[Elecraft] why mix rf connector types within the product line?

[Jim Brown]

On 4/26/2013 5:05 PM, Joe Subich, W4TV wrote:
> Not only is it too easy to damage the center pin/socket, BNC is a 
> "clamp" type connector and is prone to improper assembly. 

YES.  This is one big reason why I try to avoid BNC connectors. I don't 
buy "cable assemblies," both because I don't want to pay someone else to 
do what I can do better myself, and because I don't trust unknown 
vendors to use high quality connectors and high quality cable.  Most 
pre-made "cable assemblies" are a "pig in a poke" at best, and cheap 
junk at worst.

I  buy good cable and good connectors and install them myself. While 
it's certainly possible to install crimp-type connectors well, it 
requires very good connectors that physically fit the cable, and a very 
good crimp tool that physically fits the connector.  Good crimp tools 
are expensive, and to do it WELL, you need a different tool for every 
different connector that you want to use.

Appliance operators may be happy with buying pre-wired BNC cable 
assemblies from vendors who believe that "hams are cheap" (and that's 
exactly what one of the most popular East Coast vendors of ham cable 
assemblies told me when I complained about the JUNK DIN connectors they 
had sold me, and that same vendor didn't have a real technical data 
sheet tor the coax he wanted to use for a DXpedition that wanted to buy 
coax from them. The BNC cable shipped with one of my P3s was defective. :)

UHF connectors are very good connectors for use at HFat ham power 
levels. Because they're not precisely 50 ohms, they are less desirable 
at VHF and above.

One of the major reasons BNCs are popular with QRP folks is that they 
are smaller, so they take up less space on a panel, and lighter in weight.

73, Jim K9YC