King Jack Antenna Problems

[burrko]

Our MH came with a King Jack HD antenna. When coming and going in our neighborhood I would hear an occasional "ratcheting" sound. This past week while camping I found out what caused the noise. Our TV reception went out because the tree branches in the neighborhood had twisted the King Jack antenna around until the 26 gauge wire connected to the antenna head broke. I purchased a new cable from King for $12 but I am seriously considering using a regular coaxial cable instead of this 26 gauge cable from King. The coax connections would be the same and I would have the strength of the coax which is much stronger than a 26 gauge wire. I think, if proper slack is maintained for turning the head, it would work fine. Anyone out there with experience with this problem? Thanks

[Tom_M1]

burrko wrote:
I think I failed to clearly explain that, while they used coaxial connectors, the wire between the connectors is just a single conductor, 26-gauge stranded wire that is connected to the center conductor of the coax connectors. It has very little strength to resist twisting and breaking. In using coaxial cable, the outer shield (I would use the heavier coax with the woven wire shield) would not be used as a conductor. It would only serve for strengthing the cable. Hope this helps explain. Thanks!.

Below is a picture from the Jack manual. Are you saying that the cable labeled "Coax" is a single conductor with no braid or foil shielding?

[burrko]

I think I failed to clearly explain that, while they used coaxial connectors, the wire between the connectors is just a single conductor, 26-gauge stranded wire that is connected to the center conductor of the coax connectors. It has very little strength to resist twisting and breaking. In using coaxial cable, the outer shield (I would use the heavier coax with the woven wire shield) would not be used as a conductor. It would only serve for strengthing the cable. Hope this helps explain. Thanks!.

[SCVJeff]

ScottG wrote:
I think they use the smaller coax because it is very flexible. Regular coax would probably fail at the connections because the wire is so stiff.
Just my wild guess!

x2
RG-6/59 don't much like being twisted around, especially the foil lined coax that you will likely break in no time. Unless you can develop a rather large loop to take up the movement like the batwing, you're better off with the small stuff

[ScottG]

I think they use the smaller coax because it is very flexible. Regular coax would probably fail at the connections because the wire is so stiff.
Just my wild guess!