[ARC5] Collins stuff and RCA jacks

[mstangelo at comcast.net]

When I fabricate cables with RCA plugs I compress the body of the male plug with my fingers so that fits snugly onto the jack. I then apply heat shrink tubing over the body. this helps preserve the compression.

Mike N2MS


----- Original Message -----
From: Richard Knoppow <1oldlens1 at ix.netcom.com>
To: Geoff <geoffrey at jeremy.mv.com>, Howie DeFelice <howied231 at hotmail.com>, arc5 at mailman.qth.net
Sent: Wed, 15 May 2013 03:27:41 -0000 (UTC)
Subject: Re: [ARC5] Collins stuff and RCA jacks


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Geoff" <geoffrey at jeremy.mv.com>
To: "Howie DeFelice" <howied231 at hotmail.com>; 
<arc5 at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Tuesday, May 14, 2013 6:31 PM
Subject: Re: [ARC5] Collins stuff and RCA jacks

    No one has mentioned the spring contacts of the RCA 
plug, the body of the male and center contact of the female. 
Even dicounting corrosion both tend to become stretched with 
use and make poor contact. While its possible to compress 
them they usually have become fatigued and won't hold the 
compression very long.  RCA connectors have been shown many 
times to have good electrical properties but were never 
intended to be heavy duty.  I think they were originally 
designed for auto radio use or something similar (Carl may 
know for certain).  In some applications they are not 
connected and disconnected much and will  have a long life. 
However, they are no where near as rugged as NC/BNC/UHF and 
similar connectors. For high power there are better 
connectors than any of these but they are not very common.
    A more modern example of a very simple connector that 
has good electrical properties is the common F connector 
used on TV cable.  These work up to several hundred megaherz 
but are not very rugged. There are quick connect versions 
without the threaded section but they are not very reliable, 
at least in my experience in a network TV plant. I don't 
know if there is a 50 ohm version but the integrety of the 
cable is preserved throughout the connection so probably the 
same connector would work for both 75 and 50 ohms.


--
Richard Knoppow
Los Angeles
WB6KBL
dickburk at ix.netcom.com