The cables in duplexers are not under movement so the nick would not be the issue there. The nick does expose the steel which is a ferro-magnetic material that will cause intermodulation to occur at a much higher level. Plus, the insertion loss will increase at that point and if there is a lot of power being conducted, will cause localized heating and possibly melting of the center conductor.
A nick really can't occur except at a connector and the flexing there is not really an issue. The plating doesn't flake off if the cable is prevented from bending more than the manufactures specs. --- In [email protected], "Chuck Kelsey" <wb2...@...> wrote: > > I believe that the real problem is that the center conductor is solid. A > slight nick in it will eventually cause it to break due to cable flexing > fatigue at the weak point. RG-400 is often used instead and has a stranded > center conductor. > > Chuck > WB2EDV > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > > Spec RG-142 has a silver-plated steel center conductor. repeated flexing > can cause the thin plating to fracture off creating duplex noise. i've > personally not had this problem but it is a documented issue. >
