Friends,
I've got to disagree with the many comments slamming the old but venerable
PL259 and advocating for N.
While the N connector is great from an RF standpoint, one should note that the
impedance aspects of the N at HF are irrelevant. Not small...irrelevant by
orders of magnitude. Even on 6M and 2M, this issue is too tiny to be noticed.
I have had various station reliablity problems in the last two years which I
spent a LOT of time curing. I ave had very large numbers of N connector
failures, in the field, outside. Zero for PL259. The reason is simple - the
PL259 is mechanically rugged and that trumps any possible RF advantage by a
mile. Adapters are something to be avoided, and the center pin of an N female
is far to fragile and easily spread out in rough handling. I have banned all
use of N at my station. Big multis with more high volume experience might
chime in.
But the bottom line is, bad connectors are bad connectors. Find one that is
reliable, pay for it gladly, stick with it, and learn how to best assemble it.
Both solder Amphenol parts and good quality UHF crimp units for for me. If you
use solder units, and work outside, you need an appropriately sized torch to do
it.
73,
Drew K3PA
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Message: 14
Date: Thu, 06 Dec 2018 17:00:53 +1300
From: Greg-zl3ix <zl3ix@inet.net.nz>
To: <topband@contesting.com>
Subject: Topband: Rather use N-type (was Re: The answer to PL-259
soldering/reliability problems)
Message-ID: <ba5fb11d5adcc35c60daae0ced2d01d1@snap.net.nz>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
I continue to be mystified by the fact that the amateur radio
community insists on using PL259 connectors. N-type are much more
reliable (used by professional communicators), low cost, can be crimped
easily and quickly and have a well-defined impedance right up into GHz
frequencies.
Back in 2005 I started having contact problems with the
connector on my SteppIR 3-element. There was a thin layer of oxide that
built up around the centre pin of the PL259. I had had similar problems
with other connectors around my shack. I decided to change my entire
station, including the SteppIR, to N-type, and have never looked back.
73, Greg, ZL3IX
On 06.12.2018 13:29, Steve Ireland wrote:
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