Towertalk
[Top] [All Lists]

[TowerTalk] Coax cables

To: <towertalk@contesting.com>
Subject: [TowerTalk] Coax cables
From: stevek@jmr.com (Steve Katz)
Date: Fri Feb 7 16:59:53 2003
Hi Jos,

I wouldn't expect to find PL-259's in an AMP catalog, since AMP doesn't make
them.  

The original PL-259 foundry and still a very large supplier of PL-259's is
AMPHENOL, which is a totally different company.  AMP is part of Tyco.
Amphenol used to be American Phenolic Company, the first company to
commercially manufacture coaxial cable and its mating connectors.

73 de Steve, WB2WIK/6

"Success is the ability to go from failure to failure with no loss of
enthusiasm." -Winston Churchill

> -----Original Message-----
> From: j.a.hermans [SMTP:j.a.hermans@skynet.be]
> Sent: Friday, February 07, 2003 1:35 PM
> To:   Steve Katz; 'Mark Beckwith'; towertalk@contesting.com
> Subject:      Re: [TowerTalk] Coax cables
> 
> Hi Steve,
> 
> As we can state the discussion on coax connectors is still going on. It is
> a
> good and important subject beause it seems a simple matter, but It sure
> is'nt.
> Just had a look at an older  AMP mil-spec. cat.
> Surprised they dont talk about PL types.......should there be a good
> raison
> there for ?
> Something that came back in my mind, and nobody talked about here ( or I
> missed it )
> are the central pins outer dimension of the N-type as a function of
> characteristic Impedance of the cable.
>  RG213/U  50 Ohm  pin diam. = 2.25 millimeters.
>  RG216/U  75 Ohm  pin diam. = 1.20 millimeters.
> Mix them up in a system, and one can start fault finding for several hours
> maybe days.........
> So take care when mounting connectors on coax cables. As I said before its
> a
> very critical operation, unless you dont care of a couple of decibels of
> losses or some intermittend functioning gear. Personally never tried to
> send
> a Kilowatt thru such a set up. But I can imagine that the solder will melt
> rapidly.
> There is a long way to go from " envelope increaser " to a stable " coax
> connection ".....
> Sorry guys ....................
> Jos on4kj
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Steve Katz" <stevek@jmr.com>
> To: "'Mark Beckwith'" <mark@concertart.com>; <towertalk@contesting.com>
> Sent: Friday, February 07, 2003 5:11 PM
> Subject: RE: [TowerTalk] Coax cables
> 
> 
> > Hi Mark,
> >
> > I think those are both rumors or wive's tails.
> >
> > I've used 9913 since it was introduced to the amateur market in 1983 and
> an
> > ordinary PL-259 always fit it just fine.  Better, in fact, than
> conventional
> > RG-213/U and such, because the center conductor really "filled" the pin,
> so
> > less solder would wick up during the assembly process.  (Solder wicking
> up
> > through the PL-259 pin, and application of excessive heat and solder
> during
> > this operation, is a leading cause of failures due to the cable
> dielectric
> > melting.)
> >
> > There is no "special for 9913" PL-259 that I know of, made by anybody.
> >
> > However, a conventional mil-spec Type N connector, series UG21/U, will
> *not*
> > accommodate the oversized center conductor of 9913 and similar low-loss
> > cables.  To resolve that problem, a few specialty manufacturers did
> start
> > making (and still make) "special" Type N's just for 9913 and similar.
> The
> > only thing different is the pin itself, the rest of the connector is
> > standard.  I simply buy machined-out and then gold plated center pins
> > separately from the N connectors for this application; use the whole
> UG21
> N
> > connector but toss out the center pin, and use a specialty center pin
> > instead.  One source of the pins is The RF Connection.  Joel seems to
> stock
> > these and is willing to sell them separately.
> >
> > -WB2WIK/6
> >
> > "Success is the ability to go from failure to failure with no loss of
> > enthusiasm." -Winston Churchill
> >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: Mark Beckwith [SMTP:mark@concertart.com]
> > > Sent: Friday, February 07, 2003 8:48 AM
> > > To: towertalk@contesting.com
> > > Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Coax cables
> > >
> > > Steve [Katz] said:
> > >
> > > >(Or, possibly the 9913 doesn't
> > > >meet its own specification!)
> > >
> > > I recall early 9913 had a larger conductor but they figured that out
> real
> > > quick and started making it smaller.  Perhaps that is just a rumor.  I
> > > recall a brief period in the 80s when you could by PL-259s made for
> 9913.
> > > Perhaps that was just a rumor too.  I heard all this over coffee with
> old
> > > VHF geezers I met with every week back then.
> > >
> > > Mark, N5OT
> > >
> > >
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > TowerTalk mailing list
> > > TowerTalk@contesting.com
> > > http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
> > _______________________________________________
> > TowerTalk mailing list
> > TowerTalk@contesting.com
> > http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
> >
> >
> 
<Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread>