especially at UHF frequencies.
First the user needs do understand that the center conductor is solid aluminum with a copper coating. This means it is not designed to be installed in an application where it will be flexed or bent often. For these applications use the flex version of each with a stranded core. Costs a bit more and you add in a tad more attenuation but it will work much better for jumpers that are constantly moved.
Personally I only use LMR 400 for h.f. It is what I feed my 80 meter NVIS antenna and that is it. I use 400 ultraflex for jumpers in my shack and 600 ultraflex for my jumpers at the top of towers. LMR 600 is good for long runs of VHF but I still consider it a bit on the lossy side for long runs of UHF.
If you shop hamfests and eBay you can buy heliax for less than a buck a foot. One advantage is that Andrews warranties their heliax for 10 years and coax degrades much quicker.
My four element beam is fed with 1/2" heliax and LMR ultraflex jumpers on both ends. My VHF/UHF sticks are fed with Andrews 5/8" heliax. For the longer runs I step up to 7/8" heliax. They all have LMR ultraflex jumpers.
In professional installations heliax often stays in service for decades. Coax is recommended to be replaced every four or five years. Spend just a little more up front and save big down the road. I usually buy all of my heliax on eBay for less than a buck a foot and connectors for ten to fifteen bucks.
Figure the loss in your wire.compared to the power increase and price of an amp. A barefoot radio fed through good feedlines will get more power to the antenna than one with an amp running through cheap coax. While LMR 400 outperforms most coax step up to heliax and make your station work to its maximum capability.
AA4BA
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N2VU
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Rating: 5/5
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Jan 9, 2010 12:19
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LMR-600UF Ultimate!
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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Certainly perceived as either overkill or just too expensive, after the results that I’ve become accustomed to with TM LMR-600UF I cant imagine having to go back to anything else (even LMR-400)! I’ve purchased my ‘600UF from Cable Experts. For reference, 50’ with male N connectors installed is about $180 each. I highly recommend that you get the connectors put on when you purchase the cable, the vast majority of hams have issues with putting these connectors on LMR-600, which so often result in cable “failures”!
I went with the UF because of the rather big difference in manageability. The Ultra Flex is worth the extra money in my opinion – no matter what. As others have said, if Heliax is out of the question (for whatever reason) then this is the next best thing to it. The difference has to be experienced to be appreciated – it’s significant. I could see/hear the differences either with the VHF/UHF transceivers or my scanners, most especially when at 800 MHz and higher.
The difference between RG-8 / RG-213 and LMR-600 is like comparing tinsel wire to Monster Cable. Don’t bother dropping big bucks on an antenna unless you use REAL coax.
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W1HNX
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Rating: 5/5
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Aug 21, 2006 22:52
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Excellent Coax !!
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Time owned: 6 to 12 months
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The LMR-400 Ultra Flex is really nice to work with. It has great shielding and the outer rubber is tough stuff. But don't waste it because it's not cheap!!
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KB3MMX
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Rating: 5/5
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Aug 6, 2006 07:35
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LMR-400 two thumbs up!!
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Time owned: 6 to 12 months
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I use the LMR-400 cable to fed two VHF/UHF antennas as well as a single band 2 meter beam and a 6 meter beam.
I have been very impressed with the low loss of this cable compared some rg213 and RG8X(yuk!) I used to use.
The install of 259's takes some practice but after doing several runs it is quite fast and easy!
The cable is somewhat stiff but still quite flexible to bend and flex back and forth, but is nothing like the stiffness of hardline.
I have also used the LMR240 for runs in the mobile on VHF/UHF. The LMR240 is very close in size to RG8X but MUCH lower loss. I passed on using the LMR100 and LMR200 cable because it was too small and lossy compared to the LMR240. The 100 and 200 cable would be ok for very short jumpers.
Overall,
Times Microwave Cable beats the heck out of Belden!!
