Total posts : 45366
You ask a good question and you are going to receive a lot of answers which are just opinions.
Here’s mine:
First, are we talking about AM or FM. It may not matter since the part 15 rules allow for operation on both bands based on a maximum field strength at a specified distance from the INTENTIONAL RADIATOR.
If one considers the leaky coax to be the intentional radiator then it seems to me that if you meet the field strength limits in the vicinity of the radiator (leaky coax) then it should not matter how long it is.
My OPINION is that if you meet the field strength at a distance requirement with leaky coax, then you may be compliant.
By the way, there is nothing special about leaky coax. Some is designed for a controlled and specified leakage but RG58/U has only about a 78% shield and leaks signals like crazy from my experience. This would not be a bad choice for experimenting.
A practical consideration is the necessity of measuring the field strength to verify compliance, but that is a topic for another thread.
Neil
