>"Older generation N connectors with floating center pins are highly
problematic because its difficult to install the center pin with proper
depth and axial alignment."
Lived it. To support myself during college, I was chief engineer at an
AM/FM station in Dekalb, Illinois. One winter morning, the temperature
dropped to near -20 F. The extreme cold caused the N inner pins to contract
on our STL jumper cables. Approx. 1M jumpers were used to connect 7/8-inch
Heliax to a 950 MHz parabolic antenna as well as iso-couplers that were
fitted with N connectors. Iso-couplers are used in some instances to
decouple the STL line from the AM transmit tower.
The FM station was off the air for more than a day until temps rose, and a
crew could get back up to re-install the failed N connectors. I don't
recall if fixed-pin N connectors for RG-213/214 were available in the late
'70s. For sure the Ns were either Amphenol, King, or some other quality
name. The Asian stuff had not yet hit the U.S. shore.
Paul, W9AC
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