[Elecraft] Antenna Question

[Jim Brown]

On Tue,10/11/2016 6:29 AM, Charlie T, K3ICH wrote:
> I'm curious as to exactly why a "junk" connector supposedly has so much more loss than a "good" connector?

Junk connectors have several issues. One of the issues is control of 
dimensions -- the diameter of the tip must be "right" to make a solid 
and reliable connection to the mating connector. I've seen junk barrels, 
tees, and elbows that had a tiny spring between the ends of the connector.

When I got back on the air in 2003, I stocked my "junk box" with a lot 
of these cheap connector adapters at ham flea markets, and over the next 
3-5 years, they caused outright failures and intermittent problems that 
were difficult to track down. At one point, I had added elbow connectors 
in my shack to make cable routing cleaner. An hour into a contest 
running legal limit, I saw SWR going sky high on an antenna, found the 
elbow very hot to the touch. Removing it solved the problem. The tiny 
spring had overheated. I've had these junk connectors fall apart 
mechanically. I've had the dielectric in junk PL-259s melt when I 
soldered the center conductor. And so on.

W3LPL advises to use Amphenol connectors exclusively, and to use only 
83-1SP for PL-259s. I strongly agree with him. I know nothing about 
what's available in EU -- my comments apply to North America.


73, Jim K9YC