[Drake] R4B antenna connector

[Jim Garland]

> Actually, the RCA connector is better than a UHF (SO-239 / 
> PL-259) connector and just as good as a BNC up to at least 
> the 1296 MHz band.
>...... 
> The TI engineer came back, hat in hand, and admitted that 
> Collins had made a good choice in using RCA connectors.
>Glen, K9STH

Without meaning deliberately to pick a fight, there is another point of view
about the RCA (phono) connector, which I share, and which is aptly described
in "The Art of Electronics," by Horowitz and Hill. I quote (page 56): 
"The so-called phono jack used in audio equipment is a nice lesson in bad
design, because the inner conductor mates before the shield when you plug it
in; furthermore, the design of the connector is such that both shield and
center conductor tend to make poor contact. You've undoubtedly heard the
results!"
I don't dispute that RCA connectors present a relatively low impedance bump
in the HF region, but that is small consolation given their inherent
unreliability. Even the Collins RCA jacks with the ceramic insulation are
notoriously unreliable, which is one of the reasons most KWM-2s and 32S-3s
these days have RF output jacks with broken and cracked ceramic. IMHO, the
only worse connector is the "F" Connector used in TV sets, about which
Horowitz and Hill say: 
"Not to be outdone, the television industry has responded with its own bad
standard, the type F coax "connector," which uses the unsupported inner wire
of the coax as the pin of the male plug, and a shoddy arrangement to mate
the shield."
73,
Jim W8ZR