[RFI] Weird RFI Episode

[Pete Smith N4ZR]

Sorry, not what I meant.  The worst one was 1/16 of a turn from where 
they wound up when plier-tight.  That is, it *was* hand-tight

73, Pete N4ZR

On 9/24/2023 11:19 PM, Frank W3LPL wrote:
> Hi Pete,
>
> A PL-259 backed 1/16th of a turn from fully hand tightened
> is a very unreliable connector.
>
> Get in the habit of tightening all of your PL-259s just tight enough
> so they cannot be loosened by hand and all of your loose PL-259
> issues will be forever eliminated.
>
> 73
> Frank
> W3LPL
>
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> *From: *"Pete N4ZR N4ZR" <pete.n4zr at gmail.com>
> *To: *"Frank W3LPL" <donovanf at starpower.net>, "RFI List" 
> <rfi at contesting.com>
> *Sent: *Sunday, September 24, 2023 6:01:39 PM
> *Subject: *Re: [RFI] Weird RFI Episode
>
> I wish I could tell you I found a "loose" PL-259, Frank - I think the 
> most I took up on any of them was about a sixteenth of a turn.  
> Fortunately, at 100 watts, carnage was nil.  I have a hunch that 
> yesterday's torrential rain may have been implicated, because a couple 
> of the connectors are sheltered but not waterproofed and may have 
> gotten wet.
>
> 73, Pete N4ZR
> On 9/24/2023 7:15 PM, Frank W3LPL wrote:
>
>     Hi Pete,
>
>     As you know, that's exactly why I recommend that PL-259 connectors
>     always be lightly wrench tightened, just enough to make it not
>     removable by hand, no more.
>
>     Next, check you entire station to verify that all of your PL-259
>     connectors can not be removed by hand
>
>     You were fortunate that no damage was caused by the loose PL-259
>     When shield integrity is broken, the return circuit must take an
>     alternative path that can do lots of damage.
>
>     73
>     Frank
>     W3LPL
>
>
>     ----- Original Message -----
>     From: "Pete N4ZR N4ZR"<pete.n4zr at gmail.com>  <mailto:pete.n4zr at gmail.com>
>     To: "RFI List"<rfi at contesting.com>  <mailto:rfi at contesting.com>
>     Sent: Sunday, September 24, 2023 3:16:20 PM
>     Subject: [RFI] Weird RFI Episode
>
>     This morning I got up and went on the air in the CQWW RTTY Contest.
>     Everything had been fine yesterday, but as soon as I made my first
>     transmission, both of my monitors shut down.  Eventually, I found that
>     the cause was RFI - anything over about 40 watts and blooey (the
>     computer was fine).  Without a lot of excruciating detail, I think the
>     cause was a hand-tight PL-259 somewhere in my feedline out to my antenna
>     switch.  Initially it looked fjne, and then it started showing me high
>     SWRs on all bands.  I snugged them all down and it went away.
>
>     This is a first to me in some 40 years of playing radio and computers.
>
>