[AMPS] N-Connectors - Thanks for the Replies

[Tom Rauch]

All the "breakdown voltages" aside, have an honest look at a the N 
connector.

1.) It has less spacing between the pin and the shell than a 
conventional SO-239/PL-259 UHF connector.

2.) It has a much smaller pin diameter

Now look a a regular low power BNC.

If you cut the locking shell off a regular 50 ohm BNC male, it will 
plug right into a 50 ohm N connector female. The size difference is 
thousandths of an inch.

As a suggestion, save some money. Use BNC connectors on your 
kilowatt plus rigs indoors. They have the same voltage breakdown 
and current carrying capacity as a rugged "N" connector.

By the way, I machine the N connectors on 7/8 inch heliax and 
convert them to UHF types when I get surplus cable with 
connectors. If I leave N connectors in my system, they fail much 
more often than conventional good quality UHF connectors.

Running high power through a "BNC-like" connector internal is not 
a good idea, especially if there is some SWR present.


73, Tom W8JI
w8ji@contesting.com

--
FAQ on WWW:               http://www.contesting.com/ampsfaq.html
Submissions:              amps@contesting.com
Administrative requests:  amps-REQUEST@contesting.com
Problems:                 owner-amps@contesting.com
Search:                   http://www.contesting.com/km9p/search.htm