[Elecraft] OT: Looking for adaptor

[Jim Brown]

On 9/14/2017 5:55 PM, Jim Graves wrote:
> Wes, you were talking about http://www.amateurradiosupplies.com/
> and I was talking about http://www.americanradiosupply.com/

The original post was from Germany. I don't know about the quality of 
"no-name" connectors in EU, but in NA, the quality is generally quite 
poor. When I got back on the air in 2003 after more than 20 years of 
inactivity, I re-stocked by parts stash with an assorted bunch of at 
least 40-50 adapters. Prices ranged from about $2 to about $3. Over a 
4-5 year period, those connectors and adapters turned out to be junk 
that caused me nearly a dozen problems, many of which were not easy to 
troubleshoot or fix.

There are many common defects. Pin diameters out of tolerance so that 
connectors don't mate reliably, dielectrics that melt when you try to 
solder, metals that don't take solder, connectors that physically fall 
apart, Tee connectors where the male and female center pin are connected 
by a tiny spring that melts with high power, intermittent connections, etc.

Here in NA, Amphenol is the trusted mfr. They're more expensive, and the 
adapters are a LOT more expensive, but they don't suffer from the 
defects described above.  Likewise, vintage surplus MIL-type connectors 
and adapters (usually with type-numbers stamped into them) are still 
found at major hamfests, and are nearly always of very good quality.

My absolute rule is, if it isn't one of those vintage MIL-types or if it 
doesn't say Amphenol, it's probably JUNK. Exception -- if you're a 
manufacturer and can verify the quality of parts from other 
manufacturers. Few of us fall into that category.

There are similar issues with audio connectors. Neutrik and Switchraft 
are the good mfrs.

73, Jim K9YC