[Elecraft] Antenna Question

[Jim Brown]

On Mon,10/10/2016 4:49 PM, Josh Fiden wrote:
> If you're concerned about the additional loss of a barrel connector at 
> 50MHz, you should be using feedline with lower loss than LMR400 up the 
> tower.

The loss in GOOD quality UHF connectors and barrels at 50 MHz is 
negligible. There are urban legends (false, as usual) claiming that 
every connector loses a dB. The grain of truth is that JUNK connectors 
may introduce significant loss, but GOOD connectors and barrels do NOT. 
"Good" means Amphenol 83-1SP for the PL-259s, and Amphenol or surplus 
MIL-spec for the barrels.

Several years ago, I made up more than a dozen 100 ft cables using a 
cable of somewhat better construction than LMR400 (Commscope 3227) for a 
DX trip. The connectors were Amphenol 83-1SP that I soldered myself. To 
test those cables, I spliced them together using Amphenol barrels and 
measured the loss of about 1300 ft of cable up to 500 MHz using HP 
generator and spectrum analyzer. The measured loss was LESS than the 
manufacturer's spec. There were 27 83-1SPs and 13 barrels in line.

JUNK connectors are the shiny,unbranded stuff you see at ham flea 
markets, and sold online and in ham magazines.

73, Jim K9YC