Making or shortening a coaxial cable

[Chuck Jones]

I am trying to find a way to shorten the coaxial cables that go to the Lowrance  HDS  head units.  I find that due to the length of the boat, the standard 20 foot coax cables that come with the unit....are just not quite long enough to reach the head unit where it's located on the dash.  The only solution seems to be buying an extension...but they only come in 15 or 20 foot lengths.

Is there a way to cut and resplice in the end connectors? Or is there someone who sells shorter lengths of the coax? I only need a foot of extra length, and dont' want to have to coil up and stash 15 or 20 feet of extra cable.

[Wyrguy]

Chuckster... IMO, don't!!! If you can get the right ends (not sure what cable it is you're talking about) but any 'splice' will end up possibly corrupting the data, making your unit useless. If you can find the ends AND a friendly electrical contractor that does high end data wiring you may be ok... The right tools, the knowledge to do it.

$0.02
If we were closer I know just the guys to do it for you!

Rick


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[croaker stroker]

Are you talking about the transducer cable?

http://www.in-depthoutdoors.com/community/forums/topic/equipment_670468/

[StreamFixer]

Chuck

As with so much of today's equipment, you are dealing with Radio Frequencies (phase waves) here.  How they move on the coax cable creates electronic inter-relationships (signal phases), such as occurs in antenna cables on your radio. 

The cables that come with the unit are most often 'designed' to accommodate those relationships and keep everything in sync.  Shortening or lengthening the cable will alter how those phases interact and give you diminished or altered readings (in the case of a radio you will lose transmission power).

I can make the cut and splices for you, I do it regularly with my radio gear, however:

With my HAM radio gear I have a tuner with a HUGE variable capacitor and an adjustable coil, both of which must be adjusted each time I change frequencies to obtain maximum transmission power and 'best' reception.  The newer units (that means more expensive) have elements that will do that automatically if the antenna is 'close' to being correctly trimmed (resonant).  Your equipment does not have those elements.

My advice to you is to buy the correct extensions, coil the coax (which actually helps protect the more delicate electronics from stray signals that could cause harm) and get on with life.

Let us know what you decide to do.

StreamFixer

[fishmiester]

Also being a Ham Operator, i strongly agree with S.F

[Hydro-Therapy]

Chuck you are just going to have to bite the bullet on this one !!!! :hoboy:

H-T

[croaker stroker]

I already knew Streamfixer was a Ham.

[whale]

How long of extension do you need? If it's only 2 ft , you could buy something like paddle wheel. It comes with little cable that adds on. At least you get some other option out of it.

[fishorcrab]

Are you sure the cable is a coax?  The connector looks like it may have as many as 9 pins.  They may be twisted pairs within a shield.

Paul

[AlAdams]

Chuck - I had the same issue with the length of the Lowrance cable.  Two more feet would have been perfect.  I've got the cable coiled up inside the electrical compartment in the cuddly.  The same thing happened with my old Bottomline.  The good news is when I knicked the cable with my dremel (don't ask...) it turns out it was the extension, not the main cable.  Living a charmed life, sort of... 

For those of you that have read this all the way to the end, if you need an older fish finder that works well, I'll make you a good deal on a Bottomline Sidewinder.  Guess I should put it in the classified section.   

[Salmon King]

Chuck - I had the same issue with the length of the Lowrance cable.  Two more feet would have been perfect.  I've got the cable coiled up inside the electrical compartment in the cuddly.  The same thing happened with my old Bottomline.  The good news is when I knicked the cable with my dremel (don't ask...) it turns out it was the extension, not the main cable.  Living a charmed life, sort of... 

For those of you that have read this all the way to the end, if you need an older fish finder that works well, I'll make you a good deal on a Bottomline Sidewinder.  Guess I should put it in the classified section.   

PM SENT !

[LvrWurst 21 SR Skip]

Chucker-Doo...back when you had your 19 SR HT, we hauled it up to a guy in Loomis....remember? He was an expert at electronic rigging and worked off his small ranch.....Can't remember his name, but maybe you can find him thru Bill, the Lowrance Pro Staff connection.  J W

[StreamFixer]

And in the process you have spent more time and $$$ than just buying the extension and being done with it....  And no electronic worries about the cobbled together wire.

Bueno setre Chuck   :hoboy:

StreamFixer

[Chuck Jones]

Oh yeah JW...I forgot about that fellow....he did work with co-ax....but I think at this point I'll just get the shortest Lowrance extension I can find and coil up the excess.  It's just a bit disconcerting to have to put in a 20 foot extension for a 6 inch shortfall.  (no follow-up comments JW!!!)

[LvrWurst 21 SR Skip]

CJ.....they make pills for that shortfall!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Edog64]

                                             W7CTU

[Chuck Jones]

HUH???       

[Markshoreline]

Chuck,
That's not an acronym like wtf or something...
It's his ham radio call letters, like "Adam12" or "Dragnet" or something....   

[StreamFixer]

W7CTU is not a valid HAM license...  Anybody know what he is trying to imply (I hate acronyms)

W7SFR

[fishmiester]

I noticed that also when I ran it on qrz. maybe a typo?

[Chuck Jones]

I've seen some acronyms like this that you hold in front of a mirror and read it  upside down or backwards and the numbers/letters spell out some word.

[StreamFixer]

OK Edog64 --  time to fess up...

StreamFixer

[Edog64]

StreamFixer, ya got me!  :nono:  Those were my fathers call letters back in the day. He was an avid Ham but I never got into it just remembered the call letters. When I saw that a couple of the other posters were Hams I just couldnt resist.

[strokersquid]

If your extension remains straight for more than 4 hours call your Dr.