Tried a DIY coax crimp with leftover RV parts... big mistake on a King Air

I used some old cable from a camper job to fix an antenna cable on a King Air 350 last Thursday. The signal was good for about 10 minutes then the whole comm crapped out mid-flight. Has anyone else had luck with random coaxial cable or am I just asking for trouble?

2 comments

2 Comments

caseyc3019d ago

Man, you really rolled the dice on that one and lost. Using leftover RV parts on a King Air is like putting a lawnmower engine in a Ferrari and hoping for the best. That foam core Nora mentioned is basically a ticking time bomb when you factor in the heat and vibration up there. Bet it felt real clever for those 10 minutes though. Next time just grab the right cable and save the RV scraps for your camper.

campbell.nora19d ago

That RG58 from an RV setup is 50 ohm just like aircraft coax, but the issue is probably the dielectric. RV cable usually has a foam core that doesn't handle the vibration and temperature swings in a King Air. It can shift around and cause intermittent shorts that'll kill your comms after a few minutes of flight. Did you check if the cable had a solid or stranded center conductor? Stranded can break inside the connector over time in a turbine.