[Amps] Junk Connectors, Junk Coax

[Jim Brown]

On 4/8/2021 7:06 AM, Chris Wilson wrote:
> I am now slowly changing out all UHF Chinese junk to branded N types

Junk connectors are a scourge. In North America, if it isn't vintage MIL 
spec or Amphenol, it's junk. I learned this the hard way. When getting 
back on the air in 2003 after 20+ years off, I stocked up with lots of 
those cheap adapters from hamfest vendors. Over the next six years, they 
cause me no end of grief. Some fell apart, some overheated with power 
during a contest because the center conductor in an elbow was a tiny 
spring, some caused exactly the sort of intermittent or power handling 
problem that Frank is experiencing.

There is ZERO need for any thing better than a well-installed 83-1SP (no 
suffix) below 2M. The hand wringing about non-constant impedance is the 
result of a failure to understand transmission line fundamentals. Nearly 
all of my coax (except for RG400 jumpers) is foam, and I've never had an 
issue with it melting because I use good quality coax from known 
factories, I use a 	quality iron and a good bench vise to hold the work, 
and coax is all Belden, Commscope, or Davis RF. I have nothing sold as 
"LMR400 equivalent." And I have a lot of hard line.