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KG4PTZ
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Rating: 0/5
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Jul 2, 2006 12:18
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Complete waste of time
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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After fighting with LMR200, I've decided to quit wasting my time and money. It's a losing battle. I've built four jumpers with this junk, and three have wound up shorting out between the braid and center conductor. After having three jumpers fail and cause me to have an almost infinite SWR, I realized that it was neither the connectors nor my soldering, but rather bad cable. Needless to say, I'm not going to be using this trash again any time soon.
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N1YZ
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Rating: 5/5
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May 21, 2006 07:21
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LMR - 400 - Had it 8+ years, still going strong !
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I bought this coax after a lot of advice and thought. It is the only piece of VHF antenna connected coax owned at this station until the purchase of some LMR-600 earlier this year (still unconnected) . The QTH has changed twice, so the coax has been disconnected and reconnected, re sealed (with COAX SEAL) etc. two times in the last 8 years. The coax has been entirely in the sun for that time. No external coax failures are observable and the coax performance has not dropped a bit. An excellent value. A more flexible version is preferrable, but this stiff coax will do for now!
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KC2NUQ
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Rating: 5/5
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May 16, 2005 05:56
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Top Quality - Low Loss
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I purchased a premade Times Microwave LMR 400UF cable from NTX Communciation Supply (www.ntx-comm.com). Their price was excellent as was their service. Although they are based out west, they shipped the cable to me from a supplier on the east coast. The connectors on the end were perfect. The cable is a little thick, but that's a small price to pay for the low signal loss. If you are going to make a lot of twists and turns, I recommend that you go with the "UF" (ultraflex).
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N2MWE
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Rating: 5/5
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Mar 26, 2005 20:02
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Excellent for Scanners, too
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Time owned: 6 to 12 months
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Had a little problem receiving with my Icom 7100, until I replaced the coax with fifty feet of LMR 400 Ultraflex. Stations I never thought I could hear from my QTH were coming in loud and clear. The coax definitely makes or breaks the antenna!
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KF4FAJ
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Rating: 5/5
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Dec 21, 2003 23:45
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Great product
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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Have used LMR-400 for at least 5 years. Have always used standard ends, usually the two piece N connector and am certain I have nicked the center conductor several times. No problems that I am aware of. I don't use the ultraflex and run it right around the rotator. Never had a piece fail because of that. Weather does not bother it, shows no sign of degredation. I use Andrew hardline to the crank-up towers then LMR up the tower on all VHF bands but 1296. There I ran 7/8 hardline up past the rotator.
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AK9S
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Rating: 5/5
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Aug 2, 2003 10:15
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LMR 600
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I purchased LMR 600 because of it's extremely low-loss properties at higher frequencies. Measurements after installation confirm the same loss numbers as claimed by Times Microwave. Highly recommended if cost is not a consideration such as high-end installations.
I went from a measured 26% loss of power at the antenna side to a 4% loss using LMR 600. Converting cable loss into positive gain is only one of many steps to achieve a noticable improvement in transmitter/receiver performance.
The connectors for LMR 600 coax cost a small fortune...roughly $30 each (PL-259 and N-connectors.) This is a unique coax, and only Times Microwave connectors work properly with it. Try to buy from a discount outlet like www.texastowers.com or equivalent. You do not need to use special crimping tools if you purchase the non-crimp connectors.
It was not a difficult task to place non-crimp connectors on this coax, but be sure that your splice measurements are exactly as required by the instructions. Some connectors may not come with instructions - download the respective instructions for your particular connector from www.timesmicrowave.com before proceeding.
Regarding the nicking of the foil during installation, tests have shown this to be a serious shortcoming only when the coax is pushed to it's maximum performance specifications. You would need to purchase special prep and crimping tools from Times Microwave (some costing hundreds of dollars) to eliminate the problem entirely.
However, for Amateur Radio use, you are not likely to ever come close to the maximum performance specifications in terms of cable voltage and other parameters.
I highly recommend LMR 600.
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