[CQ-Contest] Coax Stubs for SO2R

[Jim Brown]

On Tue,7/26/2016 7:37 AM, Jeff AC0C wrote:
> I built the stubs up on an as-needed basis with whatever I had laying 
> about; there's no LMR400 around here.  It's all RG-11 or 213.  213 has 
> a bit better attenuation dip and is more rugged.  All of the T 
> connectors were Chinese specials initially and later most were swapped 
> with AMP parts that I ran across at swaps and hamfests.  Never blew up 
> a Chinese one though so can't say the 50 year old AMP are better. 

An excellent reply, Jeff. I wouldn't have gone to the trouble to write 
mine if I'd seen yours first. :)

The only thing I disagree with is the use of the cheap Chinese tees. 
When I got back on the air in 2004 after many years QRT, I bought a 
bunch of those shiny cheap adapters so I would have them around. Over 
the next 4-5 years (until I figured out they were all crap), they caused 
me LOTS of problems that were a real pain to chase down -- 
intermittents, overheating, even adapters that fell apart! I had an 
elbow overheat an hour into a contest -- the connection was a tiny 
spring! A couple of runs to remotely located 6M and 2M antennas and 
brick amps were intermittent -- they were a real PITA to chase through 
the attic of my house in Chicago. Another went intermittent in a 10M 
Yagi here in CA.

73, Jim K9YC