I built a collinear antenna and it works great but I have used F type connectors and they keep falling off the cable as it’s not tight enough. I’d like to use N Type connectors as they seem the more solid alternative but these look to be even bigger and I’m not sure SMA will take the weight/movement whilst outside.
What is the general consensus for terminating the end of the array?
Also I’ve been looking at changing to a better cable quality now that I want the antenna on the roof as the cable run will be a good 10m-ish and found LMR400 seems to be recommended, can this be used for the entire array and cabling run as I may buy a reel and do the whole lot again.
The point is that you need F connectors that are designed for the cable diameter you’re using.
Either F or N should be fine if they’re properly installed. You don’t really want to be putting mechanical stress on a connector regardless of what it is…
Lower loss cable is generally a good thing (look at the specs for loss at 1GHz, and beware that it’s sometimes quoted per 100ft and sometimes per 100m) but whether it makes a big difference depends on the length of the cable run.